Hypothetical question for dealers.

Remember that it is still a crime to receive stolen goods people.......

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Its a question of having morals. I would tell the person what they had and offer a fair price. Most people that I have told about their mistake have given me great deals for being honest. Some dealers have even become freinds and call me when they get coins in and I get first chance to buy them. Let me ask a question, You see someone drop some money on the ground do you pick the money up and give it back to them or put the money in you pocket? Its all a question of if you have morals or have you sold your soul for the all mighty dollar.

 

I always have a list of prices I would sell for. I couldn't find the list before the show and did a quick one and I was just cured of cancer and still had some of what I call Chemo Brain. Well this one dealer i used to use A LOT zoomed in on it and got it for less then Melt. I found out when I got home updating inventory. That was last time I used that dealer. My fault it was my ask price. If I ever do dealer thing I wouldn't make alot of money. I would offer him $20 get contact info, and get it slabbed then split the profit. or my luck lose the $20 and grading fees

 

Well just because I buy the $900 coin for 20 dollars doesnt mean i have no morals it just means i got lucky. ANd if I saw the person or knew who dropped the money of course I would give it back and I have becaue Ive seen people leave purses and wallets behind in NYC and i run up and give it back to them but if thats the price on their item than thats what they want and its their job to know what they are selling not mine.

 

A fool and his money are soon parted.

 

Let's assume the original poster intended that the seller, walking into your store, has a genuine 1909-S VDB but has no idea as to its value. The ethical question is, do you low ball your offer (realizing that the seller is ignorant about coin values) or do you give him a reasonable offer that allows you to resell the 1909-S VDB at your usual profit margin (OK, perhaps even a bit higher)?

My answer is the reasonable offer that allows you to resell the 1909-S VDB at your usual profit margin. Who knows, he/she might have even more valuable coins and you you'd certainly like a shot at those.

 

I was at a flea market a few years ago. A mother and her adult son had a table. The guy had a box of junk he was selling--5 for a buck. In the box were a graded silver eagle and a graded Olympic commemorative dollar. I asked about these. "Five for a buck," he said. I tried to explain they were silver. "Five for a buck," he said. I tried to explain to him that they were worth a whole lot more than that. "Five for a buck," he said. I then tried to explain to him that they were legal tender and worth at least the face value. He got a little snooty and said if I didn't want them to put them back into the box so someone else could buy them.

Needless to say I bought them.

 

Take it for what it

* duplicate *

 

Take it for what it's worth

Theft by deception.
A person commits theft if he obtains property of another by deception. A person deceives if he intentionally:
(1) Creates or reinforces a false impression, including false impressions as to law, value, intention, or other state of mind; but deception as to a person's intention to perform a promise shall not be inferred from the fact alone that he did not subsequently perform the promise; or
(2) Prevents another from acquiring information which would affect his judgment of a transaction; or
(3) Fails to correct a false impression which the deceiver previously created or reinforced, or which the deceiver knows to be influencing another to whom he stands in a fiduciary or confidential relationship.

 

In a heartbeat.

 

A dealer should be able to tell if the 09 SVDB is genuine. A legit dealer has to offer a fair price for this to a novice or he is unethical. It's like those gold buyers that pay 10% of melt value.

Now if the same dealer went to Tag sale on a sunday at somebody's home, then he could pay $20 if that was the asking price, but not at his store.

How would said dealer like it if a TV station sent in a reporter with a known genuine 09-svdb and reported what was offered by various dealers in that city ?

I remember my local dealer had some original BU rolls of some better date washington quarters back in the 70's. He had bought them as junk silver, somebody came in and sold junk silver. I think silver was about 3X face then and these coins were perhaps $5 apiece. He had tubed them and sold you the next coin out of the tube for $5 or whatever.

He had no qualms about admitting he paid melt, justified it by saying ....these things help pay the rent.

Coin dealers have a license to steal if a bit dishonest to a few sellers they will never see again. You can also be a fence of sorts, pay less for silver when the seller clearly looks like a gangbanger sort with stolen stuff....can you identify stolen circulated silver Roosy dimes, I can't.

These guys melted junk gold into bars before having them refined, anything maybe hot was no longer hot once melted and cooled.

Ethics aren't for everyone, I reckon !

Now I don't suggest a dealer has to look thru your junk silver for you trying to find a 16-D dime and paying a fair price for it, that's up to you. But a single coin like the SVDB is different.

 

I think just an SVDB walking in the door is suspicious. I guess the coin would probably be raw and in a 2 X 2 ?

If slabbed the $20 is even worse. Is this coin stolen would be my first thought when the seller knows nothing about it....I'm already sure it is real for argument's sake.

How does a person have just this one rare item ?

If it was a 60 minutes type of journalism thing, then perhaps put together a realistic looking set of circulated Lincolns in a Dansco album maybe the wheats only and complete with all the keys and maybe BU from 1941 and up....a realistic set a collector might assemble.

Send in the 80 year old widow and see what happens. The coins are 100% legit say lent for the occasion by another dealer. This set is easily worth a few thousand minimum

I don't think a dealer should ask the widow how much she wants for it, he should instead make an offer after looking at 09-s, 09 svdb, 14-d, 22-p, 31-s 55 ddo, etc. Look at those 6 close and you should be able to calculate an offer in under 10 minutes pretty much ignoring the rest of the set.

You can't ethically ask Granny to name a price and steal it if she says $100.

 

I am not a dealer, but have been marginally successful in business to the point I retired at age 57, I would explain exactly what the coin was. The process and costs of grading, the retail and wholesale values of the coin. Then allow the owner to make as informed a decision as he can as to what to do with it.

I learned long ago that one's reputation is of far greater value than a few quick bucks on a deal. You have to consider that at some point the owner of the coin will obtain that knowledge from a different source. I would never try to take advantage of ignorance in the manner this story depicts. Worst case is I don't pick up a fast couple of hundred. Best case is I gain the trust of a customer and the good will that can serve to build my reputation.

No matter what the business is, some guys are busy while others are starving. Build a good rep and you will be in there for the long term. IMHO

 

In a seminar school, a class was assigned to prepare a sermon on the Good Samaritan. Each student met separately the professor and were told that they needed to deliver their sermon in 15 minutes to a board of judges at the chapel across campus. On the way each passed a person in need of help, none of them stopped to offer assistance. This was part of an ethics study conducted by the university. Often times what we profess and believe are weighted by current needs. I would love to go to a coin show and conduct a $20,000.00 survey on this exact situation to see how many would buy the coin for the $20.00. Personally, I would buy the 1909s VBD for $20.00 and then purchase the first coin out of his pocket for $400.00. In this way the inequity will be shared, but I think it has mostly to due with my inherit need to mess with statisticians.