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 Replies: 17 / Views: 3,348 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
675 Posts |
I was wondering what type of experiences people had looking for coins at pawn shops. I stopped at a local shop the other day to look for dvds (can get a good deal on those there), and decided to check out their limited selection of coins. Most of what they had were bullion or mint/proof sets which aren't my thing. I did see a Peace dollar and a Morgan and asked for prices on those. The peace was a 1922 which may have gone as high as AU-50 for $149. OUCH! The morgan was a 1921 in VFish condition and was $139.  Needless to say I won't be buying any coins there. There are a lot of pawn shops in the area, so I will probably check out a few now and then. Has anyone actually found good prices there, or is it a complete waste of time? Edited by Thundercoin
12/15/2013 4:38 pm
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
675 Posts |
I meant to post this in the general coin forum section. Mods feel free to move it as you see fit.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2850 Posts |
I've had good experiences at the pawn shops around here. Just recently scored a MS 1921 Morgan for $20 and a few months back I found a 1878-CC Morgan sitting in another pawn shops' silver dollar "junk bin". Scored that one for $40. I also know the folks really well at one and they give me pretty good deals on their stuff. I suppose it varies from store to store, but the ones I've been in, I've found some pretty good deals.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
4911 Posts |
im watching pawn stars right now  Feel free to call me Will.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7618 Posts |
Went to a pawn shop in Ft Smith AR once and it was more like a museum. Everything was overpriced to begin with and if I showed interest in anything it magically became "Oh, that's not for sale!".
Actually bought two 1929 Nationals from Las Vegas's Pawn Stars a couple of years ago. It was like pulling teeth to get the salespeople to go back and get a price cut from the guys in the back. I know I still paid too much but I got two notes I didn't have and one of the notes was really rare.
You just never know what to expect in a pawn shop.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1949 Posts |
As I collect Canadian and world, I have picked up lots of nice foreign silver at right around spot from pawn shops
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8137 Posts |
So pawn shops are either really good or really bad?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5850 Posts |
The pawn shops near me are awful. Most coins are slabbed and extremely overpriced. Common date raw Morgans in average condition for $35+. Nothing even close to fair retail, let alone a bargain.
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Valued Member
United States
459 Posts |
I've had quite a bit of luck with one pawn shop about an hour away. The only reason behind this is because the employees are either too lazy to search through their lots or don't know or care about the value of the coins. Examples: 1913 S type 2 Buffalo nickel (Currently in an ICG-F12 slab) for $75 1913 s Type 1, 1883 with CENTS V nickel (VF deets, Corroded), 1931-S and 1926-D Nickels all for $1 each. 1921 Merc for $3. Those are a few examples of my experience with one pawn shop in particular |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5417 Posts |
The only time I ever bought a coin at a pawn shop once for $5 and flipped it for $8.
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Bedrock of the Community
Canada
11922 Posts |
My experience is world coins are cheap, Canadians (some US) are over priced.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1373 Posts |
I visited four pawn shops in the area this past year and only one had coins for sale. Most of the coins at the one shop were in sets or in holders. They had some junk silver dimes and quarters that I asked about. I don't remember the exact amounts, but they were asking around 35x-40x face on them. I politely declined to buy any.
I'll be in that neighborhood tomorrow. I think I'll stop in and see if there's been a change.
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Quote:
So pawn shops are either really good or really bad? It seems like it. They either seem to treat coins as silver is silver or they over price numismatic items |
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New Member
United States
27 Posts |
There is only one where I live. They have a pretty big assortment of coins. They don't really know too much about them. They are always willing to negotiate a price or take a bit off if I'm buying several coins at once. Unfortunately they are closing at the end of the year.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
My numismatic tastes are a bit more specialist these days.
I am very unlikely to find anything that will fit in my collection, which DOES NOT include any Australian coins.
My experience of pawn shops is for the owner of the shop to over grade anything he has, and price according to Krause.
No bargains for me!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4333 Posts |
Not one of the pawns in my area will deal in coins, they tell me because of the volatile nature of these items.
Several years back, when silver was around $35 spot, I inquired to buy some 90% halves. The shop DIDN'T want to sell.
When I listen to LED ZEPPELIN...so do my neighbors...
Roll hunting since '77
Dirt fishing since '72
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Replies: 17 / Views: 3,348 |
Posted 12/15/2013 4:52 pm
