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 Replies: 16 / Views: 8,667 |
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Rest in Peace
United States
18456 Posts |
I'll turn this into a question ; when you go to a Garage/ yard sale do you ask them if they have any coins for sale ? In the last couple of years I've connected but small time ,nothing great .  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
992 Posts |
I got the best deal ever on some old Littleton Co. currency, a shoebox full of their old envelopes, the stuff they sold for 75 cents or so back in the early 1960's.
Other than that, not too many coins at the sales here, the owners don't want to sit and watch them to the expense of everything else.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
I used to ask that all the time. Every once in a while someone would bring out something good. However, with coins or anything of value, it is difficult for anyone to bring something out and leave everything unattended. This normally only works if several people doing the selling are present. And even then, if not sold, someone has to take that stuff back inside to prevent theft. I've asked about guns and knives too and only once in a great while I did find something.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
I've personally never found anything, but about a year ago my mother in law excitedly announced that she had scored some amazing coins for me - some Cook Island silver proof $1 commemorating 9/11. They were all fake. No reeding, magnetic, and about 10g under weight.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4883 Posts |
I very often inquire. Every once in a while I get rewarded for my diligence. See: http://goccf.com/t/237259http://goccf.com/t/203571http://goccf.com/t/250013The above are by no means the extent of my finds, only some highlights. On another occasion, I bought a cigarbox full of older world coins, and later discovered that a fair number of silver issues were randomly mixed in amongst them. It costs nothing to ask! Colligo ergo sum
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Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
17932 Posts |
Quote:
It costs nothing to ask! Last summer I saw a garage sale when I was driving through a town near where I live. I stopped to have a look, and saw a box of miscellaneous coins. They were mostly common British pre-decimal and European pre-Euro stuff, but I spotted around half-a dozen bits of pre-1947 silver. I would have been prepared to pay about £5. When I asked the price, I was told "£200". Needless to say I walked away. |
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Rest in Peace
United States
17900 Posts |
Always ask. Usually common stuff at many times actual value.
Small local auctions are great if they have anything of worth.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
3098 Posts |
Where I live we have a huge outdoor flea market three times a year at the county fair grounds. There are couple of vendors who only sell coins, usually at inflated prices. From time to time you'll find someone offering a few assorted coins.
In July 2012 I was there and stopped at a vendor's table. He had a little bag of Wheat Cents in a plastic ziploc baggie. I could see that some of them looked like older Wheaties and thought I saw the date of 1922 on one of them.
I offered him $2.00 for the bag and he accepted. I couldn't believe my eyes when I took the ten cents out of the bag. Three of them were 1922 Plain Cents. I did some quick research when I got home and went to my local coin dealer the next day.
Two turned out to be reverse die #3 "No D" coins, the "Weak Reverse" variety and one was a very "Weak D". I ended up selling all three for a total of $625. Still my best deal to date.
I haven't had any such luck since then at the flea market or garage sales, but I always look and ask if they have any coins. My fingers continue to be crossed.
Paul Bulgerin
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12057 Posts |
Haven't had much luck with coins. Done better with sports cards back in the day. About 20 years ago I bought a shoe box labeled "football cards" for $5, skimming through it, it was full of mostly early 70s commons and stuff, nothing really interesting or scarce but a couple of Hall of Famers and rookie cards, Archie Manning was the best of them. Maybe $20 retail value. As I was walking off, the husband goes walking over to the wife and goes, "hey honey, ask him if he wants these too?" with another box. I bought it sight-unseen for $5, and when I got home, it was full of 1957-1963 Topps and Bowman cards including lots of stars, rookies, hall of famers, and short-prints. The 1960 Topps cards made almost a complete set! Fran Tarkenton rookie was in there, Bobby Mitchell, and I pulled out Bart Starr, Johnny Unitas, Chuck Bednarik, Leo Nomellini, Marchetti, Moore, and on and on. Pretty beat up shape for most (VG-EX or worse) but still it was about $600 worth of cards. (Yes, I still have them all.)
I can only hope that this will happen to me one day with a coin find, but no luck so far. The only coins I've ever found at a yard sale were in an old slot bank with a key lock on it, that had a 1967-dated British large penny inside, and a couple of Canadian nickels! So not even a US coin find yet!
