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 Replies: 13 / Views: 774 |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1980 Posts |
Edited by gidjit
03/14/2026 4:41 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
9149 Posts |
Nice find, did the seller know what he had?
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
1980 Posts |
Nope when I asked how much he wanted for the 2 coins he pulled out his book and said well I don't see any varieties so how does $14 sound?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
824 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1348 Posts |
Congrats on the finds.
Without passing any judgments, I always find it interesting that such a double standard exists regarding cherry picking.
When a collector cherry picks a dealer, we often see that as a positive thing. I guess we think, if the dealer does not know what he has, then that is his problem. Besides, he probably still is making a profit, right?
When a dealer cherry picks a collector, we scream bloody murder. Does anybody remember the kerfuffle several years ago when a dealer bought a roll of 1925 five cent pieces from a collector for peanuts?
To their credit, the Canadian Association of Numismatic Dealers has a code of ethics that says their members will purchase coins from the public at reasonable prices. That seems like a good thing.
I guess what is right and what is wrong in any transaction lies in the eyes of the participants, but the dichotomy of thought on the practice always amazes me.
http://www.victoriancent.com2011 & 2025 Fred Bowman Award Winner, 2020 J. Douglas Ferguson Award Winner, & 2022 Paul Fiocca Award Winner. Life Member of RCNA.
Edited by bosox
03/14/2026 6:12 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5584 Posts |
If it was already a variety that I had 2-3 of, I would tell him about it that he may want to reprice it. However, sometimes, instead of telling the dealer, I would see a fellow collector of LC's and tell him which table to go to. I would tell a dealer that the variety he said it was, wasn't.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1348 Posts |
In my early days, before large cent die varieties became popular, known and valuable, I usually just bought them at the price the dealer asked for them. Now, I tell the dealer what he has and what .it is worth. That approach may not be for everyone, but I feel better about it, and it preserves my relationships with the dealers, many of whom I return to for repeat business. I described a case in point in this thread: https://goccf.com/t/451607http://www.victoriancent.com2011 & 2025 Fred Bowman Award Winner, 2020 J. Douglas Ferguson Award Winner, & 2022 Paul Fiocca Award Winner. Life Member of RCNA.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6449 Posts |
Quote:
When a collector cherry picks a dealer, we often see that as a positive thing. // When a dealer cherry picks a collector, we scream bloody murder. // the dichotomy of thought on the practice always amazes me. I think the underlying assumption is that the dealer always knows better than the collector, or at least should. I agree that the dichotomy can be framed in a hypocritical way. As a primarily ebay buyer, I tend to fall on the side of assuming competence. If you are selling coins, you should know what you are selling. If you are buying expensive coins, you should not have to depend on the dealer's honesty as a substitute for your own personal knowledge. I also think there's a fair point to be made that if the seller doesn't know the variety, and the buyer doesn't know the variety, the transaction happens at a low price and the coin is lost again to continued obscurity. At least in the case of cherrypicking, the coin itself is identified and rescued from obscurity for appreciation by future collectors. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1348 Posts |
If you meant "framed in a critical way," then I agree. I you are saying the thoughts I expressed are hypocritical, then I disagree.
I think by definition cherry picking means the buyer knows more than the seller, in this case contrary to the underlying assumption.
http://www.victoriancent.com2011 & 2025 Fred Bowman Award Winner, 2020 J. Douglas Ferguson Award Winner, & 2022 Paul Fiocca Award Winner. Life Member of RCNA.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1348 Posts |
BTW, I think auctions, including E-Bay, level the playing field. Multiple eyes on a coin usually means the coin goes for a fair price, even when the seller is unaware of what he is actually selling.
In any case, sorry about hijacking Gidgit's thread. His SSN is a rare coin, no matter the price.
Edited by bosox
03/14/2026 9:50 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6449 Posts |
Quote:
If you meant "framed in a critical way," then I agree. We agree. You were putting a critical eye on the way that cherrypicking a dealer is perceived as a virtuous application of buyer knowledge, but a buyer overpaying out of ignorance is seen as shady behavior by the dealer. I would personally say that what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Cheering for the former and decrying the latter could be seen as hypocritical. At their core, both scenarios are one party exploiting superior knowledge to produce undetected advantage over the other party. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
73579 Posts |
Great pick!  Errers and Varietys.
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Moderator
 United States
187446 Posts |
Very nice! |
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Moderator
Canada
10456 Posts |
Bill, I think this one was definitely fair game. Mike Findlay even discussed this specific variety in his Canadian Coin News Trends column last month. It's well known by a lot of dealers and collectors now.
Some dealers just don't really care, it's about turning over stock quickly, even more so with crazy silver and gold prices.
"Discovery follows discovery, each both raising and answering questions, each ending a long search, and each providing the new instruments for a new search." -- J. Robert OppenheimerContent of this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses...0/deed.en_USMy eBay store
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Replies: 13 / Views: 774 |
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Posted 03/14/2026 5:09 pm
