Buying coins!!!!

Hello guys, I got a question. Do you recomend buying coins from pawn shops. I went to see one last weekend and ended up buying some silver quarters the oldest one being a 1936 and a few more..I also saw some nice mint proofs from 1976 for about 9 dollars. And they had other nice coins for reasonable prices. Do you think It's worth buying some from these pawn shops. Thanks..

 

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If the price is right..why not....

 

If I'm looking at a pawn shop I know that the store owner paid alot less then value of coin and probably doubling the price now. My suggestion would be to use the blue-book prices for buying coins at a pawn shop. Always remember their prices are not set in stone.

 

I do not know if it is the same at every pawn shop, but the local one around here charge ms prices for anything they sell, the coin could be at best a ef dont make no difference, I wonder if they pay ms prices for ef coins, I sort of doubt it, I just think they operate under the theory that the customer does not know the difference. I asked one time why they were charging that price for a coin in that bad of shape, and they told me that it was in great shape considerring how old it was.

 

Pawn Shops, buy low and sell extremely high. I would stray away from Pawn Shops and go with Trusted Dealers in your area.

 

Pawn shops are for collectors who have done their homework and know how to grade and price the coins they see , so if you know how to grade and have a good current priceguide or at least checked what similar coins have sold for at Heratige and other Auctions you should be ok , but remember most Pawn shops buy for almost nothing from desperate people and sell for as much as they can .
rzage

 

I won't, because here almost all stuff is stolen. But if is not the case there, and the price is right I don't see why not.

 

If you have the time, i guess. Bring the Greysheet with you and have an idea of grading helps.

 

Pawn Shops are not coin dealers. At best, they have a blackbook or a redbook somewhere, probably an outdated one.

To them any coin that still has detail on it is "BU UNC MS70" and etc., and will be sold for highest value they can figure out to slap on it. Bying and selling in a pawn shop ususally ammountto "pound of flesh" type of deals

However, I've gotten GREAT deals too. I bought a roll of Mercury/Roosevelt circulated dimes a year ago for just a few bucks over melt from a place by me. They must have been drunk when pricing that one.

Now, what I'd love to know is how to get a license to open one, I'd be making $ hand over fist as I've sen what they pay people!

 

If you feel the price is fair I see no reason not to purchase....

 

I've only stopped to look at one pawn shop out of curiosity. They had a few trays of stuff in 2x2s. All common. Nothing good. All over priced. Beyond that they had a bunch of margarine containers with junk silver in them. Silver was down at the time.

The coins in those containers looked cleaned but were sticky. I was looking for key dates, mms, but I had a strong feeling about 100 people had sorted through them before me. They wanted $4 a piece for a silver quarter and $6 a piece for common circulated Franklin halves. It was a joke.

Keep in mind most pawn shop owners won't really have a clue about coins. They've got to be the easiest places to pass off a fake and I'm sure people take advantage of that all the time.

Most of them have got to be pretty much the same so I would not recommend the places. There's just so many better options.

 

If the price is low, you can bet its stolen merchandise. If you want to go that way buy his cheap stolen bullion coins. Traci

 

Know your stuff and make your own decision is all I can say in a nutshell.

We have a pawn shop that now refers "coin sellers" to us a coin shop. Says a lot I think. They have much higher margins in buy vs. sell so coins tend to be overpriced and sit there.

We buy from them when they're strapped for money. Best bet is to walk in with a hefty wad of cash and see if they want to dump for a quick but not excessive profit.

Your research as a buyer is the real key in a pawn shop or anywhere else.

