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 Replies: 15 / Views: 1,891 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5834 Posts |
I've always been a little jealous of people who work in the service industry and who are exposed to money all day long, whether it be bank tellers, gas station attendants, store clerks, etc. Only a little jealous, mind you, since I do enjoy my current job for other reasons, but jealous nonetheless. The only money I see on a regular basis is either the crisp new $20s I get from the ATM or whatever I get in change when I'm out shopping or having lunch, and I never seem to find anything interesting.
Well, there's a little family-owned convenience store down the street from me that I visit at least 2-3 times a week (I work from home and often stop in on my way to or from lunch to get a lottery ticket or a snack). Today, after buying a scratch ticket [paid $20, won $20, quit while I was exactly where I started], I asked the owner whether he ever got any "old" bills or coins, you know -- bills with colorful seals, oversized dollar coins, etc. He said he does sees stuff like occasionally, but usually just gives it right back out as change.
So... I asked him if he'd be willing to hold onto anything he finds and let me buy it off of him whenever I stop by. Since I'm a regular, he said he wouldn't mind. I have no idea what, if anything, I will end up getting and whether anything I do get will be worth keeping, but I'm totally psyched for the opportunity.
Hopefully, this will be the best of both worlds for me!
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Valued Member
United States
274 Posts |
It is definitely worth a shot, besides you have nothing to lose. Good luck and keep us updated.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1195 Posts |
good luck!  |
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Moderator
 United States
187671 Posts |
I hope this works out for you.  Keep us posted on what he finds for you. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
567 Posts |
I have a few locals stores on the lookout for me. Two weeks ago got an Ike, a 1953 silver certificate and a 1980 Susan B all in one day.
Pays to be friendly.
Also look in lower income areas, I tend to have better luck finding unusual stuff in places like little ghetto convenience stores than anywhere else, that's where I got the silver certificate.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
624 Posts |
Be careful if you go trolling for valuable coins in my town... I used a couple of Kennedy half dollars at a McDonalds this past weekend. The kid who took the money asked me if it was 'real money' and then called his manager (a grizzled food service veteran of about 30 years old). So, the Manager tells the kid 'of course that's real money, don't you know those are silver dollars." I said... 'no, those are Kennedy half-dollars, they're worth fifty cents each." That should have been the end of the story, but the manager decides to argue with me... as he's putting the half dollars into his pocket, he said "these are silver dollars and I'm going to keep these" and he hands the cashier a couple of singles. As I stood in stunned silence, the manager peels off to attend to the chirping fryer with a big smile on his face. I told the kid... go ahead and ring this order up any way you want, but I've been collecting coins for 40+ years and those are half dollars worth a half dollar. So, all-in-all a sweet visit to McDonalds... I saved a buck, educated a young man on half dollars and provided a little nest egg in "silver dollars" to his manager. |
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Pillar of the Community
798 Posts |
I`v tryed that before at a store and it doesn't work because the cashier is always different.  |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5834 Posts |
Well, as I said, this is a small family-owned place. I usually see one of two people manning the counter, and I will be sure to ask the other person when I see him.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2661 Posts |
I have been doing this same thing for years now. You can get some really great stuff from these mom & pop stores. I have gotten several Morgan's, an ASE, lots of 90% & 40% as well as read and blue seal $1's. I also get foreign coin from time to time. Even though I have offered fair value for these items the owner will only except face value from me, so in return I buy as much as I can from his store (gas, soda, ice, smokes for the wife, and so on. |
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Pillar of the Community
798 Posts |
I gotta find one of those kinds of stores, that sounds awsome.  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
By me a half dollar may as well be a thing from outer space. Same with those large Ike dollars or a $2 bill. I've heard that my town is now close to 75% Hispanic. I would imagine a Peso would be more easily spent around me now. And those baby sized dollars? Even the banks don't want them back. |
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Moderator
Australia
16806 Posts |
I know an elderly chap in my coin club. A friendly sort of fellow, he's got pretty much everyone in his retirement village and most of the shop assistants in most of the shops in his suburb keeping an eye out for any old, odd, unusual or foreign coins or notes for him to exchange.
One thing you do have to keep in mind with this "source" of odd coins: you are pretty much obliged to take anything and everything they find for you. There's no point trying to explain to a non-collector exactly what kinds of things qualify as "odd" to you, and once you start knocking back things offered to you on account of they're not quite the sort of things you collect, people are going to me more reluctant to keep things for you in future. So if, for example, you don't collect foreign coins and people start giving you bucketfuls of foreign coins, accept them gracefully - and find someone else to give them to.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Valued Member
United States
289 Posts |
This is a great idea to me which I haven't ever thought about doing. We have a convenience store 1000 feet away we're in 5 times a week. Family owned with the same girl during day hours. I'll be going today to ask here this very thing and thanks for the idea. I could kick myself many, many times over as we had a retail store for 14 years and the only thing I ever saved was color sealed bills or bicentennial quarters. Occasionally we had the Morgan or Peace dollar, but that was very rare. I keep thinking now just how much in Silver coins went in and out all of those years. Such is life..... The only real memorable instance was an elderly woman came in with 2 rolls of '64 Kennedy Halve Dollars to pay, which of course I kept and are still here in the house. I never even asked if she had more, aarrrrgggghhhh !! |
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Valued Member
United States
216 Posts |
I like the idea, but I don't frequent any c-stores that much. Perhaps I should start!
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Pillar of the Community
Thailand
1509 Posts |
About 27 years ago my (first) wife and I owned and ran a village corner shop. This was situated in Haworth, England, home of the Bronte sisters and of a steam railway so was always filled with tourists from around the world, mainly in the summer.
What a source of foreign coins! Even the local villagers would bring me theirs and wouldn't take anything for them but I never came across another local collector to do swaps with.
Now with my second wife we have a business in Thailand and guess what? More tourists!! When I meet and get to know them a little I always let them know I collect world currencies. Again most of them are glad to hand over their coins (I'll treat them to a beer or two) and any banknotes I want I'll buy off them. Ahh what a life...
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Valued Member
United States
289 Posts |
Thaivic, I'm sure many here would like to see some of the coins and currency you have dealing with so many different nationalities. You have quite an opportunity to see many currency designs, post some of your favorite's sometime....
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Replies: 15 / Views: 1,891 |
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Posted 05/21/2013 3:31 pm
