Florida Coin Dealer Arrested For Theft From Other Dealers

Oh, my!!

Coin collector arrested for grand theft

Yesterday an undercover cop posed as a novice dealer and set up his table with coins supplied by other club members. Cops also set up video surveilance at the show.

Within minutes the suspect stopped by the "new dealer's" table. He made several more stops over the next hour each time returning to his table and secreting his purloined coins in a container. When cops busted him they found that he had stolen 8 coins valued at over $3,000. The dealer was arrested and charged with one count of grand theft.

 

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Considering I want to set up at my first coin show in about a month, this is very scary!

 

That's just disgusting. I mean come on a coin dealer stealing from a coin dealer. I'm glad to see he was at least charged with a felony.

 

wow hobo i think ur an fbi agent too under cover

 

You're safe from me in India, Spock. But be careful when you visit the US! :kewl:

 

whats with all the crime centered around coins these day

Its probably because they can 500 dollars disappear by taking a dime smaller than your thumb nail

 

I hope that he gets a lot more than a slap on the wrist for his actions :hammer:

 

Hobo,

Thanks for the great story! The ought to have him slabbed as an "Authentic Coin Thief" by PCGS and then hang him up at the next Fun Show for all to see.


Frank

 

"When confronted by detectives the suspect attempted to explain
away his possession of the stolen coins".

That would be interesting to hear!

 

Man, that is disgusting....all the dealers at shows trust each other, I guess that's going to change.

 

To be clear, it was a COLLECTOR not a DEALER who was stealing the coins. You might want to change the title.

 

I think because of the economy more and more people are resorting to stealing to get some extra cash. It is just horrible that people can and will do that kind of thing.

 

The accused thief was a participant at the coin show. The article said:

The reporter used the terms 'display table' for the undercover cop's dealer table and 'display area' for the accused thief's area. Perhaps he was only an exhibitor but I interpret 'display area' to mean essentially the same thing as 'display table'. That is why I said he was a dealer. I may be wrong and stand to be corrected when there is sufficient evidence.

 

sheesh, talk about ending your involvement in the hobby in that area. Like the guy out here labeled as a coin thief but never actually caught, can't do any business at any of the shows, not allowed in most of the shops, hard lesson to learn, esp at an age he should know better

 

Hobo, I understand what the writer wrote and how you are interpreting it, but it is my understanding that the person is a collector who occasionally rents a table and not a dealer -- the title of the story is correct. That's about all I should say. Respectfully...Mike

 

Mike,

I understand. Maybe we will learn more in the weeks to come.

From what you're saying it sounds like the guy is a collector who dabbles with being a deaier from time to time. (Does that make him a dealer?)

 

Not necessarily. Locally, all the dealers know each other quite well and the same ones have consistantly been at the coin shows many times. The door would slam shut if one was to stray from the straight and narrow (and I don't just mean a jail cell door).

New entrants might have a tougher time earning trust, though.

 

I saw this next door forum, the thief was also a past president of the coin club !!

 

Well, there's always ebay.

If I, as a buyer, walk into a coin show and see a table with coins for sale and someone sitting behind the table, then that person is a dealer to me. He may not have a regular business with a physical coin shop and may be only a seller to others but that's really splitting hairs.

 

I can't believe he was actually dumb enough to display them at the same show! I hope his picture gets around to all local shows. Then he'll have to learn a new way to rip people off.