Are You a CherryPicker ? Or as dealer what do you think of CherryPickers ?

[TonerGuy]

Are you a CherryPicker ? Do you take your CPG ( https://www.whitman.com/store/Inventory/Detail/Cherrypickers-Guide-to-Rare-Die-Varieties-Volume-II-5th-Edition ) to the show and sit there and look through all of the coins in a dealers junk box hoping to find that rare double-die or RPM ?

 

Or are you not a CherryPicker and hate it when they take up all of the chairs and you have no place to sit and rest your feet to look at a few coins ?

 

And if you're a dealer how do you feel about CherryPickers ? Does it bother you when you know someone is trying to cherrypick you ? Or do you just let them have at it ?

 

I confess, I thought about doing it several times but I think the book is dead giveaway and I just dont have time to memorize all of the varieties. I think someone should make a small flash card version of the book that you can easily flip through.

[asdfgh]

I guess it depends on how one collects and what one wants to collect. I do collect them, however I don't collect worn out coins and most of the time you could not see the variety on them any way. I normally buy ms coins that someone else has found and certified. I also mostly only buy the major ones. I did once go thru an entire bag of wheat pennies and found one double d mint mark. It certified as vf details.... what a waste of time.

 

[coinman_23885]

I don't have enough time to remember all of the varieties, but I have gone through dateless SLQs hoping to find a 1916 quarter based on design differences.

[coinman1794]

Are you a CherryPicker ? Do you take your CPG ( https://www.whitman.com/store/Inventory/Detail/Cherrypickers-Guide-to-Rare-Die-Varieties-Volume-II-5th-Edition ) to the show and sit there and look through all of the coins in a dealers junk box hoping to find that rare double-die or RPM ?

 

Or are you not a CherryPicker and hate it when they take up all of the chairs and you have no place to sit and rest your feet to look at a few coins ?

 

And if you're a dealer how do you feel about CherryPickers ? Does it bother you when you know someone is trying to cherrypick you ? Or do you just let them have at it ?

 

I confess, I thought about doing it several times but I think the book is dead giveaway and I just dont have time to memorize all of the varieties. I think someone should make a small flash card version of the book that you can easily flip through.

 

If you collect varieties, there is no other way to find them at a show than to sit down and perform the due diligence that the vast majority of dealers did not have time to do. It's really that simple. If a dealer doesn't like it, they should take the time to properly identify their own inventory in the first place.

[TonerGuy]

I don't have enough time to remember all of the varieties, but I have gone through dateless SLQs hoping to find a 1916 quarter based on design differences.

 

Have you ever found one ?

[coinman_23885]

Have you ever found one ?

 

Not yet.

[CaptHenway]

I was a cherrypicker long before the CHerrypicker's guide came out.

[TonerGuy]

I was a cherrypicker long before the CHerrypicker's guide came out.

 

Have dealers even tried to "shoo" you away from their table ?

 

I use to CherryPick 81-S proof Type IIs since most dealers didnt know what they look like but I havent found any in a while. Now as soon as I take out a loop and they see me looking at a proof coin in the SBA books or Lincoln book they always say the same thing - "you wont find any type IIs in my books."

 

Funny thing is then I would look in their cases and they would usually misidentify what I call Type IIIs as Type IIs. (I know there isnt any formal recognition of Type III mint marks for 1981 but there are coins that are definitely not Type Is and are not Type IIs)

[MarkVIIIMarc]

Cherry pickers probably owe everyone some politeness at a show. If I was hanging out blocking the last gas pump waiting for prices to drop or clogging the lanes at Walmart waiting for a good spot to open up eventually folks would rightfully get angry.

 

But as long as you are decent about it I as a non dealer would think a dealer would be happy selling his coin to anyone.

[johnny9434]

i became a cherry picker about 8 yrs ago.

[BillJones]

I am not a cherry picker for anything that was minted after 1834. In fact my interest wanes after 1808.

 

As a dealer, you can't specialize in everything. You have to pick your spots, like large cents, half cents (maybe both) or Overton half dollars. I had specialty in Civil War tokens, and I attributed everything I handled that was dated 1808 and before.

 

The trick as dealer when you spot a rare variety is know the specialists in the field. This is often not collectors (unless they happen to be in your customer base), but the "right" dealers. If you are sole proprietor who tries to do everything, you might well end up doing nothing.

 

[KeyMan64]

I am a cherrypicker. I have 'picked most of the Mercury Dimes needed for registry sets and done so with top pops or at least very close. And then I have sold them as well. I have cherrypicked many other coins beyond Mercs. I have well over 100 CPG varieties memorized and that is the best way to do it. I might be getting close to 200. Do your homework, study! Do not go sit down at a dealer's table with a book and expect any favorable response when you advertise to him that you wish to cherrypick his entire inventory. Feel free to type up a list of coins on your smart phone or have a small paper list of things date/denomination/mm and pickup points if you must but the best way is to memorize the series that are of the greatest interest to you. This way, you can scan a dealer's table for any of the ones you have memorized and ask to see those coins that might be a variety. I carry a 10x/20x combo loupe and I have been very successful with it. Knowledge is power...memorize the coins that interest you the most. You will just find yourself kicked away from tables, more often than not, if you walk up with an open CPG.

