Another Question About Where To Buy Coins

Check your local newspaper (or internet site) for auctions or estate sales.
You can see the coins your bidding on, but most of the time you have to pay with cash.

Again PayPal and ebay fees are for SELLERS not buyers. Buyers pay 0 fees.

You are far more likely to encounter a problem on ebay as a seller than you are as a buyer. The overwhelming majority of fake coins or scams are very easy to sniff out and people either just didn't take a couple seconds to check or got greedy and thought they were going to get a windfall profit/too good to be true coin.

As much as I dislike many of the policies ebay has implemented against sellers, it is a perfectly safe and legitimate place to buy




The tax situation is no different at a show than it is online, you are either supposed to pay them or you aren't. If a dealer wants to play with fire and break the law not doing taxes at shows that's just foolish on their part.

As far as why people don't go to shows more it's quite simple, the majority of shows and small local dealers at those shows aren't worth even looking at their inventory. Between the overgraded coins, doctored coins, coins cracked out of details slabs being sold as problem free etc there is generally a much higher percentage of trap coins at a local or regional show than there is online.

There is also a smaller inventory, if you're young or younger many dealers will treat you poorly and try and rip you off if they even give you the time of day. Most better coins are cheaper online that at shows as well. I can't even count how many AG 3 1806 quarters I've seen being sold for 400-500 at shows when they go for about $300 online. Granted show pricing will be different in different parts of the country

That said there are good dealers at most shows though the percentage is generally pretty low. You just have to be careful and remember that just because someone has a table or is a dealer doesn't mean they're honest

There are some dealers who play with fire by not paying taxes. But over the long-haul, these people will pay a price for living in the underground economy (no social security for retirement, heavy penalties for cheating on taxes, inability to buy a home because they can't show any taxable income). Also, these dealers are probably the same dealers over-grading their coins and taking advantage of unknowledgeable beginning collectors or collectors who have never learned how to grade coins and spot counterfeits and/or damaged (details) coins cracked out of a holder. Find a dealer who pays taxes and has been in business a long time and has a reputation for treating collectors fairly on grade and price. As others have said, do your due diligence.