As I was walking to the coffee shop (I usually go there to look through boxes of coins or I fill my coin books up there.) I Suddenly thought to myself how can I get more coins? In the previous weeks I have bought 1,200 wheat pennies from some guy on Craigslist, looked through $300 in my neighbors change, and have been coin roll hunting! I love "Treasure hunting" and I get this mini rush when I find something cool! I have only been collecting for two to three months and I have a pretty good collection. (My collection includes a 1941-1974 Penny book that's filled; Also have another one I am close to completing, two Jefferson nickel books 1938-1961; One is filled the other is missing 8 coins but I have two very nice 1950 D Nickels in the books, 1913-1938 Buffalo Nickel book about a third filled, 1909-1940 wheat penny book; includes a 1909 V.D.B. penny, a 1958 BU wheat penny, a 1868 two cent piece, a 1868 three cent nickel, some V-nickels, a 1858 O Half Dime, a Canadian large cent from 1895, a U.S. large cent from 1845, a bunch of tubes filled with 1938-1959 Jefferson nickels, and some other coins!) My teacher has been selling me some coins and I always hear about him getting shipments of coins to look through or him finding someone in town with a jar full of wheat pennies. I wish I could get these deals! So I have made a plan! I currently have a job making $10 a hour and that pretty much supports my social life and money to buy coins. I have decided to open a new savings account at Star bank. (This will be my coin funds bank. I have a another bank that I will use to dump my coins. I have an account there to.) I would put a base of $15 a week into the coin funds account and I could add extra money (Which I most likely will!) if I wanted to. My dad will also be putting money into this account! Once we get a good amount of money in there I will start coin roll hunting a lot more! The big idea is finding people that will let me and my dad look through their change. I plan to post a ad on Craigslist to help me find people that have jars of change. (We would meet at the coffee shop I routinely go to.) I also thought about getting some business cards that I can hand out and put a stack at some businesses. What would I do with the coins I buy? Well I'll keep some and sell/trade the others on Craigslist or at coin shows. Does anyone have any advice? I would really like to get into the coin business. I hope to get this up and started by early next year. Thanks!
Sounds like a plan. Just be careful when meeting strangers on craigslist. And I don't think they made a 1958-O half dime.
The first thought that came to my mind when you mentioned advertising on CL to go through people's change is....... "Will you be prepared to offer them a fair price or are you just going to try to get it as close to face value as possible?" Chris
I plan to go a little bit under retail like 10%-15% unless I really want it. Some stuff I will buy at retail. I'll be using the red book. I'll need to get a resource on foreign coins though other wise i'll just ball park it.
My dad would be there to assist me and we would meet in a public place. Heres a picture of that half dime! Let me know what you think! Sorry! I made a mistake! I meant 1858!
If you're going to use the Red Book and buy 10-15% below retail, then you will lose money if you try to flip anything you buy. You need a lot more than 2-3 months experience to be able to make a go of buying and selling coins. Chris
Listen to this gentleman. Paying 10%-15% back of redbook would make you very popular with the ever-present craigslist dreck peddlers. I am not trying to be harsh, but this is far, far from a "new idea". There are plenty of other people who have had the same epiphany, so you very well may be jumping into a chum filled shark tank, especially since you are a newbie. Something you also need to consider is that there are people out there who actively search out deal seeking newbies because they generally make easy marks. I understand that placing an ad offering to buy coins may sound like a good and fun idea, but you really need to think this out and do your homework first. If you truly want to get into the "coin business", the first thing you should do is show down educate yourself. Knowledge is absolutely essential. There is a lot more to it than simply placing an ad and having people bring you their coins.
My opinion is that this is not a workable plan both on a financial basis and a security basis. There are really many holes in this plan. Take it much slower.
Well, half of your plan is still salvageable. Open that second bank account and stick to roll searching for a while.
The first thing I noticed when I started reading this was... Is it just me or does this seem like it is asking for trouble to anyone else. I know I personally go through my coins only behind locked doors or in the safe deposit box viewing room. Doing this out in the open invites a lot of unwanted attention from some unsavory people. Just my 2 cents.
Hello pcalvert, You have received much good advice in this thread. IMO you should not search coins & fill coin books in public. Also, don't inform ANYONE outside of your immediate family that you collect coins. In the interest of security, ask your immediate family to not inform ANYONE that you are a coin collector. IMO you should open your bank account & get to know the teller(s) that might be able to get you unsearched coin rolls. I look forward to your posts at CT.
Are you going to the ANA summer seminar in 2013? I will probably attend in 2013. Here is a recent CT thread describing some scholarship opportunities for YNs. http://www.cointalk.com/t217392
