| Author |
 Replies: 10 / Views: 2,020 |
|
|
Valued Member
United States
265 Posts |
So I have been trying to find a "go to" shop in my area for coins with varying success. I went to one of those "cash for gold" type places that mostly specialize in jewelry but also has coins for sale. I decided to look at some of their Morgan dollars and Franklin halves. I noticed there were a couple 1901 Morgans that looked pretty decent so I took a closer look....then I noticed something. It had a Carson City mint mark and it felt lighter than the other Morgan that I was holding in my hand. I asked to get the 1901 and another weighed and the 1901 was 3 grams under weight. Now this guy mostly specializes in jewelry so it is very possible he could have been taken for a ride. All the other coins he had were definitely real. I mentioned to him that it was a fake, and he actually had 2 of them in the case. After I explained that to him, he put the back in the display case  I think I may have made the guy mad by informing him they were fakes, but I'm not sure if he was mad at me or the fact that he had a couple fakes. I can't imagine that he would have lost a ton of money on them since he was selling at the average circulation price for the coins. Should I have not said anything? should I bother going back? Have you been in a similar situation at a store? Edited by mail187man
05/15/2017 09:19 am
|
|
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
790 Posts |
The fact that he put them back in the case is troubling. He doesn't know you, so your say-so might not be enough to convince him, but I'd think he'd at least put the coins back and have them looked at before returning them to the display.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1475 Posts |
Quote:
Should I have not said anything? should I bother going back? Have you been in a similar situation at a store? You did the right thing, IMO. I would imagine 99.9% of the jewelry store owners can spot fake gold/silver easily. Otherwise, they will be out of business very fast. If that happen to me, I would be upset at him for having fake coins in his counter! Quote:
but I'm not sure if he was mad at me or the fact that he had a couple fakes. Probably both. |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
717 Posts |
I would be hesitant to patronize a shop that put out a coin they had been informed was fake. If they'd do that for the coin, what else might they be willing to do in their business dealings.
Not sure about the knowledge of jewelry store employees either. Was in a jewelry store about 6 months ago and the guy behind the counter insisted that platinum was more costly than gold. I told him I was a coin collector and I followed the precious metal markets and that while platinum is traditionally more expensive than gold such was not the case presently. I don't think he liked being told that.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
7614 Posts |
I'd bet ten dollars to a donut that the clerk in the shop already knew the coins were fake.
|
|
Rest in Peace
United States
17900 Posts |
I did a stint of some years in the pawn brokerage training "clerks" who have absolutely no idea about good coins or bad, or cards, comics, antiques, or anything else.
With the exception of owner operator business, most PBs have zero training in 90% of the items that are not current values.
I often said that if you wanted to pull the old 1883 Josh, all you needed to do was take old looking stuff into a PB, say as little as possible, and you could probably make an indecent living.
Just because they should know doesn't mean they do.
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
11951 Posts |
I read this a couple times ... It sounds like you ..OP .. are saying the shop had a couple 1901 Carson City Morgan dollars. If so ... - The last Carson City Morgan would be 1893 CC. No CC coins made in 1901. - Three grams light would also mean the coin is fake. I would have told the shop the coins were fake. |
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
12057 Posts |
Unless the guy at the counter was the owner, there might be a couple of reasons. Maybe the guy is just clueless and doesn't know any better, or maybe he's the one that bought those coins from a customer and is scared to tell his boss that he bought fakes.
Considering he's committing a crime if he knowingly sells fake coins, I'd have expected he would have been a bit less apathetic. A call to the Secret Service might be in order if he doesn't lose the fakes.
Member ANA - EAC - TNA - SSDC - CCT #890 "Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done." -- Louis D. Brandeis |
|
Valued Member
 United States
265 Posts |
It was definitely the owner of the shop that I was speaking to. It's just him and his wife that works there. I honestly think he unknowingly bought those coins in a stack of authentic coins or something. I do understand that there weren't any 1901 CC coins and that is what tipped me off that they were counterfeits.
Either way, I'm not so sure I'm going to go back there again, since he could have more fakes in there. Also He basically told me he had more coins in his safe but he wasn't going to bother showing them to me since I wasn't spending 100s or 1000s of dollars there. I get it, $10-$50 is chump change when you're used to dealing with diamond rings. He more or less told me I was wasting his time. I do think he is a legitimate jewelry guy, just not informed enough on the coin end of metals.
Edited by mail187man
05/16/2017 08:12 am
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
3343 Posts |
I've had two recent experiences like this. The first, in a souvenir shop, where all the coins were obvious fakes. There was no reason to complain, other than that the prices for fakes were kind of high.. The second, in a coin shop, where the dealer had his collection of fake Morgans lined up for inspection. All of them felt light and most of them were terrible quality, but some of them looked enough like real coins to fool someone. And they had - he got them from a guy working in a gas station who had taken a roll in exchange for gas.
"Two minutes ago I would have sold my chances for a tired dime." Fred Astaire
|
|
CCF Advertiser
United States
1533 Posts |
I would have told him that it is illegal to sell counterfeit coins in the US. The Secret Service deals with such cases. And you know they have a phone number on their website for reporting incidents.
|
| |
Replies: 10 / Views: 2,020 |
|
Posted 05/15/2017 2:13 pm
