Customer and Dealer Ehics

[CHABSENTIA]

I couldn't find the original thread but there was a comment that nobody else seemed to mention.

 

In the case where the woman brought in the capped coin that was worth a minimum of $60,000.00 it was posted by another poster that very few people would suspect that a person would walk into a Dealers store and.........

 

I knwo nothing about that coin and will be the first to admit it ,however, this what was not mentioned.

 

The dealer offered the Woman $200.00 How did the dealer know whether or not this coin was Counterfeit? Either the dealer was really Maove in which case the word would have got around that people can pass off counterfeit coins with this dealer.

 

I think the dealer knew exactly that this was a vaild capped bust or he wouldn't have offered $200.00

 

Now I don't know anything about these types of coin but I do have a "Redbook".I looked the coin up and not only is the coin listed but there is a magnified picture of the date.

 

The over date was visible to me and I don't know anything about them. You don't think that the coin dealer would have used a loupe or magnifying glass to examine the coin for condition etc.

 

There would have been no way that this could have been missed.

 

So unless somebody wants to believe that this Dealer was so inept that he gambled on it being counterfeit while offering $200.00, did not know the existence of the Red Book or use a loupe to examine the condition of the coin then there is no other explanation other then the dealer tried to rip the woman off for at least $59,000.00

 

 

[MarkFeld]

Many dealers don't use magnifying glasses when buying coins and hardly ever need them to determine a coin's authenticity. So, while I suspect that the dealer was trying to take advantage of an uninformed seller (and if so, I find it repugnant), whether or not he used a magnifier might have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with it.

[jesbroken]

Mark,

Where is this thread? I did not see it.

[MarkFeld]

Mark,

Where is this thread? I did not see it.

Here's the one I'm aware of: See here

 

Edited to add: Here's a different thread about it on the PCGS forum

[CHABSENTIA]

Then we are still left with the fact that she was offered $200.00 for a coin in which the Dealer did none of those things.If he did not need a loupe or magnifying glass then we are left with the fact that the Dealer either offered $200.00 for a coin that might not be Authenic or he knew it was Authenic.

 

We are then back to the question of " If the Dealer was sure the Coin was authenic then is an offer of $200.00 for even a common date of this type a reasonable offer? I suspect it is not.

 

 

I think that you are the first Person that I know of on here who is a Dealer that acknowledges that the Dealer was probably trying to rip her off.Congrats.

 

 

I also suspect that even if she had sold it to him for $200.00 that even if he had not used magnification before that he would have then closely examined it later.

 

If he had used one earlier then I think there is no question that he knew it.

 

So having no more information then the only thing we don't know is to what extent he knew he was ripping her off.

[MarkFeld]

Then we are still left with the fact that she was offered $200.00 for a coin in which the Dealer did none of those things.If he did not need a loupe or magnifying glass then we are left with the fact that the Dealer either offered $200.00 for a coin that might not be Authenic or he knew it was Authenic.

 

We are then back to the question of " If the Dealer was sure the Coin was authenic then is an offer of $200.00 for even a common date of this type a reasonable offer? I suspect it is not.

 

 

I think that you are the first Person that I know of on here who is a Dealer that acknowledges that the Dealer was probably trying to rip her off.Congrats.

 

 

I also suspect that even if she had sold it to him for $200.00 that even if he had not used magnification before that he would have then closely examined it later.

 

If he had used one earlier then I think there is no question that he knew it.

 

So having no more information then the only thing we don't know is to what extent he knew he was ripping her off.

While I do think odds are that the dealer was trying to rip off the coin's owner, $200 would have been a fair offer for a regular date 1817 issue for any grade up to an including XF.

[okbustchaser]

He didn't offer 200.00 for the half...he offered a total of 200.00 for a group of 4 coins all in the cull to very good range.

[coinman1794]

A lot of Bust half overdates get overlooked by dealers who do not know the series. It is possible this dealer was not knowledgeable of the variety, though it is one of the more dramatic overdates of the series, and the rarest

[CHABSENTIA]

I also think that the Dealer was trying to rip her off. The odds are that this is the case. While the article in Coin World does not go into detail they do say that it was readily recognized by ICG.

 

The article also stated that some would value it at $60,000.00 but some would value it at two to three times that amount.

 

The article does not state what procedures the Dealer used in offering $200.00 for the coin.The article does not state how ICG "readily" identified the coin.

