A newbie’s coin shop experience

[Brotherman]

I am nowhere NEAR qualified to do a What You Need to Know Post, but I had

a recent experience in my local coin shop that sort of ties in with CT’s post.

I’m not going to derail his thread so that’s why I started a new one.

 

As most of you know by now, if a post can be done in two words – I’ll do it in

a paragraph. Apologies, because it is mostly boring:

 

Chris (cpm9ball) turned me on to a coin shop in my “area”. It’s actually 150

miles away but I do get to that town often. Whenever I go I’m there for a few

days so I hit the coin shop on my first day and again on my last. The past

6 weeks I think I’ve been there 9 or 10 times.

 

Now this dealer is a cool fella – the standoffish type. I wasn’t that happy with

the shop either. It seemed like every coin in every case was wizzed,

cleaned, scrubbed, and polished. Once I was able to find a large cent and

a two-cent piece – the ones with the really thick skin that even a newbie like

me could tell was original. He also has buckets of junk silver you can go

through. So, much of my time was spent carefully going through them. I was

able to get a nice original Walker, also for my type set. I did buy a book

and some supplies every now and then. I also got an album once.

 

BUT THAT WAS IT!

 

3 original coins in the whole store in a month and a half?? It’s a pretty big

store too! Anyway, I was complaining to Bob (supertooth) and he said

that sometimes dealers keep the good stuff in the back and leave the junk out

for foot traffic – that way they always have quality coins for their

“serious” customers.

 

My last visit was very strange – in a good way. It was as if Bob had called

them and told them to treat me right (he hadn’t of course).

Another customer and I walked up to one of the counters at the same time.

I was a little ahead of the guy but the owner gave me the “wait” sign and took

care of the other guy first. When he was done with the other customer he

turned to me and said, “You don’t want to look at this stuff, wait here a sec.”

He went in the back and came out with a whole tray full of coins – ok, maybe

25 in all. Anyway, they were beautiful! There were a couple of Trade

dollars, Barber halves and quarters, I remember seeing a few Seated

Liberty halves, even a few gold coins – but I don’t know which ones. They

were mostly XF and AU and mostly slabbed (All PCGS) all but a couple

looked darn original to me!

The man just came alive! We were talking (mostly him) - I was asking

questions – it was great.

 

I told him I was looking for Fine to XF original Walkers (he didn’t have any) but

he said he would be on the lookout for some.

 

I didn’t buy anything but it was a pleasant visit. Don’t think I actually trust

this guy – but I am getting to see the better coins now.

 

My point to this looooong story is – I think my dealer was sizing me up.

He wanted to see if he had a mark or a collector. I only passed his little

test because I’ve read a little (books as well as a LOT of posts here) and

I was fortunate enough to hook up with Bob.

 

My advice about coin shops and dealers: DON’T go in there cold! Do a

little research, pick the brains of these smart people here, and if you can hook

up with a mentor. There are lots of guys here that don’t mind sharing

their knowledge. Of course you won’t be an expert overnight – but now I can

pick out an original Fine 12 Walker – and I can do it all day long!

 

Hays

[Bruceswar]

Sweet story. Its nice to know that a dealer can find out you are serious. What I found the best is you can now spot cleaned coins and such. Congrats! Your getting alot better.

[Stanley]

Good story. You are absolutely correct about being prepared, especially in your first experiences of approaching a Dealer or Seller.

 

Depending on the seller being straight or a crook you just as well be waiving the I’m a sucker banner with rip me off painted on your forehead.

 

Did you get the feeling at first he may have thought you were going to rob him and was going to call the cops on you

[Brotherman]

Sweet story. Its nice to know that a dealer can find out you are serious. What I found the best is you can now spot cleaned coins and such. Congrats! Your getting alot better.

 

Bruce – Thanks for the compliment but I give all the credit to Bob. He is a

great teacher. He just about held my hand through the whole process of

learning to spot an original problem free Walker. He has also taught me how

to grade them in the circulated grades – but I’m only comfortable with the

Fine 12 right now. Not only that, he pointed out the three best books on

the series. I hunted them down, bought them, and read them – now I’m

studying them.

During Bob’s lessons of how to spot the cleaned Walkers, I started noticing

that coins from other series started jumping out at me. After all, a cleaned coin

is a cleaned coin regardless of the series.

 

I know I’ve gushed on about Bob, but I can’t tell you how much he has helped

me. I think finding a mentor like him is better than all the other stuff combined.

A book can’t tell you anything about the coin you have in your hand. Only

a knowledgeable mentor can correct you when you are headed in the

wrong direction. They can also help you fine-tune what you are doing right.

 

Hays

[Brotherman]

Good story. You are absolutely correct about being prepared, especially in your first experiences of approaching a Dealer or Seller.

 

Depending on the seller being straight or a crook you just as well be waiving the I’m a sucker banner with rip me off painted on your forehead.

 

Did you get the feeling at first he may have thought you were going to rob him and was going to call the cops on you

 

I doubt this guy was afraid of me! I’m a short plump middle-aged man. This

guy might have had a couple of years on me but he is HUGE! Looks like

shooting him would only make him mad. I’m guessing he doesn’t need a

gun either – he looks like he could push the bullets into you MANUALLY!

 

Hays

[Stanley]

MANUALLY! OUCH!

[HaydenTubbs]

Good story. You are absolutely correct about being prepared, especially in your first experiences of approaching a Dealer or Seller.

 

Depending on the seller being straight or a crook you just as well be waiving the I’m a sucker banner with rip me off painted on your forehead.

 

Did you get the feeling at first he may have thought you were going to rob him and was going to call the cops on you

 

I doubt this guy was afraid of me! I’m a short plump middle-aged man. This

guy might have had a couple of years on me but he is HUGE! Looks like

shooting him would only make him mad. I’m guessing he doesn’t need a

gun either – he looks like he could push the bullets into you MANUALLY!

 

Hays

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sounds like you've had a great time Hays,and hey,who cares if you run on a little?