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 Replies: 20 / Views: 2,716 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2335 Posts |
As some of you may know I have a display case at the local antique mall. Among other things I sell coins. To be clear, I don't consider myself a numismatic expert. I'm probably somewhere between a beginning & intermediate collector. I rely heavily on books & online resources for information. I was in the mall on Monday checking my case & looking at the other vendors items to see if there might be something I could flip for a profit. One of the other vendors started up a conversation & told me that he had traded some watches(his specialty) for 2 separate coin collections. It was obvious that he knew very little about coins. He told me that the collections included several rarities icluding a copper 1943 LWC, 1955 double die LWC, 1856 FEC & " a whole stack of error coins". Everything he was saying was setting off alarm bells. In addition to telling him there are a lot of fakes out there I pointed him in the direction of some online references. I went in the mall today to add a few items & noticed he had added a bunch of coins to his display case. Every coin was EXTREMELY over graded and over priced. For example, there were 2 Stone Mountain commemoratives priced over $300, one labeled MS65 & one labeled MS66. Both were polished & the best one may have been EF. There were several "error" coins. I don't know much about errors but the only legitimate one I saw was a LMC that was about 20% off center. The rest were PMD, weak strikes due to Grease Filled Dies, or die cracks. There were grease filled LMC's priced at over $100. I know that eventually I'm going to run into the guy & he will ask me what I think about his coins. I don't know what to tell him. At this point I'm about 99% sure he got the worst end of the trade. In our original conversation I pointed out there were only a handful of the copper 1943 LWCs in existance & if real it would be worth a minimum 5 figures. His response was that his research showed that there were more minted than I thought, depending on which resource you believe. Based on that I can't see any conversation going well. |
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Valued Member
United States
292 Posts |
I think you did your due diligence in the first conversation by expressing your concerns. Unless you have irrefutable proof that he's selling novelty coins as the real deal I say let it go. Everything is worth what someone is willing to pay. I wouldn't be surprised if everything sat collecting dust for a couple months followed by him trying to sell you the whole lot for a fraction of his asking price.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4132 Posts |
Maybe get a bunch of really crappy and fake watches and put them in your case?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
721 Posts |
I really like both of the above answers. Tough situation to be in. I think he will learn the hard way, I'm afraid.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
7096 Posts |
I wouldn't worry too much about his junk. It will only make your coins look that much better  |
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Valued Member
United States
292 Posts |
Just the idea of offering him a cheapo Rolex for an obscene price is hilarious. I'm a true suck for ironic humor.
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Moderator
 United States
187702 Posts |
Quote:
Based on that I can't see any conversation going well. You can only do so much. As long as you made an honest effort to educate him, I think you did enough. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2335 Posts |
Even though I suspected what I was going to see I was a little shocked to actually see it. The 1st thing I saw was 4 commemorative halves(2 Stone Mountain, a George Washington Carver & a Cleveland) in plastic 2x2's with notaions of MS65 through MS67. They were all heavily polished & ranged in grade from VF through AU....with pricing between $275 & $1450. There was a VF-EF 1924 LWC with the notation "error, mint mark close to date" priced at $250. There were 2 supposed clipped planchet Lincolns where the "clip" was straight, both priced over $50. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2661 Posts |
Quote:
I wouldn't worry too much about his junk.
It will only make your coins look that much better  Just keep your mouth shut. His crappy coins with astronomical prices will help yours sell. I have found that you just can't reason with people of no numismatic knowledge. The coins are worth that much simply because they are old. If they are shiny, then they must have never been spent on anything, just picked up from a bank and put in granny's sock drawer until now. |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
7096 Posts |
Next time you are at your local antique mall take a bit of time studying his coins then let out a subdued chuckle. Then look him in the eye and wink then wander off to your REAL coins without saying a word  That way you avoid having to discuss the merits of his offerings and he will get the drift of what you really think of them |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1653 Posts |
You can't fix stupid. You offer advice, you did your part.
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Valued Member
United States
306 Posts |
good luck with that, I'd say whatever you think is the RIGHT thing to say...but then again his high prices might drive shoppers to your case!
Edited by VetStudent
03/02/2012 6:17 pm
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Valued Member
United States
318 Posts |
Two scenarios will happen....... those coins he has will gather dust and he will drop his prices (but not before asking your advice) OR people who have no clue will pay his price or a reduced bargain price they negotiate (they will learn later that they got burned). Lets hope the buyers find your booth first.
I would NOT offer him any advice should he ask. I mean, he is, (more or less) going into competition against you now. Tell him that you do not help your competitors and you are going to focus on your business and he should do the same.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
870 Posts |
Interesting and amusing story. Its too bad you weren't successful in educating him on his coins. Not for his sake but for his vict....I mean customers sake. :)
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Valued Member
United States
234 Posts |
Sounds kind of shady and as if he knows what he's doing. He may be playing "dumb like a fox" as they say.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4132 Posts |
A specific note about the coins... There is such a thing as a straight clip; it's from a blank cut from the edge or end of the strip. They are less common, but it's possible his are authentic (though maybe unlikely given the rest of the lot...)
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Replies: 20 / Views: 2,716 |
Posted 03/02/2012 4:09 pm
