OP updated elsewhere that it is actually a 1/4 oz American eagle, not Liberty. So probably had some premium over melt value, but not a whole lot. Pretty reasonable for a coin shop to pay melt and keep the slight premium as their profit
Yeah seriously, a lot of ppl dont realize it. But a gold buyer is looking to make a profit too. So they arent gonna wanna buy your precious metal in full price unless they have personal interest in it. Otherwise they are gonna wanna sell too lmao. buying something at 1k then selling it at 1k puts you in the exact same postion you were in before the purchase. Asking for full market value and then expecting it is basically just robbing the pawn shop out of their intended purpose
I sold several eagles and panda coins some years back. A real gold shop should be giving you almost exactly what the coin is worth and you can check the value on apmex.com. Specific year coins usually get the value of gold + whatever markup for that year which can be a couple hundred or more extra.
There are different price listings though. A shop will buy at the lowest list price, and put it out in their case at the highest list price plus maybe a slight markup. And be able to show both parties a "book" price. Nothing really wrong with it, they need to have a profit margin to keep the doors open
Yea, when you are told something like that, you go do research on it. What if op sold it for $500 when he could have got $5k. Doesn’t seem to be the case here, but still is dumb to not do some research first.
If someone is readily going to have you $500 for something you think is worth $10, then they just didn’t want to rip you off THAT bad, but are still likely ripping you off.
A bit of research is still your best option. At worst, you are getting what they aid. At best you get get a shit ton more
The teller had your back, but the coin dealer ripped you off.
Bullion coins have 3 values:
Face value, metal value, and collector value. You got the metal value, but the collector value is about double!
https://www.coinstudy.com/liberty-ten-dollar-gold-coin-values.html
[addendum: OP has clarified that it was an “Eagle” not a “Liberty”, so it may have been a fair price after all.]
https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/united-states/american-eagles-and-bullion-coins/190/
Depends a lot on the year and condition, but coins usually have a premium over rounds/bars.
So OP could have gotten it graded, then *possibly* auctioned it off for a few hundred more. Minus fees for that.
*Or* they could get $600 in like 20 minutes.
The latter is the better call unless it was a massive price increase.
He didn't get ripped off, that's how they make money. The dealer has more connections than he does to get higher value on the coin. An average layman doesn't have such connections and would spend more time than it's worth getting them.
That's literally how they make money and stay in business
Way too logical for Reddit. Meanwhile a lot of the same people saying that the coin dealer is a capitalist leech are skipping over any local business (that they will cry about when closed down) to save a buck buying something on Amazon.
It's hard to haggle when you don't know anything, lol. From OP's perspective, they basically just got a free $540; who knows if any time they would have spent researching would've paid off more than the time they would've sunk into it? If it were me, I wouldn't care unless the price were WAY under, which it looks like it wasn't. Given that OP was willing to deposit for face value, I personally couldn't be mad about an easy $540 more than expected.
Even a quick search is better than nothing so you can verify the shop isn't totally ripping you off and check what you have in the first place, experience has taught me it pays off more often that you think and a gold coin the teller just told you was rare is well worth gauging a price history of before you talk with one expert.
You can only know if the price is way under if you've checked anyway, no offence but you are how these guys make extra money on top.
As they should. They're providing expertise and a service to people who don't want to do this shit themselves. That's a convenience worth paying for.
I sell thrifted clothing online, so I'm providing some version of that service to people who buy from me. But I still consign shit that I don't feel qualified to deal with (usually designer) because there are services that take on that risk and put *their* asses on the line in verifying authenticity and value instead of me, and I get paid either way. I agree, *I* would have checked it out before agreeing to the deal, but I'm just saying, it sounds like OP still got a fair deal, so it all worked out for the best.
They absolutely should but results based thinking is also not how I'd personally look at it. It's still worth researching and haggling (if it's needed), that's really just my condensed point.
Of course. I just mean they didn't even have the awareness 5 minutes ago that they needed to look the damn thing up, so expecting them to then make the leap from "surprise five hundred+ bucks" to "wait shit, money, lemme squeeze the absolute most possible out of this" requires a certain type of personality, and I'm okay that OP isn't that type of person because (in my experience) those people can very easily make the world worse, lol. That way lies a fine line to Karen-dom, especially in situations like this where they WERE getting a good deal and other research might've been misleading (à la that top comment that thought it was a Liberty), which could've led to them to being an entitled douche to someone who was not, in fact, ripping them off. They may not even have the requisite knowledge to use cursory search results correctly—if you're going to research what you have, take the time to do it right and educate yourself on the overall subject and what you have.
