Do You Hunt At Flea Markets?

Hey there, I do hunt in flea markets, though most of the time there is nothing to be found. I do agree with billfrak, when you do find something, it is common coin collectible and over priced. So I start looking at any old toys and comics I could not afford as a kid.

However, when you do see someone attending a flea market table with a large display cases of coins and paper currency, usually after some short chit-chat, the seller will pull out large binders of goodies. Now the hunt really begins with a smile on my face. If I do find something, they are usually few common old coins with poor condition, that are mixed with old trinkets, old jewelry, tokens, and other knick knacks. The seller then attempts to sell them to you at an inflated price.

I have met only 2 really big coin and paper currency sellers at flea markets in 10 years. I define "really big seller" as having 2-3 filled large display cases, 4 x 3 feet in size, and 1-2 large heavy binders. One of them was retired after running and owning an antique store. The other retired, a collector, buys and sells, does the summer small town antique show circuit, and sometimes at flea market weekends.

Always good when the seller mentions he has more spare stuff back home that he will bring to the flea market next week. It is worth noting I have not found any old vickies, other than large cents(rough condition), at any flea market outings so far.

I also hunt local antiques shows, and I have been mildly surprised a few times. I know, it is a different thread. If none found, default back to old toys and comics, if any.

Good luck, always bring a loupe with you as you never know what you discover, remember the early bird gets the worm, and let fill the collection gap hunt begin. I hope you enjoy my coin hunting flea market story. Cheers and peace out.

i find in fleesmarket one coin upside down from panamma I so happy I used it to pay for hotdog by mistake this look like 25 canada cents,gringo was very sad for 3 weeks

When visiting my local coin shop (which is located in a flea market), I always make sure to take a walk around to look for coins. About a month ago I noticed a 1907H large cent in one of the vendors displays. I offered 5$ for the coin and the vendor gladly took it. When I was paying, he mentioned that he had a box of coins in the back that he was willing to part with for 100$. There were probably 400 coins in this box, 10 or so tokens, a half ounce bar of silver and a silver ring. Most of the coins were from Europe, a large number from the Caribbean and a few Canadian and American. I could tell that most of the coins were still circulated currency but I did notice a few really old dates and offered him 60$ for the bunch.

Still haven't gone over most of the foreign coins because I honestly don't know very much about them but found a 1916 Large cent EF, 1909 large cent F, 1941 25 cents VF, 1920 small cent EF. A few older farthings, half farthings, pennies and half pennies from GB.

Out of the tokens, I got a House of commons Pierre Trudeau token, a Hudson's Bay "Nonsuch" token dated 1670(but obviously not that old), 2 1905 Saskatchewan "prairie lily" tokens and 4 1867-1967 confederation tokens.

Even though I didn't get rich off of the lot (the jury is still out on the foreign stuff),I think the best part of it all was taking the coins home and not knowing what was inside the box!

My wife is a photographer with some pretty expensive equipment but I can't figure it out so here are pictures from my phone lol.

Yes.. it's a fantastic piece!! thanks for the pictures... If you no longer want it in your collection feel free to drop me a line..

I like many things HBC... and/or things that can be tied locally.. this hits both of those...

Because I'm new to the forum, it wouldn't allow me to PM you. I deleted my last post because I don't want to solicit. You could try to message me.

PM sent.. if anything I solicited you...

I was just talking to my wife yesterday about putting up an HBC display down in the basement after I have completed all the renovations... calling the display "the bay"

The inside joke... when asked where an item is in the house.. if it was down stairs... I was looking forward to saying "it's down by the bay"

*snicker*

don't even ask what I would do if I won the lottery... that's just a REALLY bad joke!

There is a flea market I usually attend to on Sundays. Every now and then I find some silver, when I buy it's at or below spot. Not much at a time, usually just a small silver coins worth under the dollar. Also, I go hunting for modern coins I want. Sadly, I haven't been getting much lately as I feel like I've clean the place from interesting stuff, so I'd love to find a weekly market.