I'm thinking of going to my first coin show tomorrow morning and I just came up with a question while thinking about preparing for it. Do dealers generally accept checks? Is a debit card used? Do you bring a lot of cash?
I normally bring cash. Some dealers accept checks, and some do not. I'd bring some cash, and your checkbook.
Cash is almost always accepted. That is how I always deal. I have seen dealers with signs saying check are not accepted. Don't bother with a debit card.
All kind of depends on the dealers at the show. I go to about 2 coin shows a month and have run into dealers that will take a credit card, debit card or check. Then some will only take cash. One dealer told me he adds 25% to all credit card and check purchases. If your going to a coin show for the first time you may want to just take some cash and basically go there as a shopping experience. When I go I usually just take cash so that I don't get caught up in the moment and purchase something I may not really want. This also limits me to how much I can spend.
Thanks for the advie guys. I brought some cash but didn't pick anything up. I found a beautifully toned 1878-CC Morgan that I thought a guy was selling for $63, but later found he was actually selling for $300 (63 was the grade). Sufficiently embarassed, I learned a lesson today at my frist show. Always ask for a price and double check it before you say "I'll take it!"
$300 wouldn't have been a bad buy, if it had nice toning and was graded by one of the top two TPGs. Charlie
It had gorgeous toning but it was in a 2x2. I actually only had like $250 in cash on me so it wasn't going to happen but I really did want it for $63 lol.j/k