 

My point was that if I knew nothing about the coin and could identify it by a magnified picture in a Redbook then what does this say about the Dealer?

 

Would a Dealer that recognized it as a non-counterfeit of its type not be aware of a possible rarity regardless of whether anybody felt that the odds of anybody walking through their doors would be remote?

 

 

There are articles where people purchase valuable coins at Garage sales or Purchase Pictures and find valuable paintings underneath.

 

I dont know anyhting about a Fugio but I read the other day where a new variety was discovered or somehting to that effect

 

 

[CHABSENTIA]

I am not sure which are being talked about here. In the instance of the one I am talking about the Woman in Colorado was offered $200.00 for the one coin.

 

In the instance of the four C coins the article stated that while he was in a Hotel in another State on Business that he was offered $200.00 for each coin. It is not clear where he received these offers while he was staying in the Hotel. Could have been a nearby Coin Dealer or it could have been a person staying in the Hotel who calimed they were a dealer.

 

At any rate, the article states that he did not feel comfortable about the offers and when he returned to Fort Meyers he went to a local coin dealer.Doesn't say if he knew the dealer or why he went to that dealer etc.

 

 

It just states that the Dealer when he saw the coins could not hold back his excitement and that the Person who had the coins inherited them from his Mother who got them from his Grandfather who was the President of a Midwest Bank.

 

I personally would rather have heard more details of how the Coin/s were evaluated and/or assessed especially in the instance in Colorado.

 

It will probably never happen but if I should receive a coin that I might think is valuable then I will contact the Dealer in Fort Meyers who is about three or four hours away from me give or take a few minutes.

 

 

[michael]

dealer is a human hairless rat pig

[MarkFeld]

dealer is a human hairless rat pig

And you know that, how?

[CHABSENTIA]

As I mentioned earlier there is not enough detail to determine what the Dealer did in order to arrive at the figure that was offered the Woman.

 

Again I am not familar with this type of coin. I would not be able to tell you if the coin was authenic just by looking at it. There was a post here recently where there was a old coin in an NGC holder and the certificate number was valid. Others here were able to tell the coin was Counterfeit and that the die was wrong. I couldn't have told you this was true.

 

I do have a Magnifying glass of 2x and a loupe that is much greater. It would take me several minutes but given the type of coin and the date I can go to a Redbook and associate the pictures and even if it is a 2X or 3X Magnifcation I can see the difference. I still would not be with 100% certainity be able to tell you of the coin in hand was not counterfeit.

 

I do not know if the Dealer in question used Magnification or not but I would assume that since he offered a few hundred dollars that he knew the coin was genuine. If his experience is no different then mine then he should not be in the Business at least for this type of coin.

 

It would seem to me in this case that there are only three possibilites.

 

1. The Dealer is inept.

2. He did not exercise due diligence

3. He is a crook.

 

My original point was that people go to a Dealer because rightly or wrongly they assume that that they will be getting Professional advice or at least advice based on Experience that is better then their own.. The three reasons I mentioned are just varying degrees of that lack of Professionalism.

 

I can pretty much assure you that even if he had not used a magnifying glass and had not been able to dicern the rarity for any reason that had the Woman accepted the offer that he would have used one later and gee imagine the astonishment when he discovered that it was worth at least 60,000.00 and he hadn't got her address and phone number and couldn't contact her on the find.I bet he won't sleep well wishing that he had looked into it more even offering at a fee to have it further researched.

 

I am reasonably sure of one thing which is that the article in Coin world mentioned that he was the only such Dealer in the area and that there was an article written in the home town paper and people would know who the artcile was referring to even if he was not identified..

 

 

Conversely the Dealer in Fort Meyers even if he is one of Several would be singled out for his honesty and Professionalism as he was identified. Doesn't make any difference what either did up to that time. They will be judged on those examples.

[MarkFeld]

....I can pretty much assure you that even if he had not used a magnifying glass and had not been able to dicern the rarity for any reason that had the Woman accepted the offer that he would have used one later ...

Again, even though I, like you, think the odds are good that the dealer tried to rip off the coin's owner, you can't even begin to assure us about the use of a magnifier. Many dealers do not use them frequently.

