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Coin shops you like


Mark Stilson

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funny story... i never went back to that shop... and with my little kid ambition i said to myself that i would one day put them out of business for being jerks... the day that i signed the paperwork finalizing the shop i now run... that other shop closed their doors forever.... the same day.... still gives me the shivers...

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funny story... i never went back to that shop... and with my little kid ambition i said to myself that i would one day put them out of business for being jerks... the day that i signed the paperwork finalizing the shop i now run... that other shop closed their doors forever.... the same day.... still gives me the shivers...

 

Note to self - be nice. Be nice. Be very very nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Not a jerk. Nice. Nice. Nice.

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Jim Coad Rare Coins in Albuquerque, NM, is the only shop I'll buy from around here. There are a couple of other so-called coin shops here, but, since I got treated like crap at both of them, I'll stick with Jim. His coins are priced fairly, he has a huge inventory, and he's friendly.

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Sort of used to be that way around here with the average coin collector being an old man. Coin stores, shops, flea market coin dealers and especially coin shows. Recently with the massive growth of coin collectors due to the Mints amount of various types of coins, the type of collector making appearances has also changed. I go to a lot of coin shows and have now noticed a large increase in kids, younger people, women and even what appears as a couple on a date. Now also women dealers or women with their husbands at coin shows. I would suspect the State Quarters started an entire new concept of coin collecting which includes real young kids, younger people in general and women.

 

oooo the 1950 german 1 mark an the 1950 2 shillings started it all for me ...hmm i like 1950 coins ^_^ lol

 

hmm my coin dealer is fine .... when i come he knows i mean business brings me a chair an a table lets me sit an gives me a magnifier an a bin of coins first (i check bins first always :ninja: eheh) an a empty bin 2 keep the coins i dont want in :D i look through all of em while he an my dad talk ;) lol they talk bout the prices in the country an stuff lol bout the weather, etc ^_^ he always gives me discounts an lil freebies :D ....only prob is ...he isnt that smart when it comes 2 coins xP he is old doesnt know how 2 use computers 2 research prices an stuff :wub: (heard him complain bout that when he was talkin with my dad ;) ) an its hard 2 find good coin price books in bahrain xD lol you have 2 order 1 from a book store an takes weeks xD ....he does sell coins above the normal price ....just cause they are big or old xP

 

another guy next 2 him ..... is also kind gives me freebies ;) an talks with my dad alot while i look for coins ;) he gave me my first wheatie for free ^_^ lol ...only prob is ....he has alot of fakes an doesnt know if they are fake or not :D ...he does tell me becarefull this maybe a fake an stuff ....but not always xP eg :- the first time i bought a coin from him it was a 1916 1 rupee QUEEN VICTORIA coin that was BRONZE!!! .....i was thinkin the whole time .... didnt queen victoria die in 1901?!?!?! lol ...hey it was my first time buyin coins :D lol ......an also like the other guy ...he sells coins above the normal price ....just cause they are big or old.

 

both the guys have been collectors for yrs !!!!! an most of these coins were in their collection but they had alot of em so wanna get rid of few of em....lucky i see ppl coming an given them boxs of coins for free ...grrrr lol xD..... when im lookin through the coins i always keep seein kids walk behind me lookin at what im lookin an ask random questions 2 the guy xD ....once the guy said look through the coins an pick what you want ill be back in a min (he trusts me that much 2 leave me with his coins xP lol ^_^ ) an kids started comin askin me how much is this, what is that , etc etc thinkin its my store xD lol

 

alot of other dealers also but most of em only went once cause they 2 far ... i really liked 1 though ...he sold alot of silver an gold coins ... also sells old old old pocket watch's x) an others sell coins by size :S an they sell em for alot 2 .... grrr so i nvr go their again xP

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The only coin shop in my area is just down the street from me. So close, and yet... so frustrating.

 

The owner carries only a handful of non-U.S. coins, and he dips everything. Coins with obvious wear are shiny as doorknobs.

 

I keep popping back in, hoping something decent will turn up. Last week, a hapless potential customer was fleeing out the door as I arrived.

"Come on in," the dealer told me. "I won't be mean to YOU." So I scaled the "Cash paying customers only beyond this point" barrier and got an earful about the impending collapse of fiat money.

 

I've tried to draw him out about coins, but he only wants to talk about the need to hoard gold.

 

When I tell him what I'm looking for, he'll say, "Oh, I used to have a bunch of those." Then he starts suggesting completely unrelated coins.

 

The last time I bought something from him (I try), he emerged from the back room to give me a handful of worn, pre-war Jefferson nickels and a Sackie. It isn't often that I feel 8 years old again. :ninja:

 

It would be great to give my local dealer more business and learn more about coins while I'm at it. I've about given up, though.

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The only coin shop in my area is just down the street from me. So close, and yet... so frustrating.