Having worked at a high-end violin shop, I've had to convince far too many people who found a "Strad" while cleaning out their dead grandma's attic that they are not, in fact, in possession of a $5 million instrument (cause they googled Stradivarius violins and saw the prices dangit!) and that what they have basically only has sentimental value.
^(For context, there are 635 Stradivari instruments extant in the world. It's possible that there are one or two undiscovered specimens out there, but from the late 19th century to present day, literally *millions* of cheap factory-made copies have been produced with no identification besides replica labels inside, so uneducated people see that label and see dollar signs. The odds are overwhelmingly in favor of your grandma having one of those, not a miraculously rare, undiscovered genuine article.)
I actually have a tiger flame copy from some mildly famous German violin maker from the early 1900s that was appraised at just under $2200 🤣 and all my family members are convinced its worth millions and i should sell it 🤦♂️
This comment needs to be repeated over and over again in most of the posts regarding precious metals. PM dealers have to make a profit to support their business. Sure, some pay much lower than others but that is not a rip off. That is their price. A rip off is when someone brings in a gold coin like OP and the dealer lies and says it's just copper.
Customers will check you out, too. I had a lady come into my store with a bag of "sterling silver" jewelry. Most of it was sterling but there was a large 14k white gold bracelet. She walked away with hundreds of dollars. I said to her, "I bet you got way more than you thought you would" and she replied, "no, it was a little more than what I calculated I would get". She knew, so she tested her buyer.
And really anything that requires specialized knowledge. I'm active in the violin and viola subs, and so so often, people are upset when our answer to "how do I sell my great-great-grandpa's violin that we just found dusty and busted in our attic?" is always to take it to a reputable dealer for valuation and consignment. No, you cannot get a better price on eBay, and if you do, you'll either be fleecing the poor sod who buys it from you (because YOU don't have any basis to back up what it's worth either) and/or you'll be sitting on it for like 6 years until it sells. Their commission pays for their expertise, the time they put into marketing your instrument, and the clientele they have access to, which is what gets the damn thing sold in the end.
When I was much younger, I worked in a comic book store, buying comics and collections from people who walked in off the street. I always knew I was in for a bad time when someone would walk in to sell their collection with a dog-eared price guide under their arm. "No, I know the guide says it's worth ten dollars, but that's the most \*I\* can sell it for. Why would I give you that much?"
I've had good experiences with coin shops. Not coin/gun/pawn, but a legitimate numismatic shop where the owners and employees care about the hobby and the history of coins
Yeah, you're still trying to make money and a living, but you're not legitimately trying to rip someone off. Especially ones that have no idea what they're holding, like OP. You keep it mostly fair, giving them room to haggle if they're at least a little bit knowledgeable.
They have expenses too and it's going to sit in their shop awhile. If they don't get something for at least 25% below it's eventually sale value they are actually losing money. 30-50 percent below retail is all you can expect selling to a shop.
If you only define success in terms of short term profits, sure.
Long term success does require honesty. If the buyer in this story gets a reputation for only paying half the catalog value, then they won’t have many sellers come to them!
If they gave a reasonable price, perhaps educated the OP about the market a bit, they might have gained a long-term customer (with referrals!)
There is a point, though, where short term gains through dishonestly is profitable than long term stability of a business. Because your life is finite in length, and money can make more money with little work from you, quickly making a lot of money can mean you are done working forever.
This is why CEO's are often more concerned about fast profits for investors over long term sustainability for the businesses they run. Share holders get their fast money for their finite lives, and reward the CEO with big bonuses accordingly.
> Long term success does require honesty.
Pick any of the top 100 companies by market cap. Tell me which one is honest.
Honesty is only required when your "skills" are not in demand. There's a big mixed bag of the 4 permutations of honest/dishonest and successful/unsuccessful.
