A fool and his money are soon parted - Part 2

OK All you Numi Freaks , I love Ya

I pain stakenly cataloged and put value on all my coins within the past
2 weeks.

Luckily most of the Proof Sets I own are gifts from my boss, so I didnt
have to count them as bought items when it comes to figuring out how
much I spent to how much their worth.

I'm not in the collecting for the profit, although it is cool seeing
the value rise and I want to learn how to pay the right and fair price
for coins I see when Im cruising the Flea Markets, Pawn Shops and the
few coin shops we have here in San Jose.

Im not much of a Clubby type. I really have no time.

I was thinking maybe about just using advice from this board, (I like
the searching rolls from the bank stuff) but I just really want some
solid advise about not getting taken.

This board is great! Keep up the good work

wrote in message
ups.com...

I was thinking maybe about just using advice from this board, (I like
the searching rolls from the bank stuff) but I just really want some
solid advise about not getting taken.

This board is great! Keep up the good work

Specific questions would be helpful.

Otherwise, I will say that I have been taken several times in the
approximately 50 years I have collected. At the moment I can think of four
specific incidents and they all occurred at the local con club meetings ( I
decided to leave the typo in on purpose, although I think 95% of the
attendees would not attempt or even think about conning anyone), one
instance as recently as in the last 5-7 years to the tune of $300. It is
relatively easy for me to get conned at a coin club meeting because I tend
to put blind trust into the collectors that I socialize with on a monthly
basis. I was not duped by full time dealers or pure collectors but by what
is called the "vest pocket" dealer. And, I am referring to intentional
misrepresentations, not the overgrading that regularly occurs or the selling
of coins with subtle problems that are not mentioned ( I won a silver dollar
at the Christmas meeting, after looking at the coin with my naked eye.
Under the restaurant lighting, the coin looked very good with nice
cartwheeling luster, maybe a 64. At home it was fairly easy to see the
parallel hairlines across the obverse, a cleaning. I resold at the next
month's meeting at a loss, describing the coin properly and chastising
Mr/Mrs X seller from the prior month, stating my opinion that problems of
that nature should be noted when selling).

All in all, I think you can expect at some point to get taken although it is
a good idea to do what you are doing (asking questions, just not specific
enough) to minimize the number of bad deals. What bad deals you do not
escape then become the cost of education.

Bill

Thanks Bill,

I have this lady at the Flea Market. Her father left her with a
wonderful qty of Buffalo Nickels and Wheat Pennies. She wants $2.00 a
piece for them (Nickels), I looked them up and found that more or less
they are worth it (to me). The pennies however, I have a hard time
paying $2 per penny.

Anthoer gentlemen at the same Flea Market had "War Nickles" for $1.00 a
peice, I grabbed em

The bottom line is... until I get a keen eye and a little more
nuismatic education, I will stick to the small stuff and hope I dont
get greedy and starry eyed

wrote in message
ups.com...
OK All you Numi Freaks , I love Ya

I pain stakenly cataloged and put value on all my coins within the past
2 weeks.

Luckily most of the Proof Sets I own are gifts from my boss, so I didnt
have to count them as bought items when it comes to figuring out how
much I spent to how much their worth.

I'm not in the collecting for the profit, although it is cool seeing
the value rise and I want to learn how to pay the right and fair price
for coins I see when Im cruising the Flea Markets, Pawn Shops and the
few coin shops we have here in San Jose.

Im not much of a Clubby type. I really have no time.

I was thinking maybe about just using advice from this board, (I like
the searching rolls from the bank stuff) but I just really want some
solid advise about not getting taken.

This board is great! Keep up the good work

Check completed auction prices on E-bay or wherever. And there is no hurry
and you will have to find the time FWIW.
Typically a flea market or a Pawn shop are the worst places to buy from
unless you are armed with more knowledge and can cherrypick them out. Not
likely to happen unless you aquire many years of experience and see many
coins. For example if you were to become an expert at grading raw Buffalo
nickels the cherrypickin' hauls are out there to be found. Many issues of
this series have weak strikes so people tend to undergrade some of the
circulated grades. Usually S and D mints. It's been said before a million
times--the best coin purchase is to buy a book.
There's a lot to know so it would be better at times to stick with one type
of coin. Like you'll see many fine people here who try to do just that. But
basically you absolutely need to know how to grade on your own. That'll give
you a better shot at finding deals.

I think you are REALLY asking in the right place - the folks
here are super helpful...

One particular area to watch out for is expensive coins. Unless
you are very confident of your grading and attribution skills, you
should resolve to only buy certified (slabbed) coins from the
top two grading services - PCGS and NGC, more or less in
that order.

Some people have a fast rule that anything over $100 (for example)
needs to be slabbed by a decent grading company, for the main
reason of authenticity, and whether the coin is in its original
state, or not. In other words, the coin is authentic and has not been
altered by cleaning, wizzing, or has original toning, as opposed to
artificial toning.

As you gain confidence in your ability to judge coin attributes for
yourself
by examining more and more coins, you will be able to protect
yourself that way, too.

Good luck in your numismatic endeavors!

John

wrote:
OK All you Numi Freaks , I love Ya

I pain stakenly cataloged and put value on all my coins within the past
2 weeks.

Luckily most of the Proof Sets I own are gifts from my boss, so I didnt
have to count them as bought items when it comes to figuring out how
much I spent to how much their worth.

I'm not in the collecting for the profit, although it is cool seeing
the value rise and I want to learn how to pay the right and fair price
for coins I see when Im cruising the Flea Markets, Pawn Shops and the
few coin shops we have here in San Jose.

Im not much of a Clubby type. I really have no time.

I was thinking maybe about just using advice from this board, (I like
the searching rolls from the bank stuff) but I just really want some
solid advise about not getting taken.

This board is great! Keep up the good work