https://brooklyngallery.com/coin-cleaners.html?p=4&product_list_limit=25 This coin dealer is selling just about every silver polish on the market to coin collectors. Is this not somewhat irrespeonsible?
These products he is selling aren't really supposed to be used on coins. (Other than the Nic-a-date and stuff like that) It is silver polish. People use it for silverware, jewelry, etc. And you cant blame them for selling it. If people buy it, they will keep selling it. I don't see a problem with it.
Most coin supply dealers (and Brooklyn Gallery is a prominent and respectable one) sell coin cleaning supplies. Walgreen's, a pharmacy, sells cigarettes, or used to. Calling out a coin supply company for selling cleaning products would be similar to yelling at Walgreen's or Rite-Aid or whoever for selling ciggies and wine. They're in the business to do business and make money, not be nursemaids or nannies. Is it a little odd? Well, yes and no. But mostly no.
That is not a fair comparision at all, but FWIW, Pharmacies in this state are prohibited from selling cigarettes.
I plead 5:00 AM graveyard shift exhaustion. Everything’s an analogy to me after a certain point. But your perception of a conflict of interest in coin supply dealers selling dip is also a wee bit of a stretch. I mean, yeah, there is a point there, but it’s weak, and does not consider the realities of the market. I doubt very many people would view that as unethical. And Walgreens here in GA absolutely did sell ciggies, the last time I set foot in one. (Hey, it’s Georgia, what can I say.) I just found that similarly strange, in the same way you do the silver polish at Brooklyn Gallery. Contradictory, y’know.
OK - so you are a dealer and I walk into your shop and I tell you, "I get this great 1889 MS63 Morgan in a PCGS slab, and I broke it out becuase it looks toned. Do you have any silver polish? How do you answer. It is not as much a conflict of interest as a fiduciary responsibility. You might argue, and even be correct, that there is no fiduciary responsibility, but I would disagree.
Point taken. I don’t think Brooklyn Gallery has any fiduciary responsibility in this particular case, but yes, that’s a valid point in general. It is contradictory.