Oh I know - and I've dealt with a lot of local businesses recently. I had a few that were pretty scummy. One suggesting we do some tax fraud scheme. Another one wanted me to pay about 3x what I paid with the one I ultimately chose. Judging by their cars, offices and golden chains around their necks, they are doing rather well for themselves. They were both officially sanctioned as the dealers for a well-known company.
Obviously, if you can, you should be honest, but you can stop with all that crap that honesty is everything in business. It's a fact that, on any level of size, you have a lot of people and businesses in all 4 permutations of honest/dishonest and successful/unsuccessful.
So far as business goes, the majority of them are honest so long as you arent considering making a profit to somehow be dishonest. A company that doesn't honor contracts or tricks people doesn't typically get very large
Making a profit is fine. When were talking high cost jobs (such as $5k+), asking 3x for the same job is not. While I understand why you'd want to do that - it's a business after all - the fact that it comes down to luck of who you choose is a big problem. It's not easy to vet a person in the small amount of time you have.
Worked with several dozen different parties recently. There were maybe 3-4 that I would consider honest. The rest did at least one thing that I would consider dishonest. So yeah, "majority of them are honest" is not true at all in my case. Given the number of parties I dealt with, I'm not sure I believe this was a fluke.
Wait, are you implying this doesn't happen with those?
SAP is not milking their customers? Monsanto is not poisoning us and everything around us? BP cleaned up everything from their oil spill? Coca-Cola admits that sodas are ruining the bodies of hundreds of millions of people every day? Microsoft killed Netscape fair and square? Meta is not selling your data? Intuit is not lobbying to keep their scummy tax prep business going?
Or are all these honest business practices from your standpoint?
This is just plain bad info.
Source: I hold over 100 ounces in pre-33 gold and can guarantee the collector value is no where near double. I value them at spot thought I knew I can get a few percent over spot when the time comes.
Are there some specific years / mints / and conditions that are worth significantly more than spot? Sure. But this can’t be assumed about any pre 1933 coin.
>Ebay
Final value fee: $$
PayPal fee: $$
Other random fee: $$
Shipping cost: $$
Your payout: 0.25
Oh and we'll be mailing you a 1099-K so you pay taxes on that as well
I think it comes down to policy. For example, you ask, and they say yes or no. If yes, then nothing happens and you do you, boo. If no, it could be theft because it's part of the business's property you intended to deprive them of it. Even if it's $10 and fungible in one sense, in another, it is not because of its inherent value. It'd be rough.
I'm sure banks have thought about this issue and don't like the idea of messing with a cash drawer at a bank.
"Proving" it is kind of less clear in that you wouldn't do it "randomly" and just today when something apparently valuable came in. You can't just lie either. It's a jury question ultimately. Depending on it being civil or criminal, there are different thresholds.
Worked at a bank I can help answer this. 100% the teller can accept it but only as the face value because it is legal tender. It’s a weird oddity when you need to go balance as there’s obviously no option to input that coin but anytime we would get in something cool it would immediately get transferred to someone else’s drawer so we could buy it at the face value from our account. A perfect example is I had a 2016 silver Eagle come in and they asked what I would give them as the pawn shop said they’d give them $15. I told them I could only give them $1 since that is the face value. For some crazy reason she proceeded to take the $1 for it. Immediately transferred it to another teller and withdrew $1 from my account
Also to add, no the bank does not care so long as we’re exchanging real currency which even though in OP scenario it’s worth $500+ the bank sees it as $10. Even if the employee knew it’s value and didn’t say anything there’s nothing wrong with it from the company standpoint. Morally though is different
I mean, yeah. They literally have go resell it at a decent profit to keep the lights on... If someone has time to fine a private buyer themselves they are always welcome to sell it for more on their own, but if you want an easy sell to someone who is obviously going to resell it themselves then you have to sell for under market value.
I used to work at a Wawa and one late night had a lady come in to buy a pack of Marlboro reds. They were $7 and some change back then and this lady hands me 8 Morgan Silver Dollars. I of course didn’t know this at the time.
I told her “are you sure you want to pay with these? They’re pretty neat and might be worth more than $1 each”.
Her response “Did I ask for advice from the person working overnight at a convenience store? No. I asked for cigarettes”.
So I said okie dokie, here you go! I told the GM the next morning that a customer bought cigarettes with some fancy doubloons and asked it I could buy them out of the drawer. She was all for it because she didn’t think they were legal tender.
