my son. He works at a fast food place-he is a junior in high school and getting into the coins. He is finding some neat coins going thru the register. He came home the other night and told me he sold a Kennedy -D bicentennial half dollar in fine condition. His manager had seen the coin in the register earlier, but my son got it first. The manager wanted to buy the coin and Jake said okay, $10.00. The manager handed him a ten. We looked at all the books, magazines, and price guides we could find. None listed that coin as rare or even highly desirable. Did we miss something? Let's see..at $10.00 for every common .50, I could retire ! Gary
No, you didn't miss anything. The manager who bought it is missing a few brain cells, though. Maybe your son should bring in a few Ike dollars and $2 bills. He could probably buy a car with the proceeds form that manager.
That guy is the type that would probably buy coins from those jokers on the Coin Vault or HSN! I knew there had to be somebody out there!
Well, maybe the manager keeps a collection of less common coins he comes across in registers at his place of employment. Whatever the case may be, in some fashion, that coin was worth more to the manager than the $10.00 he had in his pocket. Though in all probability, this is a reflection of the fact that Kennedy halves are not your standard spending change, regardless of mint year. So people tend to think if they don't see it that often, it must be rare - and therefore worth something, though they haven't the slightest idea what.
Why don't you sell him some "golden" dollars. You could even sell them for less than their weight in real gold.
Kind of like the "rare" 2005 buffalo nickle I'm still shaking my head at people buy $100 bank boxes for $175+....anywho
I just picked up a 1976 half at the bank. Ask the Man... if he wants it!!! And there are still some more! SM
That story reminds me of this one... My 10 year son will sometimes takes some of my "old" Lincoln Cents to school to show them off to his friends. These are my Lincolns that end up in the gallon pickel jar...which will probably sell 20 years from now as "unserached lots" on eBay. You know the pitch..."found coins in a old man's crumbling attic...never searched!" He recently took a 1909-P Lincoln in about VF condition to school and most of his classmates never saw something as old as this. One offered him $20 for it! I told him to take it. He looked it up in Coin Values and they had it at $3 to $3.50. "That's called profit son," I told him. Next day at school comes the big "coin deal". Asking him what happend...he shows me a note from his teacher that needed to be signed...by the parent (that's me!) It stated something to the effect that the teacher appreciates my son's interest in coins and history, but to "hustle" his classmates for $20 is not welcome in her classroom. I wrote a note of apology to the teacher stating it was MY fault and I only encouraged my son to enjoy some of the buying and selling highs of this hobby. My son and I still smile about it.
If the coin was a silver half-S, it was not in good shape to warrant what he paid for it. I also asked my son if he felt guilty about the price he got and his answer was "NO". So I guess both parties are happy with the deal. Now I need to find someone like that so I can sell my silver and start buying gold! Midas, maybe this is how bad ebay sellers get started. Have we done a bad thing? Now every coin he tries to sell, he will expect a big profit....
My son, always searching everybody's loose change, found a 1972 DDO Lincoln in circulation that was certified by PCGS at AU55 and later sold on ebay for $280...a huge profit for a kid that was only 9 at the time. Fueled that a cent can be worth dollars, the 1909-P Lincoln he took to school was for the sole purpose of showing his lunch table buddies, "Look what I got!" When offered the $20 for that 1909-P Lincoln, he realized that what is worth only "X" dollars to him maybe worth "X+1" dollars to somebody else. Even at his young age he understands that everything he sells doesn't yield huge profits. For instance, my dad works at a golf course and finds hundreds of "lost" golf balls throughout the course. He gives them to my son and suggested he should sell them. So here is this 10 year-old with a box of golf balls sitting near the 10th tee selling used golf balls for a $1 each. He made his own "4 Sale" sign and everything. He didn't sell hardly any. He asked me why and I explained that maybe his price was too high (expecting too much profit) and he should sell them for 50 cents or 3 for a $1. Also, I told him he would sell more if he cleaned the balls and made them like new. Next week comes along and the kid makes over $50. He also learned a lesson in supply and demand along with that he can't sell something for whatever he wants. He also learned that brand names like Titlest sold faster than others making him think that he can charge more for Titlest golf balls than others. It sure beats paying him an allowance as he is already learning life's lessons.
