My wife went to a conference in Albuquerque, so I tagged along and got to visit several coin shops in the area and do some tourist things. Here is a run down of the shops I visited. First - my overall goal was to locate circulated 1881-S Morgan Dollars for a grading set I'm putting together. The MS versions are easy to find, the circulated - not so much. What this usually means is looking through boxes of raw dollars or cull buckets and then I send those in for grading. Some dealers are more receptive to this than others (obviously, this isn't a huge purchase and this could occupy a decent amount of time for the dealer). Albuquerque had a TON of gold and silver shops, but these were mostly jewelry shops. Sometimes they bought gold or silver coins, but didn't retail them out, so there was nothing to see. A few had a very small selection of coins. These places were part of the journey but I don't remember details at each one. COIN SHOPS: -Albuquerque Coin: A well-organized shop with friendly, funny dealer. He had a steady flow of customers besides me and seemed genuinely happy. He let me look through a box of raw dollars and I didn't find what I was looking for. However, I try to find something interesting to buy in each of these LCS stops, since I appreciate the dealers having a brick and mortar store. I found this interesting well circulated 1893 Columbian Half: I wish this coin could talk. The counterstamps on the obverse: G.K., 1894 - meant something to someone along the way. I have no idea what, though NEXT STOP - Crown Jewels & Coin: This shop was a few doors down from Albuquerque Coin. The shop is about 75% jewelry and 25% coins/currency. The two coin dealers were super nice and looked through their bucket of cull Morgans with me, and we found this 81-S in the bucket: A good find for $32. Maybe VF? There are a couple tiny rim dings, but hopefully this one will work out. Time will tell. It will go to ANACS in a few months along with a few others I have accumulated. NEXT STOP: Coins 'R Us: It took some work to get into this place, as it looked deserted upon arrival. Again, there was a really nice dealer who did his best to find what I was looking for. He dug all around his store, but alas - no circulated 81S could be found. As a consolation prize I snagged this '97 ASE for $35. SHOPS NOT VISITED: -Tudor Coins: Currently the shop doesn't have regular hours and is appointment only. When I called, the owner said he had wholesaled out most of his Morgans recently and probably didn't have what I was looking for. -Jim Coad Rare Coins: Wasn't open during my visit. GENERAL IMPRESSIONS / LESSONS LEARNED: -Never trust Google / Facebook / Coin Shop Websites for hours. I showed up at the Jim Coad shop based on the hours listed, but his voicemail had different hours. -Security was tight: Every place I went on this journey (including the jewelry shops) you had to ring a bell for admittance into the shop and in some cases were escorted out after completing your business. There was a clear unspoken message that browsing (or loitering) were not welcome. About half the staff in these stores were armed. This is a bit of a different experience than I've had in other places, but I figure there is a reason so no judgment from me on this point. -Tell your story: Most people were curious about why I was looking for this particular type of coin and wanted to know how long I'd been working on this project and how far along I am (about 3 years, about 75% of the way there). I felt like these details perhaps made them more willing to help me find this particular coin. Overall, I didn't find a ton of coins, but the journey was fun and I enjoyed learning more about the shops in the area. Hopefully this helps if you are also in the area and want to check any of these places out. As a side note, the museums in Albuquerque (non-coin related) were varied, inexpensive, and interesting too. Mike
Sounds like a fun time! I spent time in this shop on one of my business trips to ABQ back in 2019 (exactly 6 years and 1 day ago!). I was his first-of-the-day and only customer at the time and we had a real fun time talking about stuff (coins, where I'm from, his trips to SoCal, etc.). I ended up buying a 1970 proof set. There was a mark on the box that said "Large date", but I didn't care or even look at the cent. Later that day I looked closely at the set and it turns out the cent was a small date! If I ever get back to his store I am sure we would have a good laugh at that story! I may even pay him a bit more! edit to add: great to hear he's still in business!
It's the confluence of a lot of things I think. Sort of a modern day vortex of the old Wild West. Sounds like you had a fun adventure. I wonder if G and K were married in 1894.
That counterstamped Columbian half is neat. Appears to be a love token (albeit counterstamped rather than engraved). It's also a CircCam. I probably would've scooped that one up, too. The 1881-S Morgan is also appealing, despite being super common and circulated. I just like 'em with that look. I'd also have bought that one for the price paid. (Not sure I'd bother submitting it to ANACS, though.)
