Harlan Berk ?'s

Glad you are satisfied. I bought a Trade dollar from HB and I was pleased. If you have any concerns you can always call them. They are helpful and courteous on the phone.

Colin

Glad someone is having good luck with them. I live in the area of that place. I USED to go there a lot. I even went there before it became Harlan J. Berk. Then about a few years ago something changed. They started to carry a lot of cleaned coins, became rude to customers, raised prices way out of normalicy. One of my last trips there I asked why so many coins were cleaned. They said that's the way the get them and if I don't want them go somewhere else. Another time there the guy behind the counter walked away from me in the middle of a conversation. A lady said it was his luch time so away he went. They are never at coin shows in the area and when I asked someone there why not I was told what for. No one there worth our time. Rude, over priced, lack of good merchandise, many cleaned coins.
Very big store that has artifacts of very old stuff from places like Rome, Egypt, etc. I feel they are just to big an not really to interested in customers unless you wave large bills in their faces.
Only my experience with them over the years. Like I said I go by there almost every day.

I have dealt with HJB many many times and I have never had anything but very considerate emails from them. I have always been very pleased with each purchase and if the coin is cleaned atleast they will tell you its cleaned unlike most other dealers which I find rather pleasing. I have ordered a coin that HJB called whizzed but I be derned if I could tell it even looking at it under my QX5 microscope and also ordered a "lightly cleaned" according to them and also could not see any evidence of the cleaning

An important point is being made here, especially by Carl and I Palindrome I. Nothing is ever perfect, and even the best dealer will have (rightfully) dissatisfied customers on occasion. The lesson, as always, is due diligence on the part of the buyer, and the willingness to stand up for yourself and not accept what you consider to be a poor deal.

Carl is a respected member around here, and relates his story in a fashion which proves that he does not have any personal agenda other than education. IPal is a personal friend of mine, and his experiences with Harlan Berk are a topic we've discussed in other venues even before I was a member here at CCF. I believe what they have to say. It has a bearing on my decision whether to deal with Harlan Berk or not.

I still choose to do business with them, and to endorse them as a place to do business. That opinion is based on my own level of knowledge - I trust my ability to grade a coin, to determine whether a price is fair or not, and to stand up for my rights if I feel that I've been done wrong.

There are very darn few dealers out there who sell coins in our price range (I'm unlikely to ever spend as much as $1000 on a coin), and can be considered as absolutely trustworthy from both a grading and pricing standpoint. We're lucky enough to be posting on a forum founded by one such dealer. But never forget, these people are in business to make money. They have families to feed, and individual views of what's "right" from a business standpoint, and they also have flaws like any other human being.

So, Caveat Emptor. Do not place blind trust, as a buyer, in anything, ever. Educate yourself. Know what you're buying. Know what you should be paying. Don't stretch your willingness to make a purchase - there's always another coin around the corner at least as nice as the one you're looking at. We're not discussing Top Pops here, we're talking about coins that are relatively common on the market.

Thundercoin, I know they've been working on redoing parts of their website so something could have always gotten lost in the shuffle. They do send out an order confirmation email (just the one, no separate email when the item ships). It certainly won't hurt to shoot them an email so you don't have to worry about it.

Sounds like they could use better in store help. A big part of their business are their Ancient Coin/Artifact mail bid auctions & the Gemini auction in NY. I think the things that would make them a 'regular' coin shop are more of a sideline at this point. The US/World Coin/Currency market still makes them money so they still do it, but the Ancients market is their primary focus.

They aren't the only dealer that I know of that doesn't negotiate price. It's becoming more & more common. Shows are a bit different than B&M overhead too.

I'm close enought to be able to go down to Berk's every once in a while. It's always a panic finding a parking spot downtown, then getting back to the car before it gets ticketed (Chicago wasn't nicknamed "Beirut by the Lake" for nothing). Anyway, I've always been pleased with what I got in the store, and pricing for the grade seemed fair to me.

In most cases I would spot a coin on-line that I liked, then visit the store to inspect it in person before buying. If they state that the coin is cleaned, don't let the on-line photo fool you into thinking it's not. I've passed on several shiny specimens that looked OK on-line.