[jpcienkus]

I'm not a cherry picker, nor am I interested in becoming one.

 

I think cherry pickers should be courteous (space wise) when sifting through boxes of 2x2's. I've experienced them taking up both chairs at the tables + having some of their stuff lying on the dealers display cases. Effectively putting that dealer "on hold".

 

I have no issue with people who want to cherry pick. IMO, if that's your thing, no worries. Just understand other people might want to look at the dealers inventory.

 

If a dealer doesn't take the time to understand the varieties in his inventory, than I see no reason why a cherry picker shouldn't be able to profit from it.

 

[bourse28]

I am not a cherrypicker (CP) nor care to take up that aspect of the hobby. One should study his material carefully so not to be picked.

 

If a dealer has a junk box CP can sit there for a long time looking thru the JB then buy nothing. This could cost the dealer retail business. I have seen dealers take the JB away from the CP and make him leave the table. Dealers want their JB sales to help pay expenses for the show thru the sale of high markup, inespensive items. The CP can be viewed as a disruption of this process.

 

Other dealers seem not to mind the CP at all and may have huge bins of junk coins. They could be piled up like a tresure mountain on the table with a pirate ship (like one guys table I saw) or another may have a bright shiny garbage can full of junk coins in 2x2's as people bunch around it. A friend in coin club - Ben says "Oh gosh I love the Pickers and lay out lots of junk in the bins, not really for the Pickers of course. There presence draws a lot of people thinking the stuff must be really a good deal and lots of them buy. I love selling that stuff, its marked up at least 100%. I have seen it draw nasty stars from other dealers as their 4-5 figure slabs nobody can afford languish at their lonely tables like dead fish on a beach."

 

For me the ideal setup of junk coins at a show is a big plastic tub full of the stuff at one end of the table, away from my cases full of slabs and they can all look to their hearts content. Its all coins $20 or less and I love adding to it. Silver quarters and dime especially from BU rolls have been good sellers and margins good. One picker was there two hours then got tired and left, slim pickings I guess as he did not find anything. I love adding stuff to it before a show, its like a treasure trove. The more a JB is full of BU junk, its luster will draw people from across the room. Get some rolls of circ Indians, Liberty 5c, and Buffalos. Put a few of those in these will catch buyers too.

 

 

[jtlee321]

I am a Cherrypicker. I'd never consider sitting down at a dealers table with a CPG in my lap looking through everything. I've done as Keyman64 has, I've put the time and effort into memorizing the series and specific varieties I am interested in. For me this includes, Mercury Dimes, Washington Quarters, Walking Liberty Halves and Buffalo Nickels. I also include 1964 Kennedy's, even though they really don't have much value. I'm just working on making a complete '64 Kennedy variety set. Yes there are a lot of different varieties, but I only focus on the ones that interest me and can easily flip.

 

I'd say almost every dealer know's what your doing after you've sat down and looked at nearly every coin with a 10X+ loupe and almost never buy anything. I think they are fine with it as long as you don't advertise what your doing, such as sitting there with a CPG open.

 

I have made one spectacular score since I've been doing this. But most of my success is actually with bullion dealers rather than coin dealers. I love to go through the junk 90% boxes of these guys. Most of them barely look at what they bring in. They just throw it on a coin counter and pay the customer. I've found key date and lot's of semi-key date coins as well as BU early date coins.

 

I am a father of two young children and don't have much of a budget to purchase the coins I'd like for my collection, so I Cherrypick and sell them for a profit, then use those profits to purchase the nicer coins for my collection, so that one day I can pass them on to my children. I'm not worried about them selling them off for melt, I already have them interested in coins. As they get older, I'll teach them what they are and why they should keep them.

[cpm9ball]

I was a cherrypicker long before the CHerrypicker's guide came out.

 

I heard you carried around a pair of stone tablets at the Mt. Sinai Coin Show.

 

Chris

[TonerGuy]

Well now there's an app that needs to get made... if it hasnt been already.

 

Is there a CherryPickers' app ? If there is it would be tremendous if you could choose which coins you wanted to include. That way you can limited the info.

[bourse28]

One dealer in coin club lets Pickers take time in hope they will find something. Then when they do he takes coin (s) turns back, brings out Cherrypicker Guide, looks up coins and see what the Picker Picked. If he is really giving away something by selling it will say "Sorry but pricing mistake on this coin, not for sale." Then will put the coin away to price or slab for later. Pickers get mad he loves it: "They came to rip now me now let them go eat cake. I owe these &^*& nothing"

 

He profits from what the pick at his table, no other way around.

