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 Replies: 23 / Views: 2,978 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
580 Posts |
I went to a coin dealer the other day. We were talking about silver prices. I asked him what price he buys silver Kennedy half dollars for. He told me that he'd give me $9 for every 1964 & $3 for every 1965 -1969 because of the 40% silver. I said "the 1970's too?" He said no, the 1970's had no silver. I was surprised to hear this from him because he seemed very knowledgeable. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
564 Posts |
I would be a bit more concerned with the price he buys silver at. That is quite low. But maybe he was unaware that in 1970 they made 40% silver halfs. They were only issued in mint sets and were not intended for circulation. That's a little detail and I would not let this discredit him and his knowledge on coins.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
580 Posts |
Interesting. To his credit, (as far as the price he pays) this was when silver was $8 less an oz & he did say the price can go up or down by the day.
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Valued Member
United States
361 Posts |
Melt on silver half dollars is over $15.00 each. I think what he is offering is a bit low.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Quote:
Melt on silver half dollars is over $15.00 each. I think what he is offering is a bit low. Remember he is a dealer and not in buisness to just barely make a profit. He wants to make as large a profit as possible. Many dealers offer even less for coins. If he has a store, he has excessive overhead and also must make enough profit to make a living. Dealers are not in buisness to help you. It is a buisness. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1903 Posts |
The dealer probably just misinterpreted what you said. If you asked him about the "70s" as you mentioned, he might have been thinking you were asking about the whole decade. If that is the case he is largely correct
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7629 Posts |
Exactly what I was thinking.
If he was assuming you were finding these silver half dollars roll searching, it would be unusual to find any half dollar from the 1970s that's silver. The 1970 only came in mint sets, as did the 1976 half dollars that are silver.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4541 Posts |
Quote:Quote:
Melt on silver half dollars is over $15.00 each. I think what he is offering is a bit low. Remember he is a dealer and not in buisness to just barely make a profit. He wants to make as large a profit as possible. Many dealers offer even less for coins. If he has a store, he has excessive overhead and also must make enough profit to make a living. Dealers are not in buisness to help you. It is a buisness. Well I know a dealer that pays every customer 90% of spot and sells for a premium over spot and he does very well. So to say you cant make a decent living off of offering a fair price is well just an opinion. He has a lot of people come in b.c they knokw he pays the best |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1915 Posts |
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Well I know a dealer that pays every customer 90% of spot and sells for a premium over spot and he does very well. So to say you cant make a decent living off of offering a fair price is well just an opinion. He has a lot of people come in b.c they knokw he pays the best Most silver coins have a spot value that is very close to numismatic prices. Unless he is only buying BU coins at 90% of spot, he is not doing as well as you might think. Dealers that are legit, i.e. pays taxes, have to pay tax on their inventory because it is an asset. Add in the cost of rent for their shop, electricity, water, gas, as well as employee(s). The cost of doing business is very high in today's world. Buying a common date, non BU, silver Washington quarter for $7.00(90% of melt) and then selling for $7.75 to $9.00 would only be worthwhile if you sold 1000+ quarters daily. Even then it would be slim. Then comes the dilemma of replacing the ones you sell. Very hard to find silver coins in bulk below spot. Especially relying on coins to walk through the door and offered to the dealer. I have found that not many collectors have a good understanding of what a dealer has to do to stay in business. As it was pointed out, they are in the business to make money. This is how they make a living. You cannot make a living on a mere 75¢ to $1.75 profit per coin. Paying 90% of spot would mean a dealer would need to sell common date quarters for $12 to $15. I do not know a single dealer that could sell any at that price. Today's collector is more educated on the value of their coins, but have less education in what business economics is all about. I blame Wal-mart for this. Edited by seal006
08/21/2011 12:44 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Quote:You cannot make a living on a mere 75¢ to $1.75 profit per coin. Paying 90% of spot would mean a dealer would need to sell common date quarters for $12 to $15. I do not know a single dealer that could sell any at that price. Today's collector is more educated on the value of their coins, but have less education in what business economics is all about. I blame Wal-mart for this. I don't blame Walmart of anyone for this. Buisness is just buisness and a buisness person just has to make a profit regardless of whether people like it or not. Customers of a coin dealer just don't think of the dealer as a person with a family to support, utility bills, kids school supplies, etc. For some resaon a person working at Walmart is thought of more as a person raising a family than a coin dealer. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4541 Posts |
seal
He he buys gold at 90% pf spot from his customers and sells it at spot or a premium if its numis stuff. He has so many buyers that he is turning over the money so quickly that it works for him. Thats where I get a lot of my gold coins at. He also does other things in the coin business but like I said he offers the best price out there for a dealer and sells at what I think the best price is. I will ask him what he pays on his silver and get back to you
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1915 Posts |
My reference to Wal-mart was price perception. Businesses like a coin shop do not buy items in the bulk amounts Wal-mart does. Nor do they have the amount of customers Wal-mart has because they are merely one store not thousands. With the bulk amount Wal-mart buys, they can dictate the lowest price they will pay. They do this to be able to charge the lowest price in the country for any particular item. They do not do this to help the customer. They do this to move products quickly and hurt the business of small mom and pop type stores. Coin shops are not franchises or multi-store companies. This means their buying power is zero. There is no manufacturer in which they can order from. A coin dealer has to do a lot of footwork hunting down collections and lots to purchase at a good price. When I was a kid my dad owned a children's shoe store. When Wal-mart started selling kids shoes at prices lower than my dad could order them for, our family business went belly up. Small retail is one of the most competitive and hardest businesses to be in. Cut your local dealers some slack, or you will be forced to buy all of your coins on ebay. We have all had or read the horror stories associated with ebay purchases. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4541 Posts |
ok so on silver he pays 70% on scrap. 80% on coins and spot on .999
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1915 Posts |
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ok so on silver he pays 70% on scrap. 80% on coins and spot on .999 That is still a bit tight. I live in what is now the 3rd largest city in the US. I do not know any coin dealers that could afford to buy any silver coins at 80% spot for anything less than BU. I can see using it as a loss leader to get folks in the door. This is what I have done with my website. I am making VERY little profit on the silver coins, but am hoping people will buy non-silver coins while they browse around. It has worked for me, but my overhead is nowhere near a brick and mortar store. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
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I do not know any coin dealers that could afford to buy any silver coins at 80% spot for anything less than BU. I have one four blocks from my house, currently paying 28x face based on $42/ounce which is >90% of spot. http://shopstl.stltoday.com/ROP/ads...538627&type= |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
580 Posts |
Very interesting guys. I would think that a dealer would pay as little as possible so they can make a larger profit. I can't blame him for trying to make a couple bucks on the deal. He did say that silver and gold is the only thing keeping his business open at this point. We are not forced to sell if we don't like what he is paying. =)
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Replies: 23 / Views: 2,978 |
Posted 08/21/2011 01:00 am
