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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;kaparthy, post: 53509, member: 57463&quot;]<b>Cost Accounting In A Hobby.</b></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The first problem is that you asked for &quot;opinions&quot; but with usernames and avatars for our Identities, everyone&#039;s opinion is pretty much on the same level. How do you know whose opinion to take if two people differ?</p><p><br /></p><p>Miker recommends Ken Pines.&nbsp; I have shopped there and not been dissatisfied.&nbsp; However, Ken Pines was expelled from the American Numismatic Association for selling whizzed coins.&nbsp; On the other hand, Littleton is sponsoring a lecture series at the San Francisco ANA Convention. </p><p><br /></p><p>It is true that you can buy coins for less than Littleton charges.&nbsp; You need to factor in your time.&nbsp; We drive 30 minutes each way to a coin store and spend two hours looking at coins and save $2.50 on a $10 purchase and figure we made a killing.&nbsp; If you honestly tally the cost of a purchase, Littleton is fine.&nbsp; That said, this is a hobby, and we enjoy those hours wasted at the coin store.&nbsp; On the other hand, not everyone has a coin store near them.&nbsp; In Metro Detroit, you cannot swing a dead cat without hitting a coin store.&nbsp; In Greater Cleveland, they are few and far between.&nbsp; So, as a mail order company, Littleton delivers a valuable service.</p><p><br /></p><p>Also, when we make those &quot;bargain buys&quot; how often do we buy the coin with the rimnicks and &quot;XF details at the VF price.&quot;&nbsp; Littleton does not buy problem coins.&nbsp; They go on buying tours, visiting dealers.&nbsp; They pay well.&nbsp; They do not buy problem coins.&nbsp; So, they do not sell problem coins.&nbsp; XF is XF, not an AU Slider with problems at the XF price, or a cleaned market VF with &quot;XF details.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>(I have been a Littleton customer in two periods of my life, 1975, and 1998.&nbsp; I am not a big collector.&nbsp; I just write about coins.&nbsp; If you are an ANA member, then you saw my article about Proof Double Eagles in Numismatist magazine.)[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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