Other than your local dealer. I'm in New York and attended a local coin show over the weekend but its a very small show and I couldn't find what I was looking for. I'm just getting back into collecting after a along break, I appreciate if you could please recommend your online dealers or ebay dealers. I collect US coin, not moderns though. Long time ago I bought coins from HJB, JJ Teaparty, Dick Osburn etc.
I miss the coin shows. Have not been to one since right before it happened (February 2020). There is one next weekend, but I will pass because regardless of the rules in place, more than half will break them which means there is no possible way to enforce them.
I have made a couple of purchases on ebay and watching for all the stuff on my list. Just have to keep looking at strike when I see what I want.
For me, acquisition sources break out something like this: 50% ebay, 30% coin shows, 15% coin shop, 5% roll searching finds. I have no favorite ebay seller, but I do tend to limit my purchases to dealers having 99.9% or better feedback across thousands of transactions. The .1% shortfall is typically for slow delivery, not fraud/deception/bogus item descriptions. My big $$$ purchases are at shows and shops only.
Quote: My big $$$ purchases are at shows and shops only.
Same for me, so far. I have yet to go over $100 on ebay. The highest at a coin show (and for a single coin) is below $500. Sadly, I have not been in an LCS for over a decade.
These days it is almost entirely LCS. I do go to our local monthly coin show, which resumed last July after a long hiatus (you know why)which is rather small but sometimes has some really good stuff. Given that it is very close to where I live, I feel obligated to at at least give it a quick check once a month. I used to go to a larger show about 2 hours away, and may resume if things ever get back to normal.
I am at a stage in my collecting where I am not so obsessed with completion, so I may not be a good example. In cases where I am really keen on more obscure items and can't wait for the random appearance at the LCS or show, I go to ebay, but like many others, I keep these purchases to relatively small value items.
Last Sunday I went to a local coin show and was browsing for world coins. Surprised to see a decent amount on offer. I bought a couple of Netherlands East Indies cents and a 1/10 Gulden. But typically, I buy from LCS (there is one 30 minutes drive from me who has a good selection of slabbed coins, bullion, and mint sets), online LCS, and ebay. For some reason however the prices on ebay have become ludicrous over the last year. For instance, the asking price on ebay for the Dutch East Indies coin I bought at the coin show was 5 times (!) the amount I paid (for same quality)!
Since I collect mostly world coins, the bay has been a good source. I'd like to shop at my LCS, but the ones closest to me focus on bullion and US coinage. Since coin shows are starting to be a thing again, I hope that I can purchase a few pieces that way.
Quote: I miss the coin shows. Have not been to one since right before it happened (February 2020). There is one next weekend, but I will pass because regardless of the rules in place, more than half will break them which means there is no possible way to enforce them.
I don't have any larger local coin dealers to rely on where I now live, and very few shows, so I now do most of my business with online dealers. Several of these I first did business with years ago at coin shows when I lived in Houston.
Right now, Northeast Numismatics, Sarasota Numismatics, Witter Coins and Eye Appealing Coins are the main ones I use, and I've had pretty good dealings with all of them. Others I occasionally buy from are David Lawrence, Rare Coins of New Hampshire, Coast to Coast Coins, and Angel Dees. Heritage and Great Collections are the auction firms I've used the most.
I'm new at this, and on an extremely small budget. So far, I have won one Live Auctioneers auction, the rest are from ebay or APMEX. I am afraid to go to a coin show OR coin shop. It's bad enough going to other hobby shows without a large bankroll, but I can at least sound like I know what I am talking about at those!
;-)
OH, and as with stamp shops, local coin shops are all gone. I did look to see what is around the Boston area, and they are all either IN Boston, $$$ dealers, or "we buy your gold!" shops. Not very inviting...
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