I was reading another thread and found that I could find PNG dealers by zip code on the PNG site. It was actually by Country and State. I found a grand total of three in the entire state of Georgia. None are horribly far from me, but still a 30-45 minute trip to any of them. My question is are there any other reputable dealer's organizations that hold their members to the same strict standards as PNG? The reason I ask is that there are at least four dealers within a few miles of where I live in Georgia (Snellville/Lawrenceville area), and none are on the PNG list.
Most of the PNG dealers on eBay have overpriced coins. I always avoid them on eBay. Thankfully most of them advertise it on their listings, so I can easily avoid.
You can also use the ANA dealer directory - https://www.money.org/membership/dealer-directory.aspx But here's the thing, dealers who are members of the ANA and/or PNG are supposed to adhere to set of rules, a set of ethics. In other words they are supposed to be good guys, trusted and respected dealers. But the reality is that anybody can be a member dealer of the PNG or ANA as long as they pay their dues, and as long as nobody reports them for unethical behavior. If they are reported then the ANA or the PNG examines the report and they decide if action is warranted. They may then either do nothing because they decide doing nothing is warranted, or they may censure the dealer, or they may even expel the dealer from the organization and tell him that he may not display their logo anymore or claim to be an ANA or PNG dealer. Now in many, maybe even most, cases the dealers that belong to these organizations are good guys, but experience, history, a track record, has shown that not all of them are. So relying on membership in one or both of these organizations as a key to deciding whether or not to do business with somebody should not be your sole factor in making that decision. Yeah, it's a good place to start, but it's only a start. If you want to find a trusted and respected dealer then you either have to choose one from among dealers that you personally know, and thus know that you can trust them. Or, you have to have one recommended to you by another person that you personally know and trust - and only by a person you trust. Now doing that is going to be difficult in many cases because seldom can you find such a dealer in your locale. You might be able to, but it's not gonna happen a whole lot. So what do ya do ? Well what you do is look elsewhere. A dealer doesn't have to be physically close to you in location for you to deal with him, he can be clear across the country. The important thing is that you can trust and respect that dealer. You can then look at pics of coins on his web site or he can email pics to you and discuss prices and you can then decide if you want to buy a given coin. If the dealer knows you, and you know him, then he will know that you will probably be happy with a given coin or else he won't even offer it to you. So most of the time you will be happy with the coin he sends you. But on those rare occasions when you are not happy, you will be able to send the coin back to him and have your money refunded, or applied as a credit for a future purchase - no questions asked. And everybody is still happy. Now that is the best scenario that a collector can ever hope for. It works for him, it works for dealer. Both parties are happy. So don't think that just because you can't find a dealer that is a 20 minute drive away that you have to resort to dealing with people you don't know and trust. You don't. You can go to coin shows, or you can establish a relationship with one or several dealers all over the country. Trusted and respected dealers will work for you, they do the hard part. They find the coins you want a price that you are willing to pay. But you have to do a little work too. In the beginning you to search them out, find them. And you do that by doing what I said above - you only take recommendations from people you personally know and trust. But it's worth that bit of effort on your part because it solves all of your problems.
Honestly, I would read nothing into PNG membership. In full disclosure, I am not a PNG member, but I was appointed to the committee to prepare a definition of coin doctoring for the PNG.
Just so I understand you correctly, are you saying: PNG membership is worthless for people trying to locate a dealer; it neither implies a good dealer (which the PNG suggests is does) or a bad dealer (which bkozak33 suggests it does).
Pretty sure that's what read nothing into it means. But for the record, I most definitely am saying that - it's neither nor.
Ok. I appreciate it folks. I do have one guy that has a pcgs sign in his window. I trust him mainly because we both were cops, had met in the past, and know a lot of the same people. His inventory is just a tad limited verses another shop I've been at that has been around for 30 years, has a crap ton of inventory, yet prices his stuff way higher than any other local shop I've looked at. For example: a raw BU Stone Mountain Comm for 65 at one and 120 at the other. Which btw I am looking for right now.
With classic commemoratives, IMO it is best to be patient. On Ebay people list the common ones very high with buy it nows, however during auctions they go for more realistic prices.
The two prices I mentioned above were from two different brick and mortar shops about 20 miles apart. I'm still cautious about eBay as I'm still new to this. Being that I've read a few horror story threads here regarding eBay transactions. On the subject of Comms though. My favorite coin currently is the 1982 GW commemorative. I have one. It's just a damned good looking coin IMO. Is there any reason to buy more? The one I have is from the mint in original "packaging" so I would assume it's ms68ish. Are there varieties, errors, etc.,etc., on this coin?
I have also read the horror stories about ebay, but I have been a buyer and sporadic seller on the site since 1998 and have not been scammed. Common sense is your friend. Commems can be beautiful, but the classic commem market has been in the dumps for more than two decades and has not shown signs of a complete breakout. The modern GW commem is quite handsome and I view it as a nice bullion play.
A difference in prices like that is pretty common actually. It's even common even with 2 examples of the same coin, graded the same and by the same TPG.
Ok. So it is fairly common even for raw coins? I must add that the two examples I mentioned above are raw, not TPG coins. The BU condition is just both owner's opinion of the coin's condition. They are both just in a standard white card stock holder with the year, condition, and type of coin it is. I guess I could have left it at raw, but you folks know what I mean.
Nevermind GD. I read again what you stated. It's not uncommon even for TPG (same TPG) coins of the same grade to be priced that far apart. Thank you.
Grey - when you see something like that remember it. It is a quick and easy lesson that you don't want to do business with that particular dealer.