 

And I have to completely dissagree with that. Most of my greatest purchases in coins have come from garage/yard/estate sales, flea markets and pawn shops. Only close to that is coin shows.
One pawn shop near me USED to have fantastic prices on coins until some idiot told the owners about the Red Book and now they think those are the right prices. Other pawn shops around me have little knowledge of coins and prefer not to get involved since they rather handle more easily sellable items such as cameras, tools, jewlery, etc. One person I know has been purchasing coins from one pawn shop for many years now and they call him as soon as they get them in so I loose out there.
As to flea markets, there is one dealer seller at one that I find the best deals anywhere. At one garage sale I purchased a jar of about $35 in cents and the newest coin was in the 50's. Entire bottom was Indian Cents and all for $50.
Purchased a book of Indian Head Nickels with 238 in there and most in fine condition for $80. Those are just some of the deals. Many, many more also.
As far as my experiences I can not find a better place to find coins for really great prices than at pawn shops, flea markets, garage/yard/estate sales.
To clarify one thing though I mean Estate Sales not auctions. These are the ones where someone died or a family is moving and wants to dump lots of just STUFF. Old coin collections are to some just STUFF.

 

Thanks alot guys for you comments, It really helps alot. But like some of you said that it's ok maybe i'll give it a try, cause like I said some of those coins they don't sell them for much, while I was there I did see some high prices on some coins like some walking liberty half dollars for $29 dollars and some others. do you think thats a good price for one of those coins. And they look in very good conditions. Well like i said I'm about to go and see what they have and maybe buy some coins that would not be that expensive so like that i wont feel like i lost my money. Ill post pictures later...

 

Just make sure you do your homework before hand. I don't know if you watch Pawn Stars on TV, a reality show that takes place in a Pawn Shop, but if you do you'll notice that they project an appearance of being on the up and up. I guess some are and some are not. It all gets back to doing your homework ahead of time.

 

Hi,

I am a new collector myself, and I have looked to pawn shops for coins. I have not bought any coins that were less than uncirculated for the reason that I do not know much about grading. I do, however, ask myself a couple of questions even though I still do not buy. It is mostly to get myself in the habit of scrutinizing the purchase before I buy the coin.

I ask myself these questions: "What is the condition of the coin?" "How much is the pawn shop selling it for?" "What is the Redbook value for that coin in that condition?" and "How much could I get the same coin of equal condition at a coin dealer?"

I watch the TV show "Pawn Stars". It, kind of, lets you see how a pawn dealer works. In one episode, one person was selling a Silver dollar with a "CC" mint mark for much less than the store wanted too because that persons eyesight was going bad. Later in the same episode, they showed another person taking the same silver dollar and throwing it in a bucket with other silver dollars, mixing it around, and dumping it on the table for the person, with the bad eyesight, to search through and find the CC dollar. That episode showed me that particular pawn shop had some idea of how much the dollar was worth, but did not to how to properly handle it.

If you can find the same coin at a dealer but in better condition for a little more in price, I would buy from a dealer. Do not be afraid to negotiate with the pawn shop. Chances are, they bought that coin as part of a larger set while paying as little as they could. Then they sell each coin individually for the highest price they can. That is why you should have answered all the questions I have stated above before you make your purchase. Also, don't feel that you have to buy the coin on your first visit- shop around first. If you can find the same coin, in the same condition, cheaper some place else, go back to that pawn shop and try to negotiate them to a lower price. If they will not negotiate, buy the coin from the other shop.

I hope that I have helped you in some way. Give us an update on what you decided.

Matt

 

Waz up guys.. I just came back from the pawn shop that I was talking about, I went to check it out to see if I'll buy any coins, that's if they were for a reasonable price. Well ended up buying a 1940 Mercury dime (for a $1.50),A 1971s Washington Quarter PL UNC (for a $1.00),A 1938 Indian head nickel ( for a $1.00), Two Indian Head Penny, one is a 1906 and the other one is a 1901 (for $2.00 each) and before I had bought 5 silver Quarters (for $3.00 each). Im posting some pictures so you guys could see what I have purchased. The two Indian head penny I dont know If you would be able to see them clearly, they are inside this 2x2's so I din't want to take them out. But they are both in good condition.

 

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