What Was Your Worst Experience At a Brick and Mortar Coin Dealer?

After reading some of the experiences, various members have mentioned about their local coin dealers, I was left wondering about the worst experiences any of you may have had?

The worst experience I've had with a coin dealer was at a small shop in Alabama. I'm not naming any names, but the dealer was pricing foreign coins from his junk box at a considerable mark-up over what Krause quoted. I specifically remember him quoting me $16.00 for a heavily worn Ceylonese silver coin he claimed was an XF. The rims on the coin in question were almost completely obliterated, and Queen Victora was little more than a silhouette. Needless, to say though, that was the last time I ever visited that store.

With that being said, if any of you don't mind sharing some of your own bad experiences with any certain coin dealer, go right ahead.

 

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I've hammered my LCS more than enough times.
I'm really disappointed that being in the DC/Baltimore metro area, there are not more coin stores.
Perhaps that's the reason the ones that are around, suck so much. They can get away with it.

 

I've had mostly positive experiences. The biggest disservice done to me was, growing up the only LCS in my area discouraged me from collecting anything that wasn't US coins. I ended up being an avid world coin collector.

I don't live in that area anymore. Actually, I live in an area that is pretty flush with coin shops.

 

That reminds of Las Vegas coin stores. Some coins stores there are pathetic. I went to go inside and it was locked. Then the guy says can I help you ? I said yes I am looking to buy some world coins.... and then he says sorry we don't have that. Then locks the door. Does not even ask me if there were other coins I would like to see/buy. So the next store is even worse... The guy says can I help you ? I say yes I would like to see what kinds of coins you have to sell. He then says we are closed. The store hours were right there. It just opened. It was like I did not look like a millionaire so I am not helping you. So I said to myself this store is thee worst store ever.

 

I haven't found one that I would go back to. Most treat you like an idiot that they plan to take money from.

 

a local place here sucks. Everything is like 40 percent over red book. wanted to buy a morgan and the guy kinda tosses it on the counter. it was just really strange like I was so surprised!!

Needless to say, I don't go there too much anymore.

 

I've never had a bad experience at any B&M. If you don't like the deal, don't buy it!

 

Last month I sold 40% halves for $1.50 a piece despite melt being over 2.5x that amount... I didn’t know anything about anything obviously

 

Guess I’m lucky. My local guy has sold me some really nice coins at nice prices.

 

I’ve only had one negative experience. Dealer set up his own auction on a private platform then was a shill bidder. Same stuff ended up being listed every week. I asked him about the one bidder who won most every auction and he said it was a dealer in another state who just buys everything. But then the exact stuff would show up the next week and the same bidder would again buy everything. Very shady. I quickly took my business elsewhere.

 

I've never had a worst experience. If the deal didn't seem fair or the dealer didn't want to deal I just walked away. Now with the internet and online dealers there is no reason to put up with poor treatment from any dealer.

 

I make every experience a good one. I once went into a shop when I visited back home. I was buzzed in and received something of the cold shoulder however I kept my smile on my face and made it a point to strike up a conversation that made it apparent that I knew a little something about coins. Before I left the owner came out of the back and we were all laughing and enjoying each other’s company. The shop happens to be a mile from my grandsons home who is now a coin collector. I frequently will call the shop and place an order over the phone for my grandson to go pick up and they remember me each time I call.

My whole point is this. A coin dealer by nature has to be cautious in this day and age. We have a CT member that was shot running his coin shop! It is up to us to make the experience a good one. Then if the dealer doesn’t reciprocate, then write them off. But we have to make the initial effort to break the ice.

 

I’ll give you a little secret into how the mind of an old business guy thinks.... We learn early on that we can never raise a price, so we tend to over value something that we have to put a sticker price on. Next time you see a deal like that just ask him if he would take six bucks instead of sixteen. More often than not, that is exactly what he was expecting to happen anyway.

 

I got kicked out of a store for pointing out an altered-date 1914-D to the owner. An obvious fake...the mint mark was all wrong. There were 5 or 6 people in the shop, and this owner bellowed at the top of his lungs, "Who made you the f'n ANA???" Needless to say, I never went back.

 

[laminates LRC-Tom's ANA badge] I've never gone into an LCS, too intimidating, which is kind of funny, my kids are grown and I'm professionally successful, I don't mind negotiating at the Audi / Porsche dealership, but I'm scared of the local LCS in the strip mall. Sigh, when this covid thing is over I'm going to check it out and stop being such a wussy.

 

In all honesty, not in the coin world. Very very few will sell things for less than half of their stated price

 

The LCS in my burg changed ownership from someone who wanted to retire after some 50 years in the biz to someone from out of town that turned it into nothing more than a pawnshop with overpriced but common coins. I'd never go there for coins, but awhile back I went in looking for holders for some Russian 5 kopek coins from the 18th century. Dealer wasn't even willing to look for holders, I left.

And you know - Yelp comments are a thing - and I leave them for coin dealers.

In contrast, just before the pandemic my wife and I were in Indianapolis on biz and I happened upon a coin shop that I had heard about here on the forums. Nice clean coin shop, organized - curiously next to a beauty salon. But staff were plenty and quite helpful - I sorted through junk bins, through piles of paper money and left with nice Mexican Cuauhtémoc 5 pesos, some Canadian silver, several various scarce silver certificates and an oh so rare Cuban coin.
The at spot Cuauhtémoc.

 

I was overstating perhaps. But his illustration was a very over graded coin at a very unrealistic sticker price. And my point is that to me anyway, that sends a message.

 

Which is much much more common than it should be at shops and shows. This is especially true from the big silver run up a decade ago. Many many if not a majority of dealers would rather just wait until they make a profit on it then sell it for market value unless they have too. He could have paid 12 or something for it when silver was almost 50 and just refuses to sell for a loss. It's dumb but it's pretty common.

Happens online too, but online does police itself more for common things like that as it slaps you in the face how over priced you are and how it will never sell

 

I know exactly where you are talking about. Fortunately, it is about 20 minutes from my house. They always have a nice selection of world silver that will sell for around spot price. I have found some nice stuff in that box. Their overall selection is typically very good and the owner is a stand-up guy.