Sigh...Friday was a somber day for me, my boss called me back to work Monday.....As much as I don't despise what I do for a living, I sure would love to be able to make the same living working at the coin shop !
By the end of my stint , which lasted about 3 weeks longer than expected anyway so I guess I am happier for that, I was helping most all of the buyers ( believe it or not, some are buying) while the other four guys did nothing but buy scrap gold and silver - to the tune of over a half million dollars a week for the last several weeks, and almost that for the last several months . They were very appreciative that I could take care of the buyers so they could just keep calling numbers out for the sellers. So much so that Clyde was nice enough to give me a bonus for my help, I refused, but of course he insisted. I will now be going in on Saturday's (like I did when I was just a customer) and help out, and possibly Wednesday nights because they are open until 8.
I did manage to get some more things for myself the last couple weeks (imagine that
) I have a group photo for here, and I will post the individual coins of interest in the appropriate forums. Not pictured are several Brown Box Proof Ike's I got this week. Not rarities my any means, but since we had to get rid of a couple hundred 71-S and 72-S proofs and Unc's - they were taking up too much room and they are only worth about melt anyway- I cherry picked a few nice clean ones. There are alot of cloudy blue toned and some just plain ugly coins in those boxes, finding good ones can be a challenge. I managed to get some really nice white ones for most every year, but there were not alot of 74's (not going to melt, those are 13 bucks) and they were really bad, I just managed to get one pretty nice one.
That 1974 Mint set in the picture is a very special mint set- anybody wanna guess why before I post it ?
I got the 64-D OBW roll of Roosies for melt, I love that ! They usually just bust the common dates open and run em through the counter into the melt bag, but I try to get any OBW's I can when they come in. I'll let you know if anything good comes out of those.
The 1979 Proof set was a heart stopper for a minute when I looked at it, Type 2 cent...type 2 nickel...type 2 dime....thump thump...type 2 quarter...type 2 half....Awww.....type 1 Dollar...I was not aware they could be mixed in the sets, you do learn something every day !
The other various proof sets have some real nice coins in them ,some with cameos. I like getting these sets, they are always 10% off greysheet without the OGP, and the mid sixties silver sets are at just about melt anyway. I have a beautiful 1955 set for next week, had to pass this week- my bill was already almost $200.
Had a great time the last 5 weeks or so working at the shop, if I could make a living working there I would not hesitate ! I know a living can be made selling coins, but not so much working for the guy selling them. Not that he is not generous (at least three other people do make livings there) it is that I am used to a more....lucrative hourly wage ...So...until such time as I can retire or become independently wealthy, I will take one day or so a week there...and like it !
I wanted to add this here instead of a separate post down the page
I do want to make one thing clear, the purchases I made are not discounted in any way. The 1974 Mint Set with the
DDO Kennedy I got for 40 might be cheaper than most( I don't know what they go for) but I pay what you pay and I have no problem with that. Sometimes I get the cream of the crop, but that is only because I was there, if someone else is, they can get it too. I may be prejudiced , but I have never known anyplace around here to be more fair- buying or selling. They will never knowingly not pay for a coin that should be more than your average date coin- Never. His buy prices are the best anywhere around, easy to see by the fact that he buys half a million a week - and never advertises. I would urge anyone that lives near here to stop by sometime and say hi, Clyde , Ed, Larry, Nick , and Pete are all nice guys and always willing to help. Tell them Steve told you it's the only game in town ! Bring your kids- they get free coins on their first visit (foreign coins, but the kids love it)
I actually happened upon this shop by default...You are gonna love this one !
Several years ago when the bug got me again and I wanted to start buying instead of trying to fill with roll finds and the stuff my Grandfather gave me, I stopped by a place that had opened a couple years before. I had passed this place quite often as it was near the office of the company I worked for at the time. One Saturday I took my son and stopped by. It was a real nice place , new building and all. As I looked at the displays , I thought...Hmmm...I could be in trouble here, All I saw were gold coins , high priced slabs, and
State Quarters. I could see a couple people in the back...they saw me and kept about their business. After about ten minutes , and seeing only a small child behind the counter (workers/owner's child I guess) I wondered if anyone would ever come out and see if I wanted anything....So I kinda half yelled back to them " do you have any circulated
Buffalo nickels I can look at ? " ....No.....then silence, and still no help. I asked them about Buffs because I could see a drawer full of them opened near them in the back, I figured that would be easy and my son would like to look through them too...guess not. A few more minutes and I got fed up, I guess I didn't look like money, I voiced my disapproval on my way out, I don't think they even looked up. Two years later that dealer was in the papers and on the news...and now he is in jail. You all know who he is if you follow coins or politics...His Name was Tom Noe. That fiasco is one reason we now pay sales tax on numismatic purchases in Ohio now. Clyde has alot of friends, some in the law enforcement agency. He has a picture of the front of Noe's place with the sheriff's squad car parked in front on the day they came to get him...classic ! I may have told this story before..I don't remember, but you have read it now...and you can't unread it !
Fortunately for me , There was only one other real "coin" shop close by- Toledo Coin Exchange...and the rest is...well...still happening !
Last week a Grandfather came in with his granddaughter, she is starting to collect coins. I helped her look at some stuff and pick out a few wheats and a nice
Buffalo nickel. Nick sees that she has a horse on her shirt (she is about 7 maybe ...by the way) and says he know they have a coin with a horse on it (foreign) if she likes horses. He looked for that coin for awhile, and when he finally found one, he gave it to her. After they left , he put 7.50 in the cash drawer...the only one they had with a horse on it was silver ! Now that is a shop I want to go to. I admit limiting myself to one place has its drawbacks, the keys are not that common you know anyway, so when they do come in , it's hit and miss condition wise. I play the waiting game , but it pays off sometimes- I will post one way it did very soon- I promise !
There's a couple for you
Amazon, hope you enjoyed them. I could tell you about the older Asian lady that comes in at least 2-3 times a week. She is well known around there..she ...Ummm...she ...works at night ? lets just say that....I love listening to her talk though...She just loves Cryde ! Or the guy that sounded like the Billy Bob in Sling Blade...MMmmHmmm...
All in all, I love that place- I am gonna miss not being there every day. I know the other guys see it more as a job than I do, but I really had fun. If I think of anything else I will be sure to write about it, nobody else wants to hear numismatic mumblings ya know ! At the shop you can wax numismatic all day...and it isn't even crazy !
Posted 04/06/2008 12:00 am
