I have a guilty conscience...

As chance has it, I've stumbled upon and purchased) several old Whitman coin albums, the latest of which is a Washington quarter album missing only two coins from being full. Now you're probably thinking "missing the '32-D and S..." naturally. But no... those are in there! It's missing a '32 (P) and a '55-D and that's it!

My internal struggle now lies in how much I paid for this lot. The guy I purchased from typically only asks for 20x face, as the majority of the coins are culls or slightly better. This album has far more value than just that generalized price, and I did see the album (and it's contents) prior to buying it. I held in my excitement when I saw that first page, paid him, hung out for a while and chatted it up (as usual), then came home.

Opening the book up and glancing at every coin, this was an album put together with some care after about the mid-40's with some stellar examples held inside it. It wasn't really messed with much in terms of removing coins because the two I took out (32-D & S) were practically stuck in the hole.

My guilty conscience is telling me to stop by and give him a bit more cash for this, as it's obviously worth more than melt. Have you experienced this before, with underpaying for something you knew was worth more and then felt compelled to give more without being requested? How did you react to your feelings? Personally, I despise having a guilty conscience and will likely lose sleep until I do something to make amends. I'm just curious if this is common or not, and what your thoughts are.

 

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Give him more money. Your user name says it all.

 

I almost certainly will. I do like to sleep peacefully, and having something like this on my conscience will keep me up at night.

 

And for the curious folk here, I'll post some much better pictures sometime soon of the best looking coins, as well as the 32's. Either tomorrow or this weekend, whenever I get the time and courage to free them from this album. Lots of toners in here, too. Some good, some ok... some looking like overexposure to sulfur dioxide lol

 

No.

While I have experienced the eventuality of a really great deal, it was always after the deal was consummated & I later had the opportunity to deep dive and discover what a deal it truly was; even at that, I once was able to track down the seller and pay some extra (Don't know that I would do that for a dealer, though.). But for a regular "Joe", I was happy to.

You just have to do what you feel is right for you. Too many times, people want to know what others would do, but really, it's a personal decision you need to make for yourself. If I knew, during the negotiation, I know what I would do.

JMHO

 

I appreciate your input, and your thoughts are reaffirming my gut feeling. This purchase is far different from every other transaction I've had with this guy.

He simply didn't know what he was selling, and I wanted to pull the top two contenders to check them out before offering more than asked. Now that I've taken a closer look at them, I do feel it's necessary to give some extra money. I love a great deal as much as the next person, but I don't like feeling I've taken advantage of someone to achieve that deal.

 

Is he a dealer? or does he regularly trade in coins? If he is someone who regularly trades in coins, then it is absolutely on him to know the value of what he is selling. If you got a great deal because he didn't check his merchandise, you win. It kinda sounds like this is someone who regularly sells coins.

If this is someone like at a yard sale or something and they don't really know what they've got... I'd feel compelled to split the difference - give them more than what they asked, because they don't know better. But you keep some profit because you do know better.

 

If it is on eBay, I have no guilt. In person, I have always told people what their coins were worth. I have never had anyone yet state what they wanted for price, though. They always said, "What will give for them?" or "What are they worth?" In such cases, I do not feel right taking advantage of them. For that reason, I have never gotten great deals in person. If someone had coins for sale and stated what they wanted, I probably would give them what they asked. It is one thing if they lowball themselves, but quite another for me to do it. THAT, would give me a guilty conscience.

 

He runs a local antique shop, recently inherited. He's a stand-up guy and works with customers on pricing. He really isn't very knowledgeable on coin-related stuff and typically defers to my suggested prices, as I know a cull when I see one. I saw this book and wanted to speak up, but I also wanted a better look at them all before offering a higher price than usual.

He just asked how many were there so I counted them out and we did the quick math at 20x face, ended at the number, and that was that. His dad was the original shop owner and passed away a little while ago, and this guy inherited the business. He knows his dad had lots of stuff overpriced so he is happy to adjust accordingly to get a happy customer.

My problem is that he trusts me to not undercut him, and I don't feel right doing so to anyone... especially when someone could easily be struggling to stay afloat. He's got a high-exposure site and a lot of nice stuff, but he just doesn't have the knowledge on coins. I happen to know enough to spot a few key dates, and this is one of those times where I think I'll regret not following through on making this right, and I strive for No Ragrets.

 

I would think of it this way, and the guy you bought it from may have been the same. By the time you slab the coins and pay insurance and shipping you will have paid the 26X twice at least. Then you have to market the coins in order to sell.
I don't mind a good deal that profits both you and the seller.

 

I don't play with the ebay shenanigans. I know there's deals to be had on there but I can't bring myself to deal with the nonsense/baggage that comes with it.

 

But $5 / each for a '32-D & S? That feels straight up dishonest.

 

I guess the '32-D is a 6-8 and the S is about a 30

 

Now, these pictures don't do this coin justice, but here's one of the toned and high grade examples. Just a 1960 (P) quarter, but nice!

 

The guy trusts you, you have stated.......don't betray his trust.

 

Yeah, even if i wanted to and tried to, I'd end up having nightmares until I made amends lol

 

You say he typically sells for 20X. It seems that he knows what he is doing and got what he wanted for these quarters.

 

He did get what was asked for, yes. But I knew better the second I saw those 32's. I was thinking I'd give him an extra $50 just to make up for the 32's. As for the rest of the lot... I need to take a really close look at them under my scope to check for wear or cleaning/polishing marks before making any monetary judgments against myself. I was raised catholic and to always be honest with people, and to never take advantage of someone who might not know what I did. Maybe I'm a fool for it, but I don't like feeling guilty about anything of the sort.

 

I am waiting on photos. Maybe I haven't looked at the values lately of a 32D or S.
If they are hundred-dollar coins each then, I understand. Give him another 26X the whole set. Or you could pay him double on the next thing you buy.
I always try and look at what I would have to put into the coins to sell them. That is just good business. I have gone back to well-known dealer in Denver, and paid him xtra on the next sale and said hey you missed something the last time I bought from ya. Make him think about what he missed.
He retired, too bad because he was my favorite dealer.

 

Not only will you feel better but your integrity will raise you in the eyes of the seller and that can pay dividends down the road.