 

The owner carries only a handful of non-U.S. coins, and he dips everything. Coins with obvious wear are shiny as doorknobs.

 

I keep popping back in, hoping something decent will turn up. Last week, a hapless potential customer was fleeing out the door as I arrived.

"Come on in," the dealer told me. "I won't be mean to YOU." So I scaled the "Cash paying customers only beyond this point" barrier and got an earful about the impending collapse of fiat money.

 

I've tried to draw him out about coins, but he only wants to talk about the need to hoard gold.

 

We have four coin shops in my area, only one of which I visit from time to time, the others have dealers that smoke like chimneys, and kind of give one the creeps.

 

I don't care for dealers that try to push stuff off, I know my stuff, I know what I want. The dealer I see here, I usually get only supplies from, he just doesn't have the stuff I buy numismatically. I get most of my goodies thanks to internet, eBay, trades here etc.

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Recent experiences in coin stores:

When we were on vacation in Europe in July I took my 10-year-old son to a coin store in Prague for a quick look-round. The dealer had a box of coins he was selling by weight. We spent 20 minutes pulling out a nearly complete type set of pre-war Czechoslovak coins, plus about 20 other miscellaneous older European coins. Price $3 for the lot. My son was thrilled (now I wish I could find a Whitman-style album for Czechoslovak type sets!) The dealer was so talkative we could hardly get out of the store.

 

We got back to NY in August and I take my son for a drive around Long Island to visit a couple of coin stores. The first one had a sign on the door, "Closed for half an hour" even though two guys were standing right inside counting out coins or whatever. While we stood there wondering if it was worth hanging out on the sidewalk like idiots for 30 minutes, another guys comes up, taps on the glass, waves and shouts something about wanting in. They obviously know him as an old customer but they still won't open the door. "Come on, Dad" says my son, "Let's go to the aquarium instead." So much for that numismatic experience. I wonder why they bother having a store if they won't admit customers... should stick to dealing online and save the rent, no?

 

We try another store, 45 minutes drive from the first. Guy says hello, he's also busy counting out silver dollars with a customer but doesn't mind having other customers browse in the meantime. The store is dingy and decrepit, the only items on display are rubbish like painted half-dollars, sun-faded folders for state quarters, junk Morgans for $19.95 each. He has a few mint sets and proof sets under the counter but half the coins are discolored. The guy is pleasant enough and my son talks me into buying him the 1994 Soccer World Cup commemorative half dollar and dollar. It's $40 for the pair, no bargain there, but I want to encourage my son's collecting so I spring for it. He's thrilled. We also seem to have bought the only thing in the store worth buying.

 

Last week I visit a fancy coin store in midtown Manhattan. Used to be full of coins, now it's half sports memorabilia. It's 4:30, the sign says they're open til 5 but they are already pulling down the shutters. What the ??? Try again two days later. They have some nice coins on display, ranging from better Wheaties to St-Gaudens. The prices seem a little on the high side, but not outrageous. The guys are civil but not too talkative. I don't get the feeling they'd enjoy spending an afternoon chatting about coins with anyone - they'd rather I just hand over the credit card.

 

It's enough to make me go back to Europe!

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ahh well i actually dont like ppl talkin 2 me when i am browesing for a coin ;) lol only if i have a question an want a straight answer :ninja: lol not a life story like some dealers do xD eheh allows me 2 focus more ;)

oh ur crazy lol i like there stories!! hehe

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I agree with Dustin - if the guy is genuinely interested in coins, he will love to talk to you (short of his store being packed) and maybe is more likely to give you a discount in the future. People like that are much more fun; who likes talking to a door-to-door salesman? RD, I think you're just anti-social :ninja: I'll talk to the guy if only just to learn something.

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One more thing about flea markets for coins. Try to remember that many things at flea markets just vanish so many dealers will not put coins out. If you ask, they may have some hidden away in a case but are just to afraid to display them. I've noticed over the years a certain person that walks up to every dealers and says "any old watches, pens, coins, cameras?" One time I asked him about why he does that instead of just looking. I'm nosey that way. He was nice and said he had an antique store and sells so much stuff he aquires by just asking, it makes it worth while. So now I do the same.

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  • 5 years later...

The guys at my LCS up in Westerville are wonderful, because they're perfectly happy to have the low-budget enthusiast like me as well as the high-dollar investor.

 

And there are two other LCS's that will never see me again because I didn't go to their shops to hear their respective extremist political thinking (and I use the word "thinking" very loosely). You don't antagonize your customers like that, simply assuming that the BS they believe is the same as the BS you believe.

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Maybe I'm in the wrong part of the world, but the only coins I get offered at pawn shops tend to be mis-identified, overgraded, and/or overpriced :lol:

 

Flea markets for me have been mostly stuff that was spot-on, or on the high side.

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  • 1 month later...

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