I was visiting with my parents this Easter weekend back in Conn. and happened to find a great coin shop in Guilford, CT. This young man walks in and hands the owner a coin and says, "can you tell me what's it worth?". He proceeds to say that he bought it at a yard sale for $5. It was a 1787 Connecticut Copper! At first the owner told him that it was fake, but then re-looked at the coin and changed his mind. He said the coin had been cleaned which made him think it was originally fake, but said it was in "good" condition. Since I didn't get a chance to look at the coin, I don't know what that meant. But he said that the date was readable and he would pay $20 for it and resell it for $30. Unbelievable! Not a big jackpot, but I would just love to own one of those coins... and the fact that he found it at a yard sale for $5 is incredible!
You might want to find a new coin shop on your next visit. For if the dealer did think the coin was real, I can promise you that he will not be selling it for $30 but rather a multiple of 30. Unless of course the coin was damaged.
All he said was that it was "cleaned". Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the coin since I had my head buried in Peace Dollars. This was my first time at the shop so I didn't know the owner and I don't know how knowledgeable he was.
The number one rule in coin collecting should be to do your own research in regards to value before ever asking a coin dealer what it is worth. I am sure that there are honest coin dealers, just like there are honest car dealers. As Ronald Reagan once said, "Trust but Confirm"
