New Collector & Coin Dealers

I purchase very little from local Coin Dealers due to the same experiences that you stated and also because most of their coins are overpriced, they give little if any discounts (even when buying in bulk) and they never give fair prices on anything I want to sell or trade! I get the same old question from most of them "What do you want for it?" instead of a fair offer and when I say that I want close to the Dealer's Bid Price according to the Grey Sheets, they then decline. If I do purchase anything from a local Coin Dealer, it is for something I really need at the time. I walk in, look for or ask about the item and if they don't have have it, I am out the door or if they do have it and the price is within reason, I make the purchase and get out the door.

I purchase most of my supplies and a few coins at Coin Shows! Most of the coins that I purchase, I do so locally from folks that respond to my request on a local Radio "Buy, Sale and Trade" segment every weekday morning or from folks that have heard from others that I purchase coins. I also purchase a few coins at Flea Markets, Yard Sales, Pawn Shops or on eBay (only from Sellers with a very high Feedback rating).


Frank

 

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Boy, do i remember those days. I used to live in Rhode Island, then Mass, and now michigan. I remember when living in RI that the entire state was excessible in under 30 minutes, and nobody ever wanted to drive to another state for anything, so the time limit on any trip was under 30 mins

 

I remember I was in atlanta for a business trip and decided to visit a local coin shop. I didnt have much time, so I picked the easiest one to get to. I had to take the local rail and a bus to get there, which wasnt much fun. The guy was just starting to open, taking his coins out of the safe, as the neighborhood wasnt the best. He signaled to me to come back a little later. When I came back he had a customer in there looking at coins, but the door was still locked. He looked at me through the window like I was a nut and visually dismissed me. You talk about giving coin dealers a bad rap - wow!

 

coin shops

I was searching for coin shops in my area and found 3 to look at all 35 miles away. the first one the people were nice enough but they were very proud of there own coins, and offered the lowest prices to buy coins.
the second shop the guy was more interested in the people he knew versus a new costomer (me), although he did spend some time with me. then He discouraged me from sending some coins in to be graded (he is a pcgs dealer). I went back to his shop after a few weeks and he had a sign in his window.........By appointment only.
Next I went to the third dealer and he was friendly, had a great variety of coins at reasonable prices, and is willing to pay me a fair price for my coins.
So after all that I found a coin dealer to do most of my buisness with.
Also, I went to a coin show last weekend and found another dealer about 45 miles away I want to visit so I'll have to see how that goes.

 

Hello, ive been around the block on this subject a few times myself!, weather dealing with militaria dealers, antique dealers, and coin dealers, I dont like some of there attitudes, but never the less will not sway me from lookin at their wares!It makes me look "for the hunt" instinct in me, Ill find an item they messed-up on and get the upper hand just becouse!So dont let their attitudes bother you that much, your there for the items not him!.Also, the old saying..."get the book, before the artifact!".

 

As a philatelic dealer, I try to sell the better material to clients privately and the junk at auction on ebay. Anything I sell directly, I am always happy to re-purchase at the price sold, or within ten percent (sometimes more). Stuff on ebay - I don't want to see it again.

So, to "test" your local dealer, purchase something that he recommends to you and then offer to sell it back to him 6 months later. That separates the crooks from the good guys real quick.

 

Ebay Junk

Therein lies the issue Covers!!

What you are calling junk, I may be interested in to buy. As a new collector, I am leary to spend a whole lot and may be perfectly satisfied to collect at a lower level.

I have read quite a bit online and somewhere (I don't recall) even read some advice on collecting "sets". What I read suggested that if you were to collect a peace dollar set, there is simply no point in collecting an entire set under MS levels. I would disagree. I am doing this as a new hobby WITH my son. At ten, I don't want to drop 200 on a '21 or '28 piece to complete the set. It is more important to enjoy the journey at this point. I'd be willing to buy a lower grade just to complete at this point.

I guess I would wonder your reaction. It seems to me there is a market for these lower grades and it doesn't mean that we are less knowledgeable or capable. Simply stated, until I have "been around the block", I know my budget...and I am willing to live with the fact that if my budget can't fit a certain quality, I have two choices:
1 collect a lower grade.
2 move on and skip it.

