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 Replies: 17 / Views: 2,189 |
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Valued Member
United States
52 Posts |
There are very few places where I live to find coins for sale. One of the places is a pawn shop. Does anyone know if it is a good idea to buy from a place like that or just stick to a dealer? There are two dealers here but only one is recogonized by pcgs. Any advice?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
772 Posts |
My advice is just know what you are buying. Starting out it is tricky.
I will warn you there are a lot of fakes out there of the key dates.
I don't know what kind of stuff you are into, or what you plan to get into, but with most coins that are priced over $100, there are bound to be fakes out there.
What kind of stuff do you plan to collect?
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Valued Member
 United States
52 Posts |
So far the coins I have are from circulation along with some forgein coins. I am new to coin collecting so I have not decided yet as whether I am going for just one type or all. Any suggestions?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5362 Posts |
My advice is to collect something you like. Tastes vary widely so there is no wrong thing to collect. But don't expect to make a profit - you may you may not. Just don't plan on it.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
772 Posts |
I run into a lot of people that go for the new stuff. Jerfferson nickels, Roosevelt dimes, Washington quarters, JFK Halves... to me those do not get me going. I am not a fan of something that of collecting something that I can get about all I need to from the bank (Except silver dimes and silver quarters) A popular thing to do is a type set. That is one of the first things I did. You may get a lot of money wrapped up into it (which will happen with most sets) but it is very neat once completed. The Dansco Album, 7070, is what most people use for this. What that has are spots for 3 different Half Cents, 4 different large cents, all small cents, 2 cent, both 3 cent, 4 Half Dimes, all nickels, dime, 20 cent, quarters, halves, dollars, and current. Which is why they call it a type set, just about every type of coin minted. But like Bob said... it just depends on what you like. What I did when I started was went with the type sets, and then whatever one I really like out of that, I started collecting (Morgans) Good luck with whatever you decide. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4589 Posts |
I ususally find that Pawn shops are way over priced, and most of the time I play dumb and listen to all that they shovel at me. And they are very adimint about being right.then when you let them know that you know something about coins they get mad and dont want to give you service I had a pawn shop tell me about how rare eisenhower ollers are and that 17.00 dollers apiece for circululated pieces was cheap.. but that may be just a few .
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7123 Posts |
phoenix
Coins are where you find them !!
The simple fact is that you need to be educated about them no matter where you buy from !!
Dealers are no better or no worse than a pawn shop, many (not all) will take advantage of the new collector.
Just keep in mind when looking that you need to know ,value of the coin your looking at, a good Idea of how to grade the coin your looking at, how to recognise if the coin has been cleaned, altered,or in any other way tampered with,If there are known counterfiets for any given series, or coin.
Dont be shy about asking questions of the seller, and dont be shy about carring a reference book with you when you go looking,
and most importantly , collect what you like, there is no wrong coin or wrong way to collect !! there are however ways to keep yourself from over paying, buying cleaned or altered coin, and this is by and through educating yourself with as much information as you can get.
and remember that your part of this family here at CC, so were always ready and willing to help !!
Rick
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Pillar of the Community
United States
772 Posts |
WOW. $17 Uncirculated IKEs? I hope you bought all they had. I will double your money on them!
lol. I just bought a roll of UNC 1974 P's (a little tougher one) for $1.10 per.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5362 Posts |
It really depends on the Pawn shop. There are some I like others are a rip off , but some where the owners don't know a thing about coin values. On my last trip silver had just hit $10 an ounce and I went through the five for a dollar foreign bucket at my favorite shop and I pulled out half a dozen quarter sized coins that were 0.700 to 0.900 fine silver - but blackened (tarnished) so they looked like base metal. I also got a bunch of dime sized silver coins and a few Canadian quarters dated 1965 and 1966. I guess they didn't realize Canada converted AFTER the US in 1964. I also pulled out 10 Mexican pesos (the 0.100 fine kind) that have 0.05 oz each. At $10 an ounce they were undervalued at 20 cents - value about 50 cents. But the best coin was a 1937 French 5 Franc coin - KM 84 in Nickel with no damage that grades about EF - AU. The box had a ton of common junk French coins from WWII era so most everyone must have missed this one. The date is not altered as I initially suspected. It also is not a counterfeit as I was really hoping. I have seen worse looking ones draw bids over $30 on ebay. The catalog value in Krause is over $100. So the moral is never overlook foreign junk coins in big boxes - you can find a sleeper. Plus it is a TON of fun seeing what you can remember about key rarities. By the way, it took me about 3 hours to go through 100 pounds of junk coins that day. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1327 Posts |
I only have my experice to talk about. there are 5 coin shop in about a 25 mile area. 2 area pawn shops the other are coin shop. I stick to mainly one of them. the reason I went with the one I did was that he answered my questian. also when I was in his store I didn't feel like I was wasting his time. some of the other dealer I felt that I was just wasting there time and they had more impotant thing to do then talk to me. And the pawn shop I did find were a little more expanesive. So my advise is go with the dealer that is most helpful to you. either a coin shop or pawn shop who ever helps you and awsners your questian. the main thing is find some kind of new price guide to go by. Just don't get discuraged also watch for coin show to come to your area. also might want to see if there is a local coin club since they might be able to help you find a good dealer.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4589 Posts |
they are all giving you good advice I had to go so my reply was short shame on me for not mentioning the same as they all did and jdheyne that was 17 dollers fo one circulated Ike not a roll
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Pillar of the Community
United States
772 Posts |
I know... I was trying to put out some heavy sarcasm...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4589 Posts |
Ohh sorry, Long day buying a house, selling a house the daily grind you know
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Valued Member
United States
94 Posts |
We have one such shop locally that I'm aware of. Problem is, they are also known for receiving stolen goods. As such, I steer clear of the place.
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Valued Member
United States
411 Posts |
quote:
Originally posted by Metalman
phoenix
Coins are where you find them !!
The simple fact is that you need to be educated about them no matter where you buy from !!
Dealers are no better or no worse than a pawn shop, many (not all) will take advantage of the new collector.
Just keep in mind when looking that you need to know ,value of the coin your looking at, a good Idea of how to grade the coin your looking at, how to recognise if the coin has been cleaned, altered,or in any other way tampered with,If there are known counterfiets for any given series, or coin.
Rick
I would also suggest that, while you're educating yourself, if you could find a reputable dealer or somebody who knows about coins who is willing to spend time and help educate you, that would be great. I got lucky, and whenever I'm not sure about something, I let my friends inspect it. They've saved me by spotting cleaning where I didn't. In the mean time, if you're serious of course, you should get a couple of books like the ANA Grading Standards and the Red Book - just a suggestion, but many of the things you'll need to know if you're going to be buying coins are in those books. And above all, continue to participate in these forums. Best education there is for the price! |
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Moderator
 United States
23516 Posts |
First two rules in coin collecting buy the book before you buy the coin Never clean a coin. with that said Determine what you are going to collect. Buy at least one reference book about that type of coin. Use the reference book when making purchases- it does not matter if it is a coin shop, pawn shop or ebay. If you know information about the coin an an aproximate value. You will be much safer. However when purchasing a coin or any other item, we all sometime experience buyers remorse. Take your time. the coins have been around longer than most of us. the collections we have will not be completed in a day. Enjoy the hunt as much as the ownership. Have a good time. Welcome to the forum. rggoodie
aka Richard
"catch em doing something right"
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Replies: 17 / Views: 2,189 |
Posted 05/03/2006 10:28 am
