How about some praise for the "Little Guy"

[cpm9ball]

Mark Feld's thread and some of the responses to it about dealers who make it difficult to do business with them got me thinking. It seems that I'm always reading comments about some of the larger dealers, but I rarely read about some of the small shopowners and what they do for the love of our hobby. I don't want to forget that some of our members probably fall into this category and are very deserving of recognition, but I think we all know who they are because we interact with them practically on a daily basis. I want this thread to be about the small dealers with whom each of us have built a relationship. They may be from your own hometown or in another locale where your travels take you. I would imagine that many of us have conducted business with just such a person, and it would be nice to hear the "who, what, why, how, when & where" stories. I'm starting this off by telling you about my most recent experience.

 

Frank's Coins - Las Vegas, Nevada

Once a year, I travel to Las Vegas for the amateur pool tournaments held at the Riviera Hotel & Casino. I've never met Frank. He is the buyer and is rarely in the store which is in the Riviera. His brother, Patrick, runs the shop and my first purchase from him was 18 Proof SAE's for less than $17 apiece back in 1999. Since that time, I have made only occasional purchases when something would catch my eye. This year, however, Pat had quite a few nice Morgans and he continued to add more to the inventory almost on a daily basis. I found myself "checking in" every day to see if anything new was added. If nothing new had come in, we would just talk about coins. Over the course of my 9-day stay, I purchased a total of 18 Morgans, but one incident really stuck in my mind. I had selected four from his trays that were bright, well-struck and had some nice tinges of golden toning. The prices marked on the 2x2's added up to $310. Pat said, "Make me an offer!" When I suggested $275 for the lot, he replied, "Just make it an even $200."

 

Have any of you ever found yourself caught totally by surprise from a response like that? I only wish they had a website so I could visit them every day.

 

Chris

[Dwaine]

Interesting story. I don't have any local shops anywhere near where I live. But the next time I am in Vegas I will have to remember to check out Frank's.

[MarkFeld]

Chris, I very much like the thought behind this thread - thank you. Unfortunately, if the past (with respect to postings on both this and other forums) is any indication, this thread won't receive the attention it deserves. Negative posts typically receive far more replies and interest than positive ones. I guess that's just human nature, even among coin people.

[cpm9ball]

Thank you, Mark! Coming from you, that means a lot to me.

 

Chris

[jgrinz]

Chris, I very much like the thought behind this thread - thank you. Unfortunately, if the past (with respect to postings on both this and other forums) is any indication, this thread won't receive the attention it deserves. Negative posts typically receive far more replies and interest than positive ones. I guess that's just human nature, even among coin people.

 

I agree in part but the lack of responses probably has a lot more to do with the majority not having a local coin shop available as in myself. I live in the sticks and is not good for business to open a shop here - My only experiences with coin sales and purchases has been online with the majority being positive.

[bsshog40]

 

I agree in part but the lack of responses probably has a lot more to do with the majority not having a local coin shop available as in myself. I live in the sticks and is not good for business to open a shop here - My only experiences with coin sales and purchases has been online with the majority being positive.

 

Same situation here too!

[physics-fan3.14]

The local coin shop here in Charleston, at least the one I know about, is sort of lacking. Lets see, a good story....

 

When I was in school, down in Daytona Beach, I was always looking for a good coin shop. There were a few, but the one I liked the best was in the flea market. It was inside a building, so it was a little more permanent and nicer. There was this old guy and his wife, and there were coins everywhere. It was chaos, but the guy knew exactly where everything was. He was a friendly guy, and I would sit and talk to him for quite some time. I didn't spend much, but the best thing I bought from him was a bicentennial silver 3 piece set. That guy was nice, and encouraged a lot of the common people, who were just passing through the market, to look a little closer.

[TJ'S Coins]

I prefer purchasing my coins in person so I can see them in hand and talk with the dealer/seller.

 

There is one local coin shop that I enjoy visiting and the dealer knows my coin preferences well. He makes it a point to bring out what he suspects that I would like and does a nice job purchasing fresh material to encourage more frequent visits. I've learned a lot looking through his inventory, talking about coins with him and other customers and developing a friendship too. These are things that are more difficult to do via Internet, email and telephone conversations. I would hate to see local coin shops disappear.