 

In case you didn't see it, here's an excellent post by Wayne Herndon from a different thread which addresses this issue:

 

For the most part, dealers don't look that closely at what they buy. If you bring in a circulated set of Washingtons in a Whitman folder, the dealer will open it up and look at the 1932-D and 1932-S slots. If there is coin in either of those holes, he will check it to make sure it is a 1932-D or 1932-S and that it is real. However, the dealer is not going to take the 1932 coin out and turn it over to see if it has a D or an S or check all of the other dates to make sure a 1932-D or 1932-S isn't in one of the wrong holes. Bring in some proof sets to sell and the dealer is not going to check them for Type IIs, small dates, etc. And, he's going to turn around and sell them the same way. That's why cherrypicking is so popular and so talked about. If you learn the varieties and are willing to spend the time looking, you'll find some of them.

 

I would highly suspect that this dealer though he was buying an ordinary low grade 1817 Bust Half and would have sold it the same way. Outside the specialist Bust Half dealers, most wouldn't know the variety if their life depending on it. Fortunately (for them) it doesn't. They make a decent living just buying and selling as commons.

 

You could look at a thousand 1817s that came in over the counter and never find a 1817/4. So, it comes to the point of why waste the time looking.

 

Tell me the story about the customer that came in, said here I have a rare 1817/4 half and then gets a $200 (or whatever low ball) offer and then I'll agree you have a dishonest dealer. Most just don't spend the time to attribute them because it is rarely worth the effort.

 

WH

 

 

[MAULEMALL]

dealer is a human hairless rat pig

And you know that, how?

[CHABSENTIA]

A good point. Unfortunatley the article did not give any detail about how the Dealer arrived at the offer or what he did to arrive at the offer.

 

It only mentioned that a Woman had inherited the coin fromher Fathers estate and that it had not been identified. The coin delaer must have been the only one in town because when she was wary of the offer for whatever reason a friend advised her to go out of town more specifcally New York which she did not want to do. It is not clear if it was the same friend but a friend advised her to go to a Branch office of ICG in the same town where it was readily identified.I do not know what the term "readily'" applies to in this case and agin the article does not go into detail.

 

I will take your word that there may be a possibilty that the Dealer verified it to his satisfaction that it was authentic and made the offer. Again there is no way of knowing whether or not the rarity was recognized by him.

 

 

My biggest problem here is my attitude. I moved on to my collection of Morgans in their raw state and had to ask questions about VAMS and their treatment of them which I addressed onthese Forums.

 

I was examining a Morgan dollar the other day. I have identified what seens to me minor cleaning on the outside rim of it among the letters where it would be more difficult to remove..

 

 

Without magnification I would have not been able to see it or any Vams that might be present and any other irregularities that would either increase or decrease the value of the coin so I just find it hard to believe that a Dealer would not do the same at some point.

 

I am not one of them but there are people that buy rolls of coins just looking for that one treasure /error that might exist but yet a Dealer will not?

 

 

 

 

[MikeInFL]

I couldn't find the original thread but there was a comment that nobody else seemed to mention.

 

In the case where the woman brought in the capped coin that was worth a minimum of $60,000.00 it was posted by another poster that very few people would suspect that a person would walk into a Dealers store and.........

 

I knwo nothing about that coin and will be the first to admit it ,however, this what was not mentioned.

 

The dealer offered the Woman $200.00 How did the dealer know whether or not this coin was Counterfeit? Either the dealer was really Maove in which case the word would have got around that people can pass off counterfeit coins with this dealer.

 

I think the dealer knew exactly that this was a vaild capped bust or he wouldn't have offered $200.00

 

Now I don't know anything about these types of coin but I do have a "Redbook".I looked the coin up and not only is the coin listed but there is a magnified picture of the date.

 

The over date was visible to me and I don't know anything about them. You don't think that the coin dealer would have used a loupe or magnifying glass to examine the coin for condition etc.

 

There would have been no way that this could have been missed.

 

So unless somebody wants to believe that this Dealer was so inept that he gambled on it being counterfeit while offering $200.00, did not know the existence of the Red Book or use a loupe to examine the condition of the coin then there is no other explanation other then the dealer tried to rip the woman off for at least $59,000.00

 

 

The key question, to me, is if the dealer knew the coin was worth $60k or not.

 

It is easy to assume he would, but in fact we have no idea.

 

Conjecture one way or the other is exactly that, and you are jumping to conclusions. There are lots of other explanations other than the ones you suggest.

 

However, assuming the dealer was trying to rip the little old lady, it is undefendable and outrageous. That is an asumption I am not willing to make with the information provided, though.

 

Respectfully...Mike

 

 

[CHABSENTIA]

I have said many times that there is not enough detail in the article to know the answer.THere is plenty of detail regarding the Fort Meyers Dealer who recognized the rare Charlottes even to the extent that the guy inherited them frim his Mother when she passed who received them from his Grandfather who was President of a Midwest Bank.

 

 

Could it be that the Dealer in Colorado did not want to talk about it etc.Who knows?

 

My point has always been the question of how much due diligence shoild be required by the Dealer. Shouldn't one expect a thorough evaluation from the Dealer as they would for any other Professional?

 

If the Woman walked in the Dealers shop and the Dealer knew it was not a counterfeit and gave her an offer and then said " for such and such a fee I can have it further researched for you and she refused then this would be another Story. If I send a Morgan dollar to ANACS and tell them that it is such and such a VAM and this is true then I will pay $5.00 and it will be put on the label. If I think there is a Vam but I am not sure then they will research it for a $10.00 fee. I have no problem witha dealer doing that for a fee etc.

 

The article gave the impresson that this was the only dealer in the twon. Perhaps the Dealer felt he was the only game in town etc.

 

 

I have one more question here. Since the woman eventually went to an IGC office in the same town and had to get this information from a friend then why didn't the Dealer suggest this option? Could it be that he didn't want it to happen?

 

The Dealer in Fort Meyers suggested a TPG. When the guy walked into the Las Vegas Coin show with a roll of 1893 S Morgan Dollars the Dealer ther suggested slabbbing the better grades.

 

Recently there was an article in coin World regarding an undiscovered Fugio. This is not my area but the guy got hold of an Expert for that time etc.

 

[MikeInFL]

Unrealistic expectations are at the root of your concern, I think.

 

Should the dealer have done the due diligence to identify the coin? The way I am reading your posts, you seem to assume that "yes" is the answer to this question. While I happen to agree with you that it is a dealer's ethical responsibility to correctly identify and offer an equitable bid on the coin, the fact is that the dealer has no legal responsibility whatsoever to do so.

 

It was likely the dealer was asked how much he would offer for the coin. He provided that number. Is he obligated to research each of his purchases for rare varieties before offering a bid price? I think not.

 

Again, you don't know what happened with the little old lady went into the store. You don't know what question she asked. You don't know how the dealer responded. You do jump to lots of conclusions though, many of which may be correct but really you (we) have no idea.

 

Couldn't it be that the dealer simply didn't recognize the coin for what it is? Perhaps he was too rushed to spend time looking closely at it, and provided a bid. Again, it could have been a lot of things, and we don't know for sure.

 

My point has always been the question of how much due diligence shoild be required by the Dealer. Shouldn't one expect a thorough evaluation from the Dealer as they would for any other Professional?

 

With all due respect, that wasn't your point at all.

 

Although you do allude to it in the title, if your point "has always been the question of how much due diligence [should] be required", then why not just ask that question, rather than post a third-hand prejudicial story and then assume the worst in your original, and subsequent, posts? Additionally, if this was your intent, why didn't you raise that issue/question in your original post.

 

Listen, I'm not saying what the dealer did was right (assuming he knew the coin was a $60k coin). And I'm not condoning ripping people off, but it is very easy to rush to judgement when we don't have all the facts, just as was done here, I believe.

 

In the end it takes two to tango, and while I believe the dealer owes it to his customers to provide and educated bid on a coin, it is equally as incumbent on the seller to do their own homework. Thankfully, this little old lady did, and it should be a lesson to all of us...

 

Be very wary when trusting anyone -- particluarly when money is involved. Trust is earned.

 

Respectfully...Mike

[Conder101]

In the end it takes two to tango, and while I believe the dealer owes it to his customers to provide and educated bid on a coin, it is equally as incumbent on the seller to do their own homework.

 

(This isn't so much for Mike as for some of the others here)

 

Very true, but you also have to consider how much effort the dealer should go to to provide that educated bid. If someone brings in a group of coins that contains material the dealer isn't a specialist in and asks what they are worth, do you really expect them to pull out their libraries and start attributing each coin by die variety just in case there might be a rare one in there?

 

Normally a dealer will check quickly for rare date and mint varieties and give a type coin price for anything else. If he happens to be a specialist on a series he will probably do a quick scan for any rare varieties that he knows by sight for those coins, but he still won't sit down and attribute each of them while the customer cools their heels. Ask most dealers if they have heard of the 1817/4 half dollar and most will probably say no. (Or at least they would have before this news story came out.) Even for those that have heard of it, if you asked if they could spot it on sight, most would say no. But ask a Dealer who specializes in bust halves or die varieties and oh yess thay know it and can identify it on sight. (I know there is at least one dealer in Fort Meyers that specializes in varieties. If he was the one who was asked about this coin then yes he would have recognized it instantly for what it was.)

[CHABSENTIA]

You said it better then me. I don't know what third story Mike in Fl is referring to. The two main ones have always been about Colorado and Fort Meyers. I did mention the 1893 S and the recent discovery of a Fugio as an example of Dealers suggesting a TPG.

 

Mike has also mixed up the Colorado Dealer with the FT Meyers Dealer. THe Colorado Dealer was the 1817/4 and the Fort Meyers Dealer was 4 Charlotte Varaties of a coin and a fifth coin Neither are my areas.

 

 

I have routinely used the word "Professional" and what should be expected from a Dealer who wanted to be considered a Professional especially when they list all sorts of Affiliations.The non Numismatic probably does not know the significance of NGC and PCGS and being a member of such and such.I found out in 2007 when I sent in a 1987 A.S.E. in 2007 for grading with my free voucher and it returned as an MS69 Struck thru error that there were people that specialize in error coins and asked here and Numismedia referred me to a Dealer in Calif and one in GA who specialize in them and they were very helpful.

 

I also asked the question in my last message of why didn't the Dealer recommend the ICG office in the same city that she later learned from a friend.? I do not expect the Dealer to pull out all sorts of guides etc but I also mentioned that the Dealer might have offered to research it for a fee. DO they do this? Perhaps so and the woman refused.

 

The problem in Colorado is that the article seems to at least imply what the Dealer did not do and the question is what is the obligation of the Dealer .

 

1. We do not know if the Dealer in Colorado was familar with the type of coin so the question becomes "what obligation the Dealer has to inform the Customer that they are not familar with it and recommend an alternative".

 

2. The article also stated that the Woman did not want to accept the offer and asked a friend and did not want to travel outside of her hometown. I believe New York was mentioned. A friend then told her about the ICG office there.

 

Apparently the coin was recognized enough by by the Colorado dealer to knowt it was not Counterfeit unless one wants to believe that an offer was made on a coin that might have been Counterfeit. The question then becomes " was the dealer aware of the rarity'?

 

Since the woman in the article said that she had to find out about the ICG office from further research/asking then it can be assumed that the Colorado Dealer did not mention the possibilty even though he was aware of it.

 

 

[MikeInFL]

Third story...what third story? I didn't think I was confused, but now I am.

 

Regardless, I believe you are right when you said:

 

"The question then becomes was the dealer aware of the rarity"

 

And frankly, no direct evidence has been presented to suggest the dealer did, but that didn't stop some from labeling the dealer "inept" or trying to "rip the woman off" or that "there is no question that he knew it [was worth 60k]".

 

While I would never argue that such things don't take place, it has hardly been shown that any of the above is true in this instance. Just like we wouldn't want someone jumping to conclusions about our actions, we should be careful from jumping to conclusions concerning the actions of others.

 

Respectfully...Mike

[Conder101]

"The question then becomes was the dealer aware of the rarity"

That is the ultimate question and we just have no way f knowing the answer to it. As I said earlier most non-specialist dealers would not have had a clue that it was a rare variety and so they would have had no reason to investigate further. As a case in point, not too long ago on the US coins board here there wa a question as to why a certain 1798 large cent in maybe VG-8 had sold for almost $500 on ebay. Now we have some pretty knowledgeable people on the NGC forum but most had no clue, a few thought maybe it was a scam or bidding fever. A couple suggested that maybe it was a rare variety but they had no idea. I went to the auction and as soon as the pictures came up I went GAGA! It was an S-144 other than the two non-collectible varieties it is the rarest 1798 and one only four varieties that I still need for the entire draped bust series. If you know the varieties it is a naked eye variety that jumps right out at you, you don't have to do any attributing to confirm it. Just like that 17/4 half. But if you don't know them it is just a non-descript 1798 VG large cent.

 

Or how about this one? What do you think you typical dealer would offer for it if it came in over the counter?

 

 

 

The ebay seller was hoping to get $300.

 

[CHABSENTIA]

I have mentioned this before but there is no Coin Dealer in Jacksonville Florida. I checked and the closest one is in St Augustine which is about a 45 minute drive from me.

 

 

I would not have the slighest idea about a 1817 let alone an error such as a 1817/4 and I didn't know ther was such thing as a Fugio either until I read about both in Coin world in recent issues.

 

There is no question that there are great sources such as yourself and others who are familar in many different areas.

 

When I sent my five coins in with the free voucher to NGC I got the 1987 A.S.E back with a Struck thru error and knew nothing about it. I looked up the Cert 3 and it had " No Price" and so I asked Numismedia and was referred to a Weinberg in Calif and a Stanton in Ga who specialized in error coins and both said basically the same thing and were great help.

 

 

When I went into my Raw Morgans I knew nothing about Vams and got help here. I have a Morgan that I think is a VAM that just made it to grading at NGC.

 

Where does the Person go who has no idea of where to start? I am still having a problem with the fact that this Dealer in Colorado did not mention an alternative such as the ICG office in the same town.

 

The other things might be rationalized and he may or may not have suggested a fee for further research but why not mention the ICG which she only found out about after asking several people and then ICG confirmed 'readily?

[CHABSENTIA]

I do not have the slightest idea about the coin and if you remember I had to ask in another post regarding a counterfeit coin put up for auction by a seller in CHINA that was referenced to a good NGC Certification number.

 

I would never have bid on the coin as I know nothing about that type of coin and if I ever considered that type I would do some research on it such as I did with the Morgan Vams.

 

Last week on Teletrade I was looking at a Morgan in a NGC holder that Numismedia lists as $150.00. Coin world trends lists it as $175.00

 

The bidding on it a few hours before closing was at $240.00. I have seen on EBAY where people have bid more in auction when they could have had the same year and grade of Coin as a BIN cheaper.

 

The fact that the Seller wants $300.00 would,mean nothing to me if I was not familar with the coin.There are blue splotches on the coin which I would want to research. If it is a copper coin then possibly it is corrosion. If not then possibly toning etc.

 

If the coin was in your possession then I would think there was a possibilty of it being worth more then $300.00 Since you say te Ebayer was 'hoping' for $300,.00 then this could mean that the Seller had a coin that was worth a great deal less than $300.00 or he didn't know what he had and it was worth a great deal more than $300.00

 

Knowing nothing about the type I would be turned off for now on the blue splotches for the reason I mentioned until I could verify my thought/s. The auction would probably be over by that time but I would know the next time.

 

In the meantime, we are back to the un-informed trusting the Dealer for providing the necessary info even for a fee etc. and not knowing where to start.

 

 

[MarkFeld]

I am still having a problem with the fact that this Dealer in Colorado did not mention an alternative such as the ICG office in the same town.

If the dealer didn't suspect that the coin was especially rare and/or out of the ordinary, they wouldn't have any reason to mention ICG, or anyone else, for that matter. You're seem to be applying hindsight to a situation which involved an incredibly rare and unexpected discovery. Get over the problem you're having, already.

[MikeInFL]

Where does the Person go who has no idea of where to start? I am still having a problem with the fact that this Dealer in Colorado did not mention an alternative such as the ICG office in the same town.

Might I suggest the Person seek the advice of someone who doesn't have a financial interest in the answer, like a collector or, even, a forum of collectors? ...Mike

 

p.s. Mark is, as usual, 100% correct in his post above...although his quoting skills could be improved.

[okbustchaser]

The other things might be rationalized and he may or may not have suggested a fee for further research but why not mention the ICG which she only found out about after asking several people and then ICG confirmed 'readily?

 

Because, IHO, there was no reason to do so. The woman had 4 coins. He offered type prices for the 4 coins. He had absolutely no reason based on his examination to think that any of the 4 coins needed to be attributed. Whether you are willing to admit it or not MOST CIRCULATED COINS DO NOT REQUIRE SLABBING!!! I realize that to some on these boards that statement borders on heresy, but it is still true.

 

The fact that he did not after a cursory examination of the 4 coins she brought in immediately recognize a rare variety DOES NOT make him any less a professional dealer. It DOES NOT make him a crook trying to rip off the less knowledgeble. IT DOES, however, make him an example of an HONEST, everyday coin dealer who saw no reason to recommend that she spend more money than the coins were likely worth just to have them stuck into unnecessary pieces of plastic.

[MarkFeld]

p.s. Mark is, as usual, 100% correct in his post above...although his quoting skills could be improved.

I think I got it right on the second or third edit/try.