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 |
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Valued Member
United States
439 Posts |
Nope, I don't even ask anymore. Never had any luck so I gave it up, pretty much the same with flea markets. There is a decent flea market just north of me that goes on twice a week all summer in Shipshewana Indiana and there are usually a couple booths that have coins but I've never seen anything worth buying and what they do have is way overpriced. I know the lure of the big score drives some people keep looking but I pretty much gave up. Anymore I count it a victory if I can score some baked goods.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4883 Posts |
Since swap meets and flea markets have been brought up, I'd remark that I agree they're on the whole unproductive for a serious collector. Actually a lot of modern numismatic forgeries get hawked in such venues. I think this will found to hold true for overseas outdoor markets and bazaars as well. There was one time I made a bit of a score at a swap meet: http://goccf.com/t/205061That particular swap meet has since gone downhill, and now isn't worth the drive for any purpose.... Colligo ergo sum
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
1333 Posts |
Agree there is loads of fakes out there and I mean loads (some good one that are able to trick even the best at a casual glance, so be very wary as these places have no return policy, plus this is truly a place where the buyer should beware. That being said it is also a place where people have no knowledge of what the coins value should be, they may think that coin is worth a couple hundred dollars from a quick google search, but they dont realise that isn't realistic for their old and slightly worn coins.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12057 Posts |
In the "old days" 20 or 30 years ago you could score some pretty nice coins at trade days, boot (trunk) sales, flea markets, swap meets, and the like, even yard and estate sales. Those were the days before sellers and traders could learn anything about any item they have for sale in 30 seconds thanks to Google.
In other words, back in the 70s and 80s, the couple down the street with the box of old coins may not have known that their 1909 S-VDB or 1893-S Morgan were valuable, or even worth more than a cent or a dollar. Nowadays, thanks to the Internet, that same couple are instant experts and find out pretty quick that they have coins which are way too nice to be hawked at a yard sale. This Internet-driven phenomenon has decimated the odds of finding a "big score" at an amazing price simply because people are so much more aware of the value of their items. This has affected many other hobbies as well (sports cards, antiques & collectibles, vinyl records, stereo & hi-fi gear, glassware and ceramics, artwork, etc, etc...) -- you can still "get lucky" but now you have to put a lot more work into it than you used to; small town estate sales and small town auctions seem to be the last remaining places to even the odds a bit and even those are drying up.
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 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4883 Posts |
Quote:
Those were the days before sellers and traders could learn anything about any item they have for sale in 30 seconds thanks to Google. And the real problem with that is that these otherwise unknowledgeable sellers understand little to nothing about the importance of condition and grading, and thus price their examples at the top of the scale. What you then end up seeing too much of is "fine" or even impaired coins at the "uncirculated" retail price point. Colligo ergo sum
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8715 Posts |
Near me, the only coin-related item I've ever seen at a garage sale/estate sale was a ton of empty State Quarter albums. Most of my local flea markets and antique malls have overpriced coins. The only great deal I ever didn't buy was at a jeweler. He has retired now, but he used to have some interesting coins now and then. One day, he had two Morgan dollars - an 1882-CC and an 1884-CC - that were both AU/MS. He was selling them for $30 each. I didn't buy them immediately for some stupid reason. The next time I went to his place, someone had already bought them. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
586 Posts |
I was thinking of this the other day, with summer approaching and all. But like it has been stated above, most people see old dates on coins and think they are worth hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
I see this with my relatives, some show me a note from 1954 or even 1969 all crumpled up or folded and tell me how they have saved this for a long time and ask me how much its worth. So I can see how people wouldn't be displaying these items at yard and garage sales because the prize them so much.
I was actually think of a way to get people to contact me. My thought was to offer my time for free, to help anyone who wanted to sort and value coins and notes they had in which they didn't have time or want to do so. This would for fill some of my passion, which is to research and learn about different numismatics and to possibly get a first crack at purchasing some desired items.
What do you think.... Would people go for that...
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Replies: 16 / Views: 8,667 |
Posted 04/21/2018 11:01 am
