Since I can't be in Baw-tee-more at the Whitman show now, I'm going to the next best thing: pawn shops.How much luck have you all had at pawn shops?
As a genral rule, pawn shops, flea markets, estate sales, antique stores et al are the worst places in the world to shop for coins. This is because the vast majority of coins found in these places are either fakes or problem coins in one way or another. And they are almost always grossly over-priced for what you are getting. That said, if you have the requisite knowledge to be able to identify fakes, altered coins and/or problem coins then there is nothing wrong with looking for you never know when you might actually find something. But if you have that knowledge, 99.99% of the time you will walk away empty handed. Thus, even the looking is pretty much a waste of time.
Only coins I ever buy at pawn shops, or rather one specific pawn shop, is silver bullion. A local shop sells it at the daily spot, though they aren't always pretty, it's still silver.
I haven't had much luck either. Most I have ever seen were either questionable coins, problem coins, or overpriced. The ripoff factor is high. This might be the nature of the entire industry, idk, but for coins its bad. because of that, I really do not buy anything at those places, since the market I would know most about is coins. I know a little about jewelry also, and can tell you the ripoff factor is pretty high for that as well, though not as bad of a ripoff as jewelry stores.
I have had great luck at my local pawn shop. It definitely varies from shop to shop. The one I go to always calls me when coins come out of pawn. They were mostly things like near full dansco albums, or franklin halfs. But yeah, I wouldn't buy any type of 'key' date coin from them. Mostly just common silver, the danscos, and mint and proof sets. The best deal I ever got was a near complete whitman album of mercuries. The guys do not look up the coins for value, they just look at it as silver. So it was a nice buy with some semi keys for silver cost. Summary: It doesn't hurt to look, be wary of about melt value coins. Deals can be had. -greg
I actually found a really nice New Jersey obsolete note at a local antique mall several years ago Vroomer. The price was good too, but I think I just lucked out because at the time I wasn't really collecting obsoletes. I bought it because it was issued by a local company back in the 1860's. Now that I do collect and have learned a lot about them, I realize that I did very well on price and rarity. Having said that, as some of the guys have mentioned you have to be aware and educated on what you're buying. There are more bad deals in those places than good ones. Look, but be very careful. If you have any doubts, pass it up. Bruce
Truthfully, I have never made a purchase of a single item, coil or otherwise from a Pawn Shop. Here in Las Vegas they as nearly as much for things as they sell for brand new in a store with a warranty. I even gave up going to look, because it is such a waste of time. The best place I found to buy coins is at the shows. Even the local estate auctions seem very overpriced. IMHO
I've found good deals at pawn shops, but not in coins. Latest one was this month when my roofing nailer died in the middle of doing a barn roof. Picked up another one at the pawn shop for $25.
Most pawn shops have junk silver coins worth only melt. Be very rare for any to have high grade, key dates, or rarities in TPG slabs.
Not only coins, but everything else as far as I could see. Although I have browsed through quite a few of them, I never saw a bargain or made a single purchase. It just seemed wiser to go to a store and pay a few cents more to get the same item brand new and with a guarantee.
I actually found a 1942/1 mercury dime in some rolls of junk silver that I bought in the mid eighty's. I was only buying these rolls because silver was about $5.00 an ounce or so, and I always found coins more interesting than generic silver rounds or bars. ASEs were not being minted yet. In general though, I would say that pawn shops are a poor choice to look for coins. Find a dealer that you trust and stick with them.
I must say I personally have had tremendous sucess at swap meets. Pawn shops not so much but swap meets oh yes. Ive only gone to a swap meet 2 times before but the first time i just over doubled my money. I ended up selling a single coin for the entire price of the 7 coins i got. Essentially getting 2 proof silver half dollars a 1896 8 reales a buffalo nickle a 1964 canadian dime and a cuban coin all for free. The coin I sold was a $28 casino strike from the Aladin hotel. Selling it for 80 dollars and I paid 87 dollars for everything. My second time was a much bigger sucess percentage wise. I spent 15 dollars and got 8 different $5 nickel tokens. Plus a Kennedy proof set which has 3 good BU kennedys inside one from each mint. Out of the $5 nickel tokens two were worth only about 6 bucks three were worth $10 two worth about $16 and one worth 20 bucks. So for my $15 investment I got roughly 100 bucks of coins going by Ebay prices. They are quite cool and in good condition too. Plus the dude who sold me them has some pre 30s gold pieces for me to look at. Best I ever got at a pawn shop was a few ASE and not for the greatest price (spot)
I made a wee mistake. It was not 2 silver halves I got it was 2 silver dollar proofs a USO and a Oylimpic on my trip to the swap meet, each one cost me 20 bucks hehe. heres their pics and the 8 reales too. Each one of these babies cost $20 at the swap meet.
Never had luck at a pawnshop. Had better luck at a Goodwill where I got a 2009 Lincoln Chronicles proof set for $3
Pawn dealers tend to overprice. However, I've had good luck at an antique shop where they also sold a few coins but didn't know crap about them. They had Eisenhower dollars marked 1.25 a piece, and then a sign above the table said "Anything on table, half off". I thought i'd give it a shot. I walked up to the owner with 10 Eisenhowers and she charged me a little over 6 bucks for them!! I kid you not. She never even thought about it. I hate Eisenhowers, but they...anytime you can get a coin for LESS than face value is a good day. I gave them away as tips in bars and restaurants.
I can't really agree with this, sorry. In the past 5 years I have: Bought a seated quarter for $40 (yes, a real one), and sold it for $80. Bought quite a few Indian Head Pennies in VF+ grades for 50 cents each. Bought a HUGE sterling silver colonial spoon for $1. Guy had it in a box with plated flatware. Sold it for $80. Bought another sterling spoon for $2 and sold it for $10. As for as scrap silver and gold... I bought a gold ring for ONE DOLLAR at a yard sale and got $129 out of it. I bought another one for $30 and got $60 out of it. In the past 2 years I have bought about $400 worth of sterling silver scrap for $50. So yes....flea markets, auctions and estate sales can be VERY productive. Have I encountered fake stuff? Yes, quite a bit of fake sterling silver...a magnet sniffs out most of it.
LMFAO Granny was senile I think . You basically said I would like to buy this 10$ bill off you how much? and she replied oh $6 will be fine O.O
Detecto, I agree with you that good deals can be found at yard sales and flea markets. Pawn shops, as a rule, I think not so much. In my experience they usually just look up the value of the coin in a standard over the counter coin price guide and then add about 20% to it.
