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 Replies: 76 / Views: 7,241 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
601 Posts |
That's not true Soccerdad. I work from home and raise my sons. I bust my butt finding stuff on ebay and ANYWHERE that I can find it. There's no line at my front door, in fact, due to security concerns, I don't even purchase locally except from a couple of good dealers. The treasure is where you find it! And ethics are what you can sleep with. There's no black and white in this area. "Average collectors" who don't get the chance don't look! Run an ad in the your local classified rags, go to antique auctions- they have coins more often than not. When you find something something worthwhile to buy, ask if they've got more. Whatever it is, nothing comes easily. You've gotta work for it. Even dealers with storefronts have tens of thousands of dollars in annual expenses, just to keep the bars on the windows! Collectors are unencumbered by the weight of doing business and have many of the same opportunities that anyone who calls themselves a dealer does. But ultimately, I believe the OP was about what's fair, I've said my piece. Edited for clarity. Edited by liveandievarieties
03/24/2011 11:13 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1547 Posts |
Let's do the arithmetic. Assume 1000 coins. Assume he pays 6 cents a coin. Assume they're worth, sight-unseen, 3 cents a coin. That's a premium of 3 cents a coin he just paid. He finds just 30 coins out of the 1000 worth just $1 each and he just erased the premium and broke even on the lot.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
958 Posts |
eddie or he finds common wheats,
My opinion is he has to buy them as low as he can to asure a break even/ or profit . One must pay as if they are common wheats becuase right now that all they are.
His best bet is to count them glance at the dates then make a offer, if common wheats are all he can see then 3cents , if is to see some teens and twenties in nice shape and know semikey key dates, Then offer more.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1547 Posts |
Quote:
eddie or he finds common wheats,
My opinion is he has to buy them as low as he can to asure a break even/ or profit . One must pay as if they are common wheats becuase right now that all they are.
His best bet is to count them glance at the dates then make a offer, if common wheats are all he can see then 3cents , if is to see some teens and twenties in nice shape and know semikey key dates, Then offer more. You're suggesting he roughly appraise the lot. You're not thinking, that may backfire even worse. He said in his opening statement he's out to offer this guy a fair price for his deceased mother's coins. Supposing he sees a '31-S in there. Maybe in the next handful, there's a '10-S, as well. What offer does he make, then? Are there more? Maybe there's even better in there, in the next can. How does he reconcile his conscience with his offer? That's the big challenge, here. This isn't some bum on ebay he's dealing with. Offer this guy the going rate, 5-6 cents per. Take the gamble in the blind and be done with it. That's how I'd deal with a guy like this: "We talked about coins for a few minutes, and from our conversation, I don't think the man knows anything about coins. While talking about old pennies, this man said that when his mother died he found 4 or 5 old Maxwell House cans full of wheat pennies in her home. He said he figured they were not worth much, but he still has them. The man was mid to late 60's, so his mother would probably be at least 90 now if alive." |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
601 Posts |
Eddie- What is your post saying?
I think everyone who's chimed in can agree that 3 to 6 cents each is reasonable. What happens beyond that is a judgement call for the individual.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1547 Posts |
Quote:
Eddie- What is your post saying? I was replying to the quoted reply, liveandievarieties. That's the context, if you missed it. Good night. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
958 Posts |
eddie , we DONT KNOW WHO HAS LOOKED AT THE COINS. So this guys mom died and left the coins ? Did the mom's husband search through them ? maybe a brother searched through them 20 yrs ago when he needed money for weekend road trip a sold off anything good ...
All we know is they are wheat cents , common grade ones 40' 50's are 3 cents each and you cant go wrong...
Offering 6 cents might be high if the cans are full of culled,well circulated,green wheats.
For all we know the cans might be rusted with water inside and the coins stored out a barn shed and worthless.
Maybe they are nice we dont know yet...
Just glance through them for god sakes.... no harm IF I SAW GREEN NASTY WHEATS 40'S 50'S WHEATS IN CANS ID PASS.
Id be upset if I offered 6 cents each the guy weighed them put them in a bucket said " you cant look " then get home and dump out lbs and lbs of junked wheats that look like he got them from a swimming pool
reminds me of a guy that told me he had a 62 chevy corvette that was stored in a barn for 40years untouched and wanted 15k for it.... Said to bring cash becuase it was a awsome deal and we better jump on it before someone else does... Needless to say we arrived to open the barn door to un cover a old chevy " corvair " rusted junk pile car that was worthless...
Im just saying dont go making offer and asuming what is untill you see it with your own eyes
It hard to place values on " what people tell you they have"
3 cents you cant go wrong 6 cents might be high if its junk
Edited by coppertop5150
03/25/2011 03:53 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
601 Posts |
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Edited by liveandievarieties
03/25/2011 03:59 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
958 Posts |
then again offering 6 cents each can backfire....
what if the guy says no thanks... ?
Then takes them to a dealer that makes a huge score of keydates ..
eddie best bet is to eye ball it..
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Pillar of the Community
United States
601 Posts |
.......I think I see what's going on- Eddie's being divisive. Doesn't matter what your stance is, you're going to get an argument from some people.
Coppertop: WATCH THIS-
"Hey Eddie- I think he the op should pay $1 for the coin, not a penny less. I'm serious!"
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Pillar of the Community
United States
601 Posts |
..........................
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Pillar of the Community
United States
601 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
601 Posts |
I do it with my 10 year old, there's no way this isn't going to work......  |
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Valued Member
 United States
364 Posts |
Wow, sorry to cause division on the forum... All of the advice given is noted and very helpful.
These were not for sale, they came up in a coversation. To me, it seemed like a potential opportunity to find an old stash of wheats/indians. My plan is to call and offer to buy. If he seems amenable, I will look at them for condition and offer $5 per pound if not thrashed. That is about 3.3/3.4 cent apiece. I am assuming there are no amazing dates in there; they may be picked over. If I find a 1909 vdb S etc. I will offer more.
The idea of searching an old stash is very appealing. But, I don't want to overpay or rip someone off. This balances that out. If he says no, nothing ventured nothing gained. Life always presents opportunity, so I will keep my eyes open in the future.
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Valued Member
United States
313 Posts |
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Replies: 76 / Views: 7,241 |
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Posted 03/24/2011 11:11 pm
the Coffee Cans are probable worth more then the coins!