[DC Dawg]

Chris, I very much like the thought behind this thread - thank you. Unfortunately, if the past (with respect to postings on both this and other forums) is any indication, this thread won't receive the attention it deserves. Negative posts typically receive far more replies and interest than positive ones. I guess that's just human nature, even among coin people.

Human nature says that we are more motivated by negative emotion rather than positive action. We also look at things in the terms of risk, which is not a positive emotion. Risk analysis is inherently negative.

 

That being said, I was waiting until the Baltimore show next week. There are three dealers I make it a point to seeing. All three are "small" dealers who I always buy from. I was hoping to see them and write about them in my show report because they deserve the praise!

 

Scott

[WoodenJefferson]

I would have responded but my answer or opinion about the local dealer falls short because the two small dealers I frequented are no longer in business.

 

I truly miss the personal interaction that I experienced when entering the stores whether to buy or to just talk coins/politics or about things going on in general.

 

Not many people got to see what the contents of the safe held, only what was displayed on the shelves. I’m not saying that I got special preference, it was more or less the dealer saying, “Look what I picked up today” and it would be some stunning coin that you were afraid to ask the price.

 

Those coins were off to major dealers on the West & East Coast through a net work built up by friendship and trust. Trust that the coin sent was everything it was expected to be and more.

 

After a time, I was more or less treated the same way. I was never offered anything sub-standard, only the finest examples priced not much higher as the same coin offered to the walk-in customer on the shelf. You felt special and you knew you would be back for more and so did they. It’s called building a successful business.

 

What ever you’d like to call it, client/dealer relationship, it does happen but probably with out much frequency anymore. When a new dealer opened locally here, I called to check, it was by appointment only. I went, it was a rather cold reception. I was offered investment coins, coins that they wanted to sell me, not coins that I wanted to buy. There was no vast selection, they were specific coins that are seen on TV, in magazine ads and widely publicized to bring you money! They had nothing that I wanted to buy or was interested in owning. I haven’t checked as of late to see if they are still in business…could be they were a hit and run company, a Sap&Scoot

 

I got the feeling they were looking for Doctors/Lawyers, professional people with a disposable income. That may be fine for some, but it’s not my cup of tea.

[cpm9ball]

That being said, I was waiting until the Baltimore show next week. There are three dealers I make it a point to seeing. All three are "small" dealers who I always buy from. I was hoping to see them and write about them in my show report because they deserve the praise!

 

Scott

 

Scott, I'll look forward to your comments after the Balimore Show. I hope it is all that you want it to be.

 

Chris

[RUSS BEGA]

the coin shop in my home town of Loveland Colorado is now gone but i will always have the memories, the store it's self was called Loveland gold and silver exchange. he had alot of antiques and always had coins behind the counter. when you walked into the shop you were immedatley blasted by a smell of tabacoo smoke but to me it was pleasant (why i have no idea) the gentleman that owned it was named Leon little did i know when i walked in for the first time would he turn out to be a good friend and a mentor. if i was ever short of cash he would give me a hand and even give me freebies. we would talk for a minumum of 3 hours. and i would always walk out happy. i think the best experience i ever had was when he sold me a bunch of morgans during his last week of bussisness below cost and told me to go pursue my dreams. also he was interviewed by my local newspaper because he was closing down and he had been there for 17 years. well he dropped them a tip and they decided to interview me. i got a full length article in the paper written up about me in the shop that i loved so much. now a clothing store is there and that smoky aromoa is gone but i'll always remember it as leons shop. we still see each other about once amonth and we go do apprasials for museums, he takes the jewelry and i take the coins

[rbrown4]

In the 1950's my father was living in Ft. Worth Texas and found a dealer that ended up being a great source for premium coins, a resource for help and assistance for him as well as a friend who would even suggest to my mother what coin or coins to buy my father for his birthday, Xmas, etc. On numerous occasions this gentleman would show and offer to my father coins that were not necessarily on public display for sale but instead part of his "prime" lots. This dealer was honest, trustworthy, and became a very well respected aquaintance of my folks. Many of my father's finer coins were acquired with the assistance of this dealer. He would listen to what my father was looking for and that is what he would find, nothing more, nothing less, except of course when he saw it prudent to offer additional advice or his professional opinion. The dealer was B. Max Mehl.

 

Rey

 

PS My Mother claims that he once offered to procure a Stella for my father, my Mother declined due to the cost. I have yet to confirm that this is true.