Pawnshops - Two Philosophies

Looks like a nice haul from the list.

The 1883 with cents is worth more than the 1883 without cents.

I've quit visiting pawn shops in my city and others when I travel, all my expiriences are similar to senario 1, it's silver or it's collectable coins therefore it must be worth lots, ie common bullion bars @ 1 1/2 times spot or higher, G -VG half dollars @ 4 - 5 times book value.

I've had all sorts of experiences, most of them good actually. The worst was this pawn shop in Washington. Guy had about 8 worn Roosevelt silver dimes sitting in a small pile behind his glass case. I asked how much, and he gave me a price about 75 cents over spot EACH. So, I tried working him down by offering him that day's spot price.

Oh man, did he bust a vein. He exploded, cursed me out, told me I was trying to take advantage of him, etc. It was one of the most surreal experiences I ever had. I couldn't believe his reaction. He concluded that his prices were at spot, which was just a flat out lie. I called him out on it, pointed at his computer, and told him to go look it up because he was wrong. It ended with me telling him I didn't want his trash coins, but profanity laced. Dude really hit my buttons treating me like that.

I walked 2 blocks down the street, and found several rolls of unsearched wheats at another pawn shop. They were marked 2 cents a coin, but the owner volunteered to sell them to me at face value. HAHA couldn't believe it.

I agree with SsuperDdave, if you are a smart shopper you will likely find the good deals. One of my favorite pawn shops in the area is owned by someone you can tell had a love for coins at some point. I think he was all coin in the past and then branched out towards a more traditional pawn shop due to necessity. I thinks it's worn him down a bit. He has about a third of his coins in counter displays tagged at retail book. He knows me as a familiar face from buying supplies as his prices on flips etc are dirt cheap. If he ever has something that catches my eye he immediately offers 50-75% off the price without being haggled. He also takes in collections and has bins of Unsorted/unsearched coins to which he will usually offer a dirt cheap price if I take the whole bin. So to sum it up, I think it's a combo of presenting yourself as a smart shopper, and of course finding the right place to give your money to. My repeat shopping for cheap supplies and conversation has developed a great place for me to pick up some coins. The repeat business I think played a large part, even if it was only minor purchases at first. I imagine these owners deal with people everyday that they will never see again, and probably some they hope to never see again. He was never unfriendly (I would have never gone back), but he definitely warmed up a lot more after a few visits. Just my thoughts and rambles ;)

Haven't checked out all of them, but all I have in my area are type 1s. Really no reason to even try looking as it is all way overpriced junk. The few real coin shops are the only places with anything worth looking at and they are mostly gouging as well.

I found a decent merc dime at one local pawnshop and the guy said he had a really nice "partial" album of prime ones he'd bring in. Then he wanted like $400 for a $200 coin and wouldn't budge a cent - making it a worthless gesture. Most of these places are bullion dealers only now and want huge profit margins on anything else - including all coins.

Now you got me curious..I think I will make it a point to check out some pawn shops but I don't see em often and really don't want to go into the city if I don't have too but who knows. Hope I find some type 2.

If it was a TV show, you can bet it was a fake story and didn't really happen. Just made up for the show.

Wow, just read up about Oakridge Lab dimes. Thats so cool! I'm going to try and get one of those (if you're not too attatched to it, PM me)