http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/mornings/coin-collectors-gather-in-waterford-may-22-26-20120522 Michigan Area
This is another one of those "fly by night" coin "stealers". They do not give anywhere near the actual value for coins, gold, silver, etc. They take advantage of the poor, the uneducated, and the elderly. These places claim they "buy coins for collectors", but truth is they just buy to resell. There is nothing wrong with buying low and selling high, but there is a line that is easily crossed, and gets to become unethical. I've had 1st hand experiences of what these places do. Say for instance a 80 year old lady brings in a 1916 Standing Liberty Quarter, which is worth around 3,000 dollars in good condition. Her father saved it, for some unknown reason, and her, having no family members who know anything about coins, takes it to that place. After taking the coin there, they feed her some line. "The coin is just a regular standing liberty quarter. We have no idea why your father would have saved it, we will give you 50 dollars for it". That's where buying low/selling high becomes unethical. These kinds of outfits lie to people, and take advantage of elderly people. I bought a jar of wheat cents from an elderly lady, that one of these "fly by nights" only offered her face value (1 cent each). Another outfit was only paying around 12-16 times face for silver coins. This was when silver was at an all time high. Even the local dealers, who don't give much, were paying 25x face. See what I mean? The local dealers can still make a living at 25x face, but these outfits have to rip people off. Do you think If some older lady took in a handful of Morgan dollars, and one was a key date, saved by her father, the place would tell her? Not a chance. Now you may think that the above is somewhat unethical, but wait, there's more. Places like these have been reported of falsely testing gold. They take a 18k gold ring, they "test it", and come back saying it's only 14k, and offer them even less of the 40% of melt that promised. One of these outfits currently operate under SEVEN different names. Once they get a bad name, they just get a new one. So if you think taking your coins, gold/silver, etc to a outfit that sets up at a hotel, town center, etc is a good idea, think again. These places could make a decent living offering people 60%. Especially with the volume of stuff they buy. But these places lie to people, cheat them out of items, offer them 30% of actual value, etc.
Hey, Mrb, could you let me know about any of these coin shows coming to Florida? I wouldn't want to miss my chance of selling my gold and silver for such high prices.
"Here I come to save the dayyy! Detecto is on the way!" Detecto... while a noble cause, there is nothing you can do that will stop this practice. Just let it go and worry more about yourself.. seriously.