Now if my money doesn't seem as green because of that...and so far it doesn't seem so in person at least, that is a choice the dealer has made to only deal with a certain clientele. From a business perspective only, that seems silly...bird in the hand and all that.

To everyone,

Thanks for all the input. I sincerely appreciate the responses.

 

Mydrivec

To me "junk" is a function of quality, not price. A discerning collector should strive for the best quality affordable. If you want to buy off-quality "junk," you will find plenty of vendors. But, don't settle on that quality. Have fewer pieces but be proud of what you do have.

Also, most better dealers (at least in philately) will give extended terms to those on a budget. I certainly would strive to help someone on a budget by allowing terms when possible. Rather see that than a guy buying junk.

 

There is just one coin shop that I go to regularly. I first went there when I was collecting stamps and now I go for coins. They sell at about Greysheet bid and buy for about 20% back of bid. I have gotten a lot of nice coins from them and never had a problem. From what I have read on other forums, shops like this tend to be the exception not the rule.

Charlie

 

I appreciate your post. I have had mixed results with dealers. I try to be objective and remind myself that dealers have to make a living.

If you want free advice or help, your best bet is to try to talk with collectors.

Of all the Morgan silver dollars I have purchased or sold, only a handful have come from or went to dealers.

 

Iam just a little old fashion, I like going to coin shops weather the dealer is a but-head or nice!, I like to look at the coin "In Hand", Iam affraid to buy on sight from collectors or dealers,or if they have a return policly that will work, I bought a expensive coin for $2,300.00 5 years ago from a photo on sight and the coin whaen I got it in hand had a scratch on the field!, I returned it!it wasnt on the photo and not explained, see my fears??

 

The sad thing is, I have run into this twice, with the only two stores near me, and have come to the belief that these store owners are playing a real role in keeping new collectors from joining the hobby. Granted, many are great people, but the two I've met are condesending, and generally insulting towards every attempt I make to engage in conversation about potential purchases. And they both grill me about whether I buy on ebay...
So, they ultimately push me to ebay. Now, I've discovered JP's for supplies, and Northeastcoin.com and others for coins, and am perfectly content to let them run their museums of coins.
Sad really. And bad for the hobby. If I (an executive for a fair sized corporation) can be made to feel like an idiot... imagine a 12 year old trying to buy some bufallo nickels to get into the hobby...

 

Funny, I think I share your collecting habits. I actually collect 'junk' because that is what I want. I never desired to have a collection of 50 coins worth $1,000 each, but wanted thousands of coins to search with my son, and to enjoy digging through. So, I collect AG to VG range coins, mostly pre-1900. I can afford lots of them, and get a great education. Other people junk is my collectible!

 

im with you. I would much rather have a collection that i could look at and look through then a collection that is kept in a safe deposit box and never looked at because of its value. Now, certainly its not that i dont want coins that are extremely rare and valuable. If i had 10 million dollars to spend, i would certainly get the most for my money. But even then, in the end, i would have a collection consisting of more then just a single $10mill coin. I would buy lots of coins over several series. The enjoyment of looking through several hundred, maybe thousands of coins with my daughter is more valuable to me.

Even at 3-1/2 years old, she has her magnifying glass, and although doesnt understand the concept, she looks at her special pennies (cudds, corroded items and the like) through her mag and imitates me and looks through her small, yet growing, collection. Although at this point ehr collection is for the most part junk, over time i think her appreciation of the hobby will grow and so will her collection. Because i dont have the 1922 plain in ms-69 condition, or any other uber rare coin in ubber rare condition - i can sit with my daughter and let her 'sift' through my cents, because i know she cant and wont damage them any more then they allready are. As for investment -- i dont think anyone will argue, that a childs future is a better investment over anything else!!

 

It came with the realization that I am a coin collector, not an investor. I don't care what they are worth for the most part, as I have no intention of selling them. I do, however, want many examples of each type, each year and mint mark I can own, and lots of them. I love cataloging them, and organizing them. I have about 7,000 coins currently, that are worth under $10 each (many are worth a buck or so)! That's a lot of 'junk' that I love looking through. And you know what? From that junk, I have managed to identify several hundred that were actually worth $20 to $50 in some cases, which is some of the benefit of sorting through other peoples 'junk'. Sometimes, people still throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Then there are 'special' coins we have to have. I admit, I have an Oregon Trail commem, in MS65, as well as a handful of other more valuable coins, but nothing that has to go off to the safety deposit box! I love my big ole' collection of stuff!
I'll tell you what, you can't beat the fun of digging through a bunch of average coins and finding a rare date doubling! I have found a number of interesting and uncommon errors in searching buffalo's (my favorites), and others.

 

I've only had dealings with 3 dealers in fifty years. The first one was a crook who they are probably still looking for, after he took in a partner and then ran off with all the holdings to a foreign country. The second was with a big name outfit in Calif., they were fine, and my third is with a small town dealer here in Wi. The only problem with him is he loves to talk and I have a hard time exiting the place, he is honest and a likeable guy and once some kids came in with some very expensive jewelery and coins they wanted to sell, well he proved his stature to me when I saw him go to the back room and call the cops, rather than make a pile off these kids. I've been collecting for 50 yrs. and still do a lot of buying, but now I am also selling, I began selling on ebay this week. I think that some dealers might be hurting as a lot of coins go out the door there. Some dealers I suspect make most of there money taking in jewelery and coins for metal content. I still buy on Ebay and have been very satisfied there. If your looking for coins some members here have them for sale and I would check out Ebay, you can get a feel for who you are buying from by reading thier feedback.

 

I like your thinking. Maybe you can accomplish both goals; collecting and investing. Some of the in-between coins are lower grade morgan and peace dollars, silver american eagles, silver maple leafs, [silver-just-about-anything], lower grade old gold coins, foreign gold coins, and higher grade modern commemorative gold coins. The gold coins aren't in the $10 to $20 range, but they can frequently be obtained for close to bullion value so there is little collection/investment risk beyond what the price of gold does. I can live with that. There is little numismatic risk to this sort of collection, but there are a lot of coins to choose from. And when I'm gone, it shouldn't be very difficult for my kids to liquidate the collection without getting ripped off very much, if that's what they choose to do. In the meantime, inflation works in your favor.

 

I also find it 'safer' in a strange way. As you point out, when you buy a lot of silver coins at just above melt, the risk is small, and yet their is always the chance of pulling some nice coins worth 2x or more the melt value.
I have bought some large lots from an online wholesaler for about $1 per coin and while there are a lot of twenty cent pennies, I find that about 10% end up being $2 to $20 coins.
However, you spend $1,000 on an MS67 key date buffalo nickel and guess what? The odds are it was once an MS 66 or even 65. The resubmit game means that it goes back until someone get the grade they want, and then, when it is clearly maxed out, it is sold. So, you buy a coin that likely has gone through the numismatic peter principle...
Too much of that goes on. And the buyer of the high end coin gets stuck with a lot of risk that the next buyer would see it as an MS66 or lower... as they just may be smart enough to look past the plastic and see the coin.
I honestly can't tell an MS67 from an MS66. So, I would make mistakes.
With my nice G, VG or even up to XF, grading is generally very straightforward, and it is tough to really screw up (if you are being honest and using the right books and tools). So, I feel like my investment is protected. The pricing of the low grades moves up over time too, and yes, when my family sells my stuff off in (I hope) 50 years or more, valuation should be relatively straight forward.
and guess what!!!???
That rare key date is basically a key date in any condition! A CC mint mark morgan in G condition is still a CC mint mark, and you can own one without selling your car!
I have so many great coins that I'd never own if, say, I collected at AU, or BU for those coins. My type set has some VG examples of the oldest and rarer coins I'd never fill otherwise. I still love looking at them! Certainly I enjoy looking at them more than I would the holes that would be there if I was trying to buy AU or better (just try to pick up a nice AU early half cent, dollar, or half dollar without spending some big bucks!)

 

As a new member here, I want to thank everyone for their enthusiastic responses. I never imagined the vein I would hit when I first posted this.

I sincerely hope that all the views expressed help other users as much as it helps me.

However, after this discussion, I can't help but wonder how many of those brick and mortar coin dealers have EBay stores while denouncing sales on the site? Would be an interesting number I would bet.

 

That is the magic question. I asked my local dealer once... and he got all blustery about it, while admitting he sells 'some' items there on occassion. I told him I'd like to see his listings, and he told me he does not divulge his ebay user name.
Interesting, huh?