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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;KurtS, post: 562041, member: 11786&quot;]Could anyone describe the commotion at today&#039;s coin show in Santa Clara? Upon entering the hall, I saw police but really didn&#039;t get the full story outside of a few snippets from my dealer friends. However, as time wore on, I did sense a few dealers were on edge, and here&#039;s where I unwittingly became drawn into today&#039;s events. I&#039;m relatively new to this forum, but I hope this little story has some relevance to larger events at hand.</p><p><br /></p><p>The story begins when I visited a dealer—who shall remain nameless—to browse his inventory of Mexican coins. Here are the details because they are critical to this story. It&#039;s somewhat long, but <b>hopefully to the point</b>.</p><p><br /></p><p>This dealer takes two stacks of Mexican coins from his case (avg. value $15 each), and hands me one stack at the time, which I then inspect in loupe with both hands in plain view…and the dealer standing just 3ft away. When I finish one stack, I exchange it for another. I&#039;m <b>very methodical</b> when buying, only inspecting one coin from a stack at a time, always keeping inventory in full view. After spending perhaps 10 min. with this dealer, I hand him the last stack and thank him for his time. The whole time, this dealer was standing in front of me, watching me (or so I thought).</p><p>Ten minutes later, while at another dealer&#039;s table way across the hall, I was confronted by this dealer, who explained that his stack of coins I gave back counted up short (11 vs. 12), and asked if I could explain why?&nbsp; But, as he did not count these coins in front of me, I was at a loss to explain the discrepancy. So I simply asked him if he saw me do anything wrong? No answer from him, so in order to put him at ease, I proceeded to empty my wallet and every pocket on my person. However, this did not seem to put him at ease at all and he said something like &quot;I don&#039;t want to insult you…you look like an honest guy, but then again the professionals look that way&quot;, casting another suspicious glance toward me.</p><p><br /></p><p>Honestly, I started to get a <i>little ticked off</i> at this point, and wanted this conversation to end because I could not see satisfying a guy who didn&#039;t think he miscounted (and he couldn&#039;t name the missing coin). Apparently, he didn&#039;t consider that a pro might not waste his time to steal a $15 coin? During the day, I handled many coins worth several magnitudes more than <i>that one, </i>allwhich mysteriously…<b>did not disappear</b> from dealer&#039;s tables.&nbsp; Obviously dealers need to protect their own interests, and with that in mind, may I offer a few suggestions to those who might read this forum:</p><p><br /></p><p>•&nbsp; &nbsp; If you&#039;re going to count stacks of coins, count them (<b>out loud</b>) when you hand them to the customer, and then count them when they&#039;re returned. Simple as that—like they do at banks.</p><p><br /></p><p>•&nbsp; &nbsp; Protect yourself, meaning do whatever you need to feel secure.&nbsp; Set things for your own peace of mind, and don&#039;t expect customers to &quot;fill the gaps&quot; by their own conduct, as they cannot possibly secure your own inventory.</p><p><br /></p><p>•&nbsp; &nbsp; If you feel you must confront a customer on something, it&#039;s helpful to come across with <b>something tangible to resolve</b>, rather than a<i> vague suspicion</i> that can neither be proven nor disproven (since we know the pros work &quot;magic&quot;). </p><p><br /></p><p>•&nbsp; &nbsp; Have you ever considered providing a feedback survey for your customers? Many businesses do it, whereby simply asking good questions you&#039;ll gain important insights into collector&#039;s needs while also serving as positive marketing. In my business, I&#039;ve found that small contests entice people to fill out surveys.</p><p><br /></p><p>On the &quot;other side of the coin&quot;, there&#039;s <b>much </b>that collectors can do to uphold their end, such as:</p><p>•&nbsp; &nbsp; Don&#039;t give a dealer cause for worry. If you&#039;re looking at coins, keep them in <b>full sight at all time</b>. I may be a bit of a stickler, but if I need to get something out of my pocket…I put the coins down, stand up and remove my wallet, etc. I try to keep my hands visible at all times. I also don&#039;t bring bags which dealers might need to watch. Obvious, eh?</p><p><br /></p><p>•&nbsp; &nbsp; If you can, try to look out for anyone suspicious around dealer&#039;s tables.</p><p><br /></p><p>•&nbsp; &nbsp; Don&#039;t mix coins that you previously bought/own with coins you want to buy. Keep the dealer&#039;s coins in a distinct pile within their sight until they are paid for. I&#039;ve even seen collectors wander away from tables with coins they don&#039;t yet own.</p><p><br /></p><p>•&nbsp; &nbsp; Some dealers don&#039;t like to haggle on the price—they&#039;ll let you know and respect that, end of story.</p><p><br /></p><p>I may be stating the obvious here, but today&#039;s events had me <i>wondering</i>.</p><p>If you got this far, thanks for reading. :smile[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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