Three things I learned at a coin store today
April 8th, 2009 | by mbhunter |I was up in NY for a long weekend with my parents and other relatives, and came back to VA today. On the way back I stopped at a coin shop we had passed several times, and got a chance to look inside.
The owner was buying a collection of coins from someone, so I waited until he was done. I learned a few things today:
- The new Lincoln cents are making their way around. Both the owner of the store and the guy who was selling his collection were pretty talkative so we talked coins a little bit. The seller had one of the new 2009 Lincoln cents and showed it to me. This was the first time I had seen one. I guess they’re taking a while to get around. The first Lincoln cent design was introduced almost two months ago.
- Don’t try to make side deals in front of the dealer. I didn’t directly offer to buy some of the coins from the seller, but again, we were all chatting, so it came out that I might be interested in buying some of the coins. I think I knew enough not to offer the seller any money for the coins right there, because that’s a good way to never be welcome in the shop again. He offered to sell some to me, but I said that I wasn’t going to get into the middle of the transaction. Nor did I talk much about what the coins were worth, because it would weaken the owner’s bargaining power. Again, not a good idea if I ever wanted to come into that store again.
- Kennedy halves in 1966 had a doubled die variety. I offered to buy some Kennedy halves from the collection, but he said that he’d need to look through the 1966 ones before selling them to me, because there was a doubled die variety. Certainly a good thing to know! Now I get to look through my 1966 halves.
3 Responses to “Three things I learned at a coin store today”
By SJ on Apr 8, 2009 | Reply
Hey cool you collect coins?
I use to when I was rather young… but it grew too slowly to keep my interest haha…
Any cool notables =)?
By Lamar on Apr 8, 2009 | Reply
the 1965-1969 Kennedys can display some pretty unsightly toning effects, compared to the 1964s and the other 90% silver coins. I always wondered if this was due to the unique 40% silver composition?
By Lamar on Apr 8, 2009 | Reply
the 1965-1969 Kennedys can display some pretty unsightly toning effects, compared to the 1964s and the other 90% silver coins. I always wondered if this was due to the unique 40% silver composition?
PS: Forgot to mention good post!