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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ed Zak, post: 14157, member: 824&quot;]Over the last year (as my interest in coin collecting has rekindled), I have been fortunate to search out many of the local coin shops throughout the Southeast.&nbsp; If I am staying in a certain town, and if time permits, I like to run in and see what they have in store.&nbsp; I filled many &quot;slots&quot; because of my travels and enjoyed the experience of meeting all types of dealers with differant types of stores.&nbsp; One store reminded me of the Andy Griffth Show where 4 guys were sitting around talking &#039;shop&#039; before I came in and they all said, &quot;You ain&#039;t from around here, aren&#039;t ya?&quot;&nbsp; But after telling them I liked collecting, they all made me feel like the store was their home.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have seen stores no larger than a small bedroom to beautiful show rooms.&nbsp; I also found many dealers buying/selling coins along with buying/selling jewelry...mostly from estates.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Now picture this...because this has happened on more than one occasion throughout my travels (especially in God&#039;s waiting room of Florida).&nbsp; </b> </p><p><br /></p><p>A senior lady walks in holding a box.&nbsp; She is probably in her 70&#039;s and the conversation has been pretty much the same:</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Mr. _____, it is good to meet you.&nbsp; I brought in the coins we talked about on the phone so you can see them.&nbsp; You can tell me what they are worth, right?&nbsp; You also said if they were of interest to you, you would buy them?&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>Of course the dealer politely states, &quot;Well, let&#039;s see what you have...&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>[Now of course, I am looking through either 2x2&#039;s or binders, but you really can&#039;t help but listen to the conversation because most coin shops are...well, quiet!]</p><p><br /></p><p>Then you hear something like, &quot;My late husband wrote down that this coin is valuable because of (fill in the blank), so how much is that worth?&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>Now in all fairness, many coin dealers are very gentle to widows and those people that don&#039;t have a clue about coin values, grading, condition, and value.&nbsp; But sometimes you see a dealer go through a Whitman book in about 10 seconds, write down a figure and then move on to the next book.&nbsp; After all of the figures are written down, you hear the calculator going crazy...paper is pulled from the roll, and then you hear:</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Your collection is worth ________ dollars.&quot;&nbsp; Since I have to inventory it and resell it, I can offer you _______ dollars right now.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>Wow!&nbsp; I am thinking...somebody&#039;s life collection summed up in _____ dollars in a matter of about 10 to 20 minutes!</p><p><br /></p><p>Many leave with saddened faces hoping that what they had from their late husband&nbsp; was worth more than ________ dollars, but still many more sell it on the spot.</p><p><br /></p><p>I understand the business about buying, inventorying and selling...but there is a side of me that wants to tell that old lady...&quot;Hey, that&#039;s a 1914-D penny your husband had!....or, did he have BOTH the 32 D&amp;S quarters in that set?&nbsp; Look here...he liked Carson City Morgans!&nbsp; Wow, these are nice...how much did he offer you for these?&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>But it isn&#039;t my business, so I keep my mouth shut (except here on Coin Talk).&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>After listening to the sound of closing DANSCO albums and Whitman books, there&#039;s a part of me that really feels sorry for those old ladies that leave the coin shop with one less piece of their husband&#039;s legacy.&nbsp; Would you look at that? (I think to myself)...50 plus years of collecting coins summed up in less than 20 minutes![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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