[coinman1794]

One dealer in coin club lets Pickers take time in hope they will find something. Then when they do he takes coin (s) turns back, brings out Cherrypicker Guide, looks up coins and see what the Picker Picked. If he is really giving away something by selling it will say "Sorry but pricing mistake on this coin, not for sale." Then will put the coin away to price or slab for later. Pickers get mad he loves it: "They came to rip now me now let them go eat cake. I owe these &^*& nothing"

 

He profits from what the pick at his table, no other way around.

 

Sounds like unpaid labor to me. The dealer is taking advantage of the collector, in that instance.

[coinman_23885]

One dealer in coin club lets Pickers take time in hope they will find something. Then when they do he takes coin (s) turns back, brings out Cherrypicker Guide, looks up coins and see what the Picker Picked. If he is really giving away something by selling it will say "Sorry but pricing mistake on this coin, not for sale." Then will put the coin away to price or slab for later. Pickers get mad he loves it: "They came to rip now me now let them go eat cake. I owe these &^*& nothing"

 

He profits from what the pick at his table, no other way around.

 

This doesn't sound like a very successful business model. You would think after a time or two of doing this, word would spread and kill his business.

[seventee]

"They came to rip now me now let them go eat cake. I owe these &^*& nothing"

 

And this guy is a coin dealer with an attitude like this? If this guy really doesn't want cherry pickers at his table just say so is the correct attitude.

 

Some will take offense,others not.It helps for the collector of varieties to always make at least a modest purchase after cherry-picking a group of coins.

 

 

[BillJones]

One dealer in coin club lets Pickers take time in hope they will find something. Then when they do he takes coin (s) turns back, brings out Cherrypicker Guide, looks up coins and see what the Picker Picked. If he is really giving away something by selling it will say "Sorry but pricing mistake on this coin, not for sale." Then will put the coin away to price or slab for later. Pickers get mad he loves it: "They came to rip now me now let them go eat cake. I owe these &^*& nothing"

 

He profits from what the pick at his table, no other way around.

 

This doesn't sound like a very successful business model. You would think after a time or two of doing this, word would spread and kill his business.

 

I agree. I would not bother with that dealer. He could do that to me once, and that would be it. It seems that he is either too lazy or too stupid do his job.

 

The point is that dealer needs to have a place to market the cherrypicked coin to get a premium out of it. In mean time his policies could ill will among his customers which is never good for business.

[Jon P. Sullivan]

Are you a CherryPicker ? Do you take your CPG ( https://www.whitman.com/store/Inventory/Detail/Cherrypickers-Guide-to-Rare-Die-Varieties-Volume-II-5th-Edition ) to the show and sit there and look through all of the coins in a dealers junk box hoping to find that rare double-die or RPM ?

 

Or are you not a CherryPicker and hate it when they take up all of the chairs and you have no place to sit and rest your feet to look at a few coins ?

 

And if you're a dealer how do you feel about CherryPickers ? Does it bother you when you know someone is trying to cherrypick you ? Or do you just let them have at it ?

 

I confess, I thought about doing it several times but I think the book is dead giveaway and I just dont have time to memorize all of the varieties. I think someone should make a small flash card version of the book that you can easily flip through.

I think it's great, and do not have a problem with it. My only problem would be if it's a busy day with a number of people at my table, and the cherrypicker is taking up a seat which could be used by a more active customer. Anything the cherrypicker finds they more than earned as far as I'm concerned. Cherrypicking is a lot of work and for the hours spent looking, it rarely actually pays well.

[BillJones]

The main guys I've known who made a lot money from cherrypicking were experts in early copper. They are the ones who find the new examples of very rare varieties, or in the old days when the middle and late date cents became popular, located a lot of those pieces.

 

I guess there is market for tiny die chips, minor doubling of letters and numbers, and such on coins minted after the first half of the 19th century, but it's not a market that really interests me.

[AHFreak]

I buy and sell coins to make a living, and it takes a lot of work. To me, Cherry Picking is something I can do while Im working that doesn't feel like work for whatever reason. It is something that for me is a very fun part of the "work". I consider it "free money", its just laying there waiting to be picked up by someone, I figure it might as well be me.

 

I think that anyone who is ever going into coin shops, or shows, etc that doesn't at least have a general knowledge of some of the varieties found on whatever coin/series they specialize in or collect are potentially missing out on what I would consider significant free money.

[jpcienkus]

I buy and sell coins to make a living, and it takes a lot of work. To me, Cherry Picking is something I can do while Im working that doesn't feel like work for whatever reason. It is something that for me is a very fun part of the "work". I consider it "free money", its just laying there waiting to be picked up by someone, I figure it might as well be me.

 

I think that anyone who is ever going into coin shops, or shows, etc that doesn't at least have a general knowledge of some of the varieties found on whatever coin/series they specialize in or collect are potentially missing out on what I would consider significant free money.

 

IMO, that's a good way to look at it.