Was I being unreasonable? What would you do in this situation?

[cmerlo1-migration]

If he was busy, as your friend he should have told you so. Telling you no, assuming you couldn't afford it is wrong on a number of levels. I know several dealers who I would consider friends, and I don't think one of them would have done this. On the contrary, they would want to show me this coin, whether they thought I could've afforded it or not, because they knew I would have appreciated seeing it. I would've been greeted at their table with "Hey, look what I picked up the other day..." as they have done on numerous occasions.

I think sometimes, we're quick to make excuses for coin dealers who show bad customer service to collectors, friend or not. To me, there is no excuse for this, regardless of how busy they are, etc.

[awb]

Next time I'll see him I'll tell him his little comment made me pretty upset and asked why he said that.

I don't know if that's best. He's not your friend, so he has no obligation to explain himself to you. File this away in the back of your mind so that if you do continue to deal with him, he can't get the best of you again.

 

This dealer wasn't very friendly, and he could have chosen a more polite way to say "no." However, I wonder if there are other factors we're not privy to. Kevin, you've told before how you've upset some of your collecting friends. Have you done something to this guy that might have prompted his reaction?

 

The stories of a plain looking man walking into a fancy store and not receiving service are good lessons for salespeople, but in this case, because of the prior history between the two, I assume that the dealer knows the coins Kevin is capable or likely to purchase.

 

As a customer at coin shows, I feel like I'm bound to a sort of buyer's etiquette. If I'm shopping around for $50 or $100 coins, I wouldn't be comfortable asking to see a coin worth $1000. I know I'm not going to buy it. I don't know if the dealer knows, but I'd feel like I'm leading him on, giving the impression I'm a potential buyer when really I'm not even close. The dealers are trying to make money, not run a museum, so I try to be prudent with my purely academic requests.

 

As other posters have mentioned, this coin being raw adds another element to the story. I can understand someone being apprehensive about playing show and tell with a coin that can be easily damaged.

 

Finally, and maybe counter to the buyer's etiquette I mentioned above, I would feel more comfortable asking to see coins well out of my price range if it was a dealer I'd developed a relationship with.