Coinweek Article On Difficulties Finding Good Coins To Buy At Coin Shows

There is some truth to that. I'm a dealer. Some Shows are indeed mostly dealer to dealer, and I'm not sure why the general public is invited. Though those are rarer than most think.

To show why I'll post a real example from my other business; comics. There is a certain key issue of Action that is very, very rare; less than 13 known examples. Most of which can not be expected to come up for sale.

One particular example was bought by a dealer and slabbed. Once he was done telling people he owned it; he passed it on to another dealer; at a slight mark up. This comic went through the hands of at least 12 dealers in a 3 year period. All so the owners could stroke their ego's and tell the world that THEY had that issue. Eventually the market dried up. The dealer market, that is. Well, the price had gone up 5 fold in 3 years and by the time it got offered to the original dealer, he had no interest in it at that price. It was then offered to the public but no one was interested in it at the price it had crept up to. Eventually the price collapesed and it disappeared into a private collection.

The point is that dealer to dealer sales had inflated the price way beyond where the public could or would afford it.

I saw a NGC slabbed buffalo in MS66 that was easily $40 above retail. When I pointed that out to the dealer; he admitted I was right but said he could not sell it any cheaper.


When I go to shows I sell much more to the public than to other dealers. Especially because dealers want such steep discounts; mostly so that they can flip them. My take is that why should I sell something at half price so that someone else can sell the same coin at the same show? Don't get me wrong, I still sell to other dealers; mostly so I can buy from them myself. However; the public generally accounts for 80 percent of my sales.

I'm somewhat under the impression that coins are classified as "luxury" items and therefore can be priced as what the dealers need in order for them to make a living.


Now just a bit of a sidetrack which may explain why prices have been going up -

I somehow managed to find an invoice that I bought about 10 years ago and so many things have changed since then:

Silver was around 5-7 usd / oz, gold at 800 usd / oz, platinum at 1000 usd / oz (I could be wrong)

Shipping from US to Australia was really cheap for a single coin - about 2 USD. Nowadays a lot of sellers insist on using registered mail which is more than 20 USD. Books could be sent for that price back then. Now I expect to pay at least 50+ USD minimum.

I remember buying pound lot from the US and shipping was under 10USD. I think shipping would have at least doubled since then.

That was way before oil prices went above 100+USD / barrel. Now that it has gone down, has shipping price gone down? No, it has gone up! I can only imagine insurance, rent, bills etc all have gone up as well.


Now back to the topic - I can only imagine the challenges of being a coin dealer - not only do you have to worry about tax, insurance, rent, bills, etc, I have to speculate the challenges of finding / buying decent stocks. Without having a nice inventory, it's hard to gather a crowd!

@oriole I've found the same problem with world coins over the years at shows, which is why I was somewhat surprised to see a number of dealers at the RCNA show in Halifax stocking them. I do see the upcoming Geoffrey Bell Auction at the Toronto Coin Expo has some decent world coins too.

So much depends on the show, how many there are, where located, size of show, etc. Large shows have expensive coins due to the cost for dealers. Small shows have better prices on coins but less choices. Regardless of anything I've found that at smaller shows you get to know dealers and can almost order what you want. Almost, that is. By me there are so many coin shows and repetative dealers, that you get to know them and they you. I've had many dealers look for certain coins and for certain prices for me for a long time. And I've received numerous free Albums and Folders. And even a free coin now and then. I spend time talking to dealers and getting to know them. Over the years I've been able to find almost anything I want in time.
I have heard similar stories from people about not finding what they need or want. Usually those are from people that don't even say hi to a dealer.

Thanks, @chequer. I checked out the Jeffrey Bell auctions, and there seems to be some material worth bidding on. The world lots will get you a lot of extra material, so you would need some way of disposing of the extras.

Some of the Canadian lots are bulk silver, and the starting prices are quite reasonable. So this will give a true market value I would think.

Of course tax and tip (buyer's fee) adds 30%!

1) what defines "a good coin to buy"?

2) My local dealer sells Canadian silver dollars for about a 70% premium over ebay, can't afford to get to know him.

Joe...Very interesting article and thanks for posting it. I agree with your thoughts. I understand the dealers point of view but I also consider myself a lower middle class collector. A dealer is going to pay more attention to the people that "pays the bills" and I get it. I am slowly becoming more patient and picky the longer I collect. I determine if I like the eye appeal and price of the coin and if my price doesn't match the dealers price I just move on. I seem to always have better luck with auctions.