At shows I have noticed currency sales off vs coins, especially world currency. One fellow even came to steal. What say you?
The guy was there to steal (theft). He was going through a stack of currency at my table at a show and like a card sharp quickly shuffling (more expensive) notes into a stack to the side near his book (very alarming). I then picked up those notes and the stack “are you going to buy any?” He did not say anything and left. Had I been distracted or looked away he would have filched them. A close call it disturbed me so much no longer taking those to shows. Anytime you take more than one item out of a display case at a show (to show customer) the risk of theft or loss (mix up) increases.
Should be possible nowadays to have a camera or phone camera on all your stuff at all times to watch merchandise. Parsippany Coin Show had a thief and when he came back a 2nd time to steal, they had him under camera and nabbed him.
Yeah, Derek, if you had looked away he would have slipped those into his book, picked it up and said goodby. For people like him, what he steals is secondary to the act of theft. They get off on stealing and getting away with it. Some people would rather Steal a Dime than Earn a Dollar.
I've actually been more active in currency/bills the last year or so. I tend to swing back-and-forth. Of course, it's partly a $$$ thing. I tend to go for quality MSDs or Saint-Gaudens so it's easier for me to buy a bill for $50 or $300 rather than shell out $500 for a Morgan or $2,000 or more for a Saint. I am mentally tabulating how many bill/currency tables there are now at the coin shows I go to. That's why I asked about the % at FUN.
You can't do that if you have a big bunch of "cheaper" bills. Nobody wants to go into a case 15-50 times to give a prospective customer. But encapsalated bills usually you just give 1 or 2 or 3 so it should be easier to track them and avoid theft. The balls on some of these thiefs shocks me. And then there's the FUN dealer robberies. Again...technology is our friend. If you don't have a 2nd set of eyes watching whoever you give coins/bills, you should have a camera (old unused smartphone ?) hidden and taking video of your table. Heck, it can be set-up far away with a zoom on your table.
A couple of phones/cameras in plain sight will discourage thefts. Hidden cameras will only catch the thief after they're gone. You can't reasonably check what you've caught on your hidden equipment while you've got customers. Do both and deter the ones you can and then afterwards check your hidden equipment to see if you've caught images of a super thief, ala The Saint.
One of the best theft deterrents in a retail establishment is a CCTV monitor or two right at the entrance showing you walking in. The same should be true at your convention table/booth.
I go to a lot of auctions coin and tools in pa and Nj something is stolen at every sale. People will take one piece of a set to buy the rest cheaper . Switch contents from a box to the bottom of another box.Then just out right stealing or just bouncing large checks. One guy put in cameras and now has a wall of pitchers of thieves last count around 10. Don't get me started on yard sale scams and ingenious was to steal your stuff. sad.
Its an overall good point. I intentionally always let the dealer decide which coins are out at a time. I never just put it aside, I make sure I give them back to the dealer. I do everything I know of to put a dealer at ease, since I have heard how many issues like this there are at shows. More collectors should try to do the same. Dealers have enough hassle going to shows, (travel, expenses, etc), without worrying about theft so often.
I'm sure that everyone has their own way of watching their tables with coins and currency. It's my opinion (like my father always told me, "Opinions are like noses. Everyone has one.) that any association sponsoring a show/auction should be responsible for security. Notices should be on signs that cameras are used to watch people come into a show, watching the tables, and getting a state or other legal photo ID. The cost to provide security at shows should be borne by the show's sponsor and attendees. Most of you probably have a better ID of security, but it should done to protect all those that come to shows. My background is that I was in the Staff Judge Advocate's Office in the 82nd Airborne Division during the Vietnam War era.and the security we had was important and we never had a thief that did not get caught and we didn't have telephone pictures or computers to watch everyone that came into the courtroom. After my "Tour of Duty" and college (degree in accounting), I worked with the State of North Carolina as an auditor. Technology was growing, and you wouldn't believe how many State employees lost their job due to theft or watching Porn on state owned computers. I had to go to court several times during my employment with the State of North Carolina. The burden of proof was on State Auditors, but due to the security we established, we thieves went home after the trials. All of this because they stole a calculator. (Back in the 80's a calculator could cost over $1,000.) Now if the sponsors of shows took thievery serious, vendors wouldn't have to worry about losing a rare $1 bill or a Morgan $1 coin. As I have said before, "Big Brother" should be watching, keeping honest people honest.
You Sir are a bully with balls who is allowed to flaunt the rules at the expense of others. Now have me punted too. Enjoy. I wouldn't join this forum on any level with folks like you here.
Dealing with one person at a time and taking out individual coins or notes out Of the case individually then either selling it or putting it back in the case Its you money and you have to find ways to protect it.
Why are you still allowed here Sir? You violated the rules much more blatantly than the member you bullied right out of here! I guess the rules are only made for certain people huh?
Your FALSE accusations have been dealt with in another thread. You are 100% dead-wrong and owe me an apology.