I was driving into town the other day and saw where they reopened the small flea market there. It was never really that great, but I decided to stop in anyways. I looked around and didn't see to much (just a bunch of auction box lot odds ands ends). On the way out, a lady asked me what I was looking for. I told her coins. She said she has alot of coins that her grandfather had given her before he died several years ago. These included all denomonations including several gold coins. She wants to sell them in the flea market but has no clue as to the worth of any. She mentioned going to the local coin shop too se what they are worth. I have met the local coin dealer before and while I think he is a nice man, I do believe that he will do anything to get the coins he wants. I am afraid that she will get bad information from the dealer and she will then either sell all to the dealer or not sell any anywhere. I want to lead her in the right direction so she will be well informed. I never gave my name or number, but I did tell her I would stop back soon. Should I be hands off and let what happens happen?
Hi, I would be hands off unless she contacts you, then I would ask her what shes has in coins then go from there. carl
IMHO. You like most folks I have run into on here seem to be good people. I think letting "what happens happen" is not in anyones best interest but the guy who runs the coin shop. I'll tell you what I did in a similar situation... I ran across a lady who had advertised a few key date Morgan dollars at a real good price. Once I spoke with her it turned out she had a LOT of Morgan dollars and other old coins which had been left in an inheritance. I ended up meeting her at a bank and essentially offered to appraise the collection for her free of charge if she let me have first choice - Although I did let her hold the title to my car as good faith that I wouldn't run off with the coins. In the end I didn't end up with any of her Morgans but got some nice large cents and a few other goodies from her. But it also helped her in getting a better deal with the inheritance as I appraised the collection at about 25% of what she was told the value was (many kids so things had to be split up). Anyway my point is I think you should definitely go back to her and at least make sure she dosen't go selling the whole collection off for a fraction of its value like a few hundred bucks because it "used to be a lot of money to her". Maybe you can find somthing cool for your collection too - then everyone wins! Good luck J
I think if you are interested in them, and can accurately grade and possibly authenticate some if necessary, I'd make her an offer on some or all of them. At worst, she could say no and you'd be done.
I would recommend she take the to several dealers for offers. Even if she has to drive a little out of the way.
This is good advice. Talk to her after she gets a quote (or several quotes), and if you are interested in the lot, make her a better offer. TC
I would reccomend to anyone selling coins that they should educate themselves first, or failing that, they should go to a dealer and get an appraisal, making clear that you do not intend to sell to them and that you will pay them for their trouble... ... That is if you don't have an informed friend you can go to...
"...On the way out, a lady asked me what I was looking for. I told her coins. She said she has alot of coins..." Mine is a completely humanitarian response. 1.) You happened to be drawn to a place that did not hold much promise for YOU. 2.) You were leaving. 3.) SHE asked you. 4.) YOU are conflicted enough to ask the question here. 5.) You should contact her. 6.) Ask her if she has properly cataloged or photographed the collection. 7.) If so , ask to view them. 8.) If not, offer to do it for her FREE (not disclosing values yet). 9.) Recommend obtaining appraisals from several sources , NOT SELLING. 10.) If she's willing to share the appraisals and they look fair then jump in & bid. 11.) If it looks like the appraisers were gonna rip her off then offer to consign them for her at the best price YOU know she could get , in exchange for pick/s of the litter.
Buy her a redbook and walk away. This will not end good. The road to (that very hot place) is paved with good intentions.
Go back and mention that she should first figure out what she has. Ask if she has access to the internet and then mention some of the sites where coin prices are listed. Also, you may want to mention if there is a coin store in the area, she should stop by and purchase a Red Book. Or order the Grey Sheet or look up and order a copy of Numismatic News. Mainly explain that some or many of those coins could be worth a lot of money and she should take her time doing her own evaluating. Other suggestions might be for her to ask other family members if they know anything about coin prices or how to find out. If she does have access to the internet you may suggest she join this forum and ask for some prices right here. Regardless of what you do the right thing is to alwasy attempt to help others so that someday someone may help you. Sort of wishfull thinking but sometimes does work. Of course being a nice person could backfire too. At a flea market near me a seller had several bins full of coins on his table. One was all foreign coins and two others all US coins. Like socks where one size fits all, he had one price for all coins. For weeks I dug through them and found many, many coins worth a lot of money. So I gave him a price guide in the form of the Numismatic News paper. He woke up and started putting his coins in 2x2's. He started charging what coins are worth. I lost my cheap access to coins.
As has allready been sugested tell her about the red book etc, now I dont know how much you want to get involved but you could allways offer to go with her to the coinshop. The dealer wont know that she is not a old friend of yours and you just point out to him she asked you because you have a understanding of coins and she dont. Put it this way if she turned up to buy a second hand car with a mechanic in tow no one would complain or if she asked one to help her sell her car
If you are interested in the coins why shouldn't it be you that buys them from her? I would treat her as JJK78 treated the woman in his story. Above all else be fair with her this way there's no guilt, no bad karma, no totured conscience, etc.
What I have done in similar situations is to offer to examine the coins and tell them what an honest dealer would most likely give for them, but I would not buy any of them until AFTER they had offered them to a dealer and he had failed to meet my valuation. That way they know that I'm not lowballing them to try and rip them off. (I've worked as a dealer and at least at the time I had a fair idea what an honest dealer would pay for them.) I would then place values a little below what I thought the dealer would pay. That way the dealer would possibly offer a little more (and what person wouldn't like being offered more than they expected) but still make a reasonable profit, and if they didn't I could still buy at a fair price, and the owner of the coins would get a fair price. If there was something I really wanted for myself I just list it at a little more than what I believe the dealer would pay. If they take it to a rip off dealer then he won't meet my values, I can still buy them at my prices. The owner doesn't get ripped off because my prices are fair and leave me room for a slight profit. Only person who can lose out is the rip off dealer because he gets nothing.
I ran into a similar situation with a loan officer at my local credit union. She knew I was a collector and wanted some advice on a collection she inherited. I loaned her a 2009 copy of the Red Book and a photo grading book. I explained that a good "rule of thumb" for most circulated non-key date coins is to take 50% of the Red Book price to get close to what a Dealer might offer. I was hoping she would give me "first dibs" to buy her coins, but she decided not to sell. She never told me what she had and I didn't pry...although I wanted to in the worst way.