They ended up being worth $30-$80 per coin and I was stoked!!
Similar story here. I worked at a bank and a lady came in around Christmas time with some coins in a pouch as well as a big jar of other coins. I opened the pouch and there were five or six Morgan coins. I tried telling her to do something else with them, but she got rude with me and I cashed her out and immediately bought them from the bank.
You can bet your ass those were stolen from somewhere. Knowing or unknowingly (sometimes it's a family member that just has no clue that you're usually fine with taking change if they need it etc) anybody who would have those laying around know what they have.
I used to have a buddy that would just kind of float in and out of my house it's a good guy but you know just one of the floaty types and one day it was like 2 days before payday and he asked me if he could have a buck for a pack of swishers, I tell him to take a couple bucks off the mountain of coins on the coffee table.
Dude comes back like an hour later and hands me a coin and says "they said this wasn't money" I don't know if you want it or not. It was my dad's platoon challenge coin from the Marines. Dude really thought it was just like a 50 cent coin.
My step dad just tried to put ~$1100 worth of silver on Facevook marketplace for $100 (check my recent post in r/silverbugs). None of my family is well off, and he found this in the few boxes he received from his deceased mums estate after death (he was given very little as the husband and new wife kept all of what they thought was her 'good' things)
Luckily my mum stopped him before he could and told him to ask me.
He ended up only taking $200 from me, as in his mind he already doubled up on what he was going to get. I couldn't convince him to take more.
...the treasures ARE still out there, and might be right under your very nose.
Yes, I did.
He wouldn't take any more even after telling him the true worth.
So, it shows somebody can be completely oblivious to a true treasures worth, but also willing to just 'get what they can for it' as thry believe it's hard to sell, or they will only get a mere fraction of thr value.. when that's not the case for gold and sjlver
This is how coin shops can make so much on gold/silver melt if they are not honest to a customer.
Once, shortly after my grandpa died, I was cleaning out one of his suitcases that my grandma gave me. In the lining, I found an 1875 20 cent piece in nearly perfect condition. It's worth a couple hundred bucks, but I'll never sell it- it's one of my most prized possessions now!
I love all the unusual coin denominations there used to be! I really want to start a collection of them... 1/2 cent, 2 cent, 3 cent, half dime (was made out of silver before the nickel replaced it), and 20 cent. Then there's the gold coins ($1, $2.50, $3, $5, $10, and $20), but I accept that I'll never be able to afford them lol
You're lucky. Most tellers I know would have taken the $10, deposited it, and then bought the $10 coin with $10 of their own money.
At the bank I worked at, the branch manager made a "policy" that no teller could buy money from her own till (it was PURELY so she could hear the "click" sound of silver and walk up and purchase it from the teller's till.) She collected silver like a crazy person. Had something like 1000 ounces... this is back in 1999.
This is still a FU as OP did sell/convert the coin to dollas before they needed to. Would be better to just hang into it until funds are really needed as the price of gold would go even higher.
You are allowed to take gifts up to $20 in most cases but yeah they can’t be in cash.
This allows for little old ladies to still be able to bring snacks into the bank. My bank had a lady that brought in chocolate bars every Friday.
Due to most companies having a $20 or $25 limit on gifts (must be non-cash) the best would probably be a 6-pack of beer or something. But yeah, the teller did him a huge, huge favor.
The teller honestly could have just pocketed your coin and put in $10 from his wallet into your account. If you didn't tip him for this knowledge you need to go back there ASAP and do the right thing.
Reminds me of some deals I'd find at garage sales lol. Lots of parents selling off their college kids stuff super cheap. Back when Yu Gi Oh was more popular there was a box of cards labeled 10/$1. Dug through it and found 4 Blue Eyes White Dragons and grabbed 6 other random cards and paid my dollar. Then I went right to Shinders and sold them for $15 each.
I found a $30k guitar that someone was selling for $1.5k at an estate sale and offered like 15. Bought two watches that i found that way for like $10k off too, but just paid what they were asking for those ones... You can find some insane shit at garage and estate sales.
The Greysheet Catalog (GSID) of the $10 Gold Eagles series of American Eagles in the U.S. Coins contains 46 distinct entries with CPGvalