Advice About Selling Coins On Craigslist And Dealing With Pawn Shops

I'm considering a Craigslist post to sell around 40-50 Good grade Mercury dimes dated pre-1934. I'm going to include my price for the whole lot, asking for pretty much just what I paid, and I'm going to include close-up photos of all coins, and insist we only meet in public. Any thoughts about effectively unloading these mercs on Craigslist?

For those that are interested, here's the sordid backstory as to how I came to own these coins:
Three years ago, when I was just getting back into coin collecting, I made the "mistake" of buying in bulk from a local pawn shop. I had made a very good buy from this particular pawn shop when the owner and I identified a 1916-S (G4) and a 1921-D (G6) Walking Liberty half dollar among his unsorted box of coins, upon our first meeting. It took a lot of convincing that PCGS price guide values should not guide our negotiations, that we should consult sold ebay listings instead, etc. In the end, I feel he was very generous in our final sale price of $290, which also included a 1917-S (obverse mm, in G4).

He also had Mercury dimes, which I was gravitating towards as a collecting goal. I asked specifically about pre-1934 dates, and after a few months we regrouped to look at the ones he pre-sorted for me based on that criteria. Our conversation via email was that I would buy G grade or better in bulk at a reasonable price per coin. He came back and wanted $217 for 68 pre-1934 dimes, which (at that time) I felt was a reasonable price. When I came into the store he showed me the coins, which were now all in 2 x 2 flips with price stickers on each (typically priced $4-$6). Also, I rejected some 40% of these (26 out of 68) as they were AG grade. He then tried charging me by the price stickers rather than by the price per coin we originally discussed. So clearly I felt I was being manipulated. I pushed back of course and insisted we stick to the $3.20ish per coin rate, he relented and I bought 42 dimes for $135.

I had messaged the owner a few times over the years just asking about any new vintage coin arrivals and what he's selling for. Some of his responses were:

and

Then he tells me he's selling for 14 times face, then some months later for 15 times face (on 90% silver). I remind him that I paid over twice that on the mercs!

Finally, I walk into his store the other day just for the heck of it (hadn't been there since buying the mercs). Turns out he's got a box of unsorted coins on the counter, and while he's helping another customer, a guy is taking a look at these coins. After I peruse his 2x2 flips in the cabinet, I start looking through this same box. A few minutes later he freaks out, tells me I can't be just be "pawing through his coins". I say, woah, what about this other guy here, and what about spending some $400 bucks in his store a few years back. He tells me he doesn't like me and never liked me (like who cares, right?). I say, well did you like the $400 I spent here?!

Anyway, that's a lot of me just venting...hope I didn't lose you yet, but it just gives me pause as to how to go about looking for coins in the future. After all, these guys are paying people a percent under spot prices for these vintage silver coins, and then they turnaround and try to sell at above market.

Below is a photo of some of his inventory in the cabinet. From a few I checked out pricing for, they all seem overpriced.

So there are several lessons learned here. Dealing with pawn shops is very tricky business. Maybe the guy is mad that he was less than informed when he negotiated for the Walking Liberty halves, and then expected to make up for it on the mercs. In any event, I've come to realize that I need to focus on quality over quantity (at least for non-key date coins) and so I'm looking to sell the few dozen mercs that I bought. There were a couple of VF/XF coins in that mix (that I'm keeping), but the vast majority were just Good grade common dates. Thanks for reading...maybe others can learn from this experience.