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 Replies: 16 / Views: 9,182 |
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Valued Member
Canada
284 Posts |
I'm going to China and Japan very soon, and I was wondering if anyone knows of interesting coin stores in Beijing, Xian or Kunming in China, or Tokyo or Kyoto in Japan. Any information would be appreciated :)
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
36844 Posts |
Do you really want to buy coins in China?
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Valued Member
 Canada
284 Posts |
Hehe that's a good point. Well I don't want to buy expensive coins in China, I figure that's a way to avoid getting ripped off.
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Pillar of the Community
614 Posts |
There is one and only one tip for buying coins in or from China; DON'T!!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5362 Posts |
mysterious_dr_x I think a trip to China could be VERY informative. In fact go to a replica shop - one of the legal ones that makes and sells "REPLICA" coins and see if you can watch the coins being made. Perhaps you would uncover some new techniques or errors being made in the process to tip off other buyers when these same coins reappear in the US slightly worn and aged to perfection.
If you can take pictures of the operations and post them when you return. By knowing what processes are being used many of us can develop lists of what to look for in the way of incorrect techniques.
Remember that the prices initially offered often presume that you believe the coins are real. But if you act with confidence and an air of experience you can usually get the price down to 10 cents to 50 cents each. A good friend (a co-worker) at the shop recently went to Hong Kong and got this exact treatment - coins that were initially offered at $100 ended up at under $1.
Also a listing of all of the dates and varieties being offered is a great source of what new stuff will be appearing in coin shows and flea markets.
Most coin Replicas in China are VERY inexpensive if you demonstrate that you fully know what you are looking at.
The only Chinese coin I would buy would be Certified by one of the BIG three and I would NOT EXPECT A BARGAIN. I would also only buy the coin after I closely examined the holder and assured myself that it was not tampered with.
The old adage that you get what you pay for can be applied here.
Edited by swamperbob
06/26/2012 8:36 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Germany
1064 Posts |
I went somewhere yesterday in Xi'an, an antiques shop on Zhuque and the second ring road by the sky scrapper that has a few places that sell a lot of fakes. There was one that might sell some real, new, coins but I didn't really look that much.
There also seemed to be quite a few older coins which are probably real, but they don't really interest me.
I was having fun with the women who were trying to get me to buy fakes, and getting frustrated when I said bu yao (I don't want) all the time, they kept producing more and more rubbish, it was quite funny.
Edited by augsburger
06/26/2012 10:20 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
2830 Posts |
If you ask about "coins", locals will generally direct you to a bank.
I found a couple of coin-shops in Shenzen, but they only had "collector" coins, a.k.a. "investment" coins, Pandas, Franklin Mint, etc; and very little from outside China.
I had a little better luck in antique shops, and in ChongQing, I found a mall full of small shops selling antiques and art. I found a few coins among them, about 50:50 Chinese and foreign - and I bet they had a story to tell.
The Night-markets mostly have fakes, but I found one stall that had older coins ... AND reference books.
My advice is: ask for "antiques".
Know what you're looking for, and what to pay.
Equip yourself with a magnet, a loupe, and pocket-scales.
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Valued Member
United States
303 Posts |
If you find a reputable dealer, expect to pay a lot more money even for common coins. Prices are much higher than in ebay and I am sure many dealers buy most of their stuff from here and mark it up for the collectors with money. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5362 Posts |
hc8604 As I have said a few times before, I work for a coin dealer as an authenticator. There are two employees devoted to ebay full time - selling NOT buying. In my experience with the shop nearly all of the incoming material comes from the purchase of coin collections that are being sold by heirs or long time collectors who want to cash in their investments. The prices on ebay are solidly higher that what coins sell for over the counter here in North Carolina. It may be a function of the overall economy but the Raleigh area has one of the lowest unemployment rates and one of the highest income averages in the state. But they do get a LOT of COUNTERFEIT coins coming in with the collections. That is my job to spot them. By a wide margin these FAKES come from ebay. I don't know where you are located but the coin dealers follow the local market in selling - you must be in a super robust area.
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Valued Member
United States
303 Posts |
Since the topic was about buying in China, I mean sellers from China that buy in US through ebay and do not sell on ebay. Swamperbob, did you tell me before? I don't remember you saying anything to me directly, no offense. Edited by hc8604
07/11/2012 3:55 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5362 Posts |
NO offence taken - I was just standing up for the honest coin dealers in the US (not a joke because there are a few).
Of course in any profession there are bad apples - coin dealers unfortunately are noted as sharp dealers. Perhaps because the most successful ones are not too honest. But there are decent honest people in the business who will not take advantage of less knowledgeable folks - you just have to hunt a bit.
By the same token, I also know their are honest dealers in China. All the dealers I know there are counterfeiters, but even they seem to be honest businessmen practicing a trade that is LEGAL for them.
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Valued Member
Canada
284 Posts |
Ok, so I came back. The trip was great, I loved it, although numismatically speaking, it was somewhat disappointing. I thought I'd reply here and give some feedback in case someone goes in the future.
In China, I didn't have that much time to find places and also, finding places in harder than you'd think. Many people aren't aware of where things are and even though you can be really close, if you ask people you might still get a lot of "I don't know". In Beijing the numismatic museum was very interesting. It's all in chinese but there are many incredibly old coins there with some history. At the bottom of the museum there's a store.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
2830 Posts |
in case I ever go back there: where in Beijing is "the numismatic museum" located, please ?
I saw one room near the front of the Forbidden City, which had some old coins, but that wasn't much.
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Valued Member
United States
98 Posts |
Did you get a chance to look for anything in Japan? I should get a chance to go to Tokyo fairly regularly, so it would be interesting to attempt to find a place and communicate enough to actually buy something!
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1610 Posts |
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Valued Member
Canada
284 Posts |
Sorry, I was writing my post and had to do something else so it's incomplete. For Peter, the link posted by Apollo isn't the museum I went to, there might be more than one. The one I went to is situated in the Deshengmen tower. To get there you go to Jishuitan stop on line 2, it's north east of the station. Walk east on Bei Er Huan. It's the old looking tall round and large tower, it has many buses running around it. As for Xian I didn't find anything (but didn't have much time to wander around, but in Kunming I found several small booths in the flower and bird market: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/china/y...ing/shoppingIt was nothing astounding, prices were often steep and there were most likely some fakes sprinkled here and there, but an interesting place to see nonetheless, I got a handful of Cash coins. Japan was really nice, but I didn't get much numismatics there. My trip was a little rushed (only 7 days to see Hiroshima, Kyoto, Tokyo and Magome)so not much of my time was spent looking for stores. I used this list: http://www.jnda.or.jp/com/member_dealers.htmbut when I went to Shinbashi Stamp Shokai in Tokyo, after finding the right place (it really wasn't obvious from the outside, but with directions and google map I found it) the 3rd floor turned out to be empty. I don't know how old that list is, but I'd definitely suggest emailing before going, to make sure it's open (or still exists). This site also lists some: http://www.michigancoinclub.org/japan_strub.htmAnd gives interesting information (and pictures!. Another thing I wanted to do was to go to a bank and get a bunch of coins in rolls or something, but when I finally made it to Tokyo on my last day (which was the day allocated for coin store hunting)it was too late and all the banks were closed except SoftBank. That's where I learned SoftBank isn't a bank but a cellphone store. |
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Replies: 16 / Views: 9,182 |
Posted 06/26/2012 3:53 pm
