Are All Coin Dealers So Shameless?

some dealer are bad but you have to fell them out.Its just like life!

I've gotten myself in hot water over this, even thrown out of a coin show once, but I just cannot stand to see a coin dealer rip someone off, especially an elderly person.

Here's the typical scenario: I'm sitting at a dealer's table at the show, picking through the junk bowl and flat-price boxes, when a little old lady comes up to the dealer's table holding a jar of coins. The coins appear to be a mix of U.S. types, generally 50 to 150 years old, and includes some silver (although rarely silver dollars.) The lady proffers the jar to the dealer, asking him how much her coins are worth.

The dealer stirs his finger around a little, or maybe tips the jar to examine the contents, spending all of 30 to 60 seconds at this appraisal of scores of coins, and then tells the lady, "These are all very common circulated coins. I'll give you face value plus 10% for the lot, and I'm being generous."

What annoys me so much about this action on the dealer's part isn't so much the ripoff price he's offered, as it is the abuse of trust. The little old lady doesn't know anything about coins, which is why she brought her little hoard to a coin show, and asked the dealer about the coins. She is trusting in his integrity and relying on his expertise to give her a fair and honest assessment of her holdings. Without even properly examining her coins, the dealer makes a pronouncement and an unfair purchase offer, probably hoping to "make a score" at the lady's expense.

Why is it that most coin show dealers can't even take the 2 to 3 minutes it would require to look at the coins a little more closely, at least sort through them looking at the dates and mint marks to see if there are any keys or other exceptional specimens. These coin show dealers often stand around for long periods of time waiting for customers, but when they finally get one, they're brusque and unethical.

Sorry for the long post, but dishonest dealers are my biggest pet peeve. Has anyone else ever seen this sort of thing? Ever been thrown out for trying to intervene on behalf of someone who was about to get royally ripped off?

Susan Headley

I looked where to put my first post, and decided it had to be here (not for lack of wanting to in others, but...). Metalman couldn't have hit the nail more squarely on the head. It's a fundamental, but nowadays, we have so many other outlets at our fingertips, its easy to overlook that most basic part of collecting. Metalmans words about coin dealers is the same as 'glove to the ground' in baseball...one of the first things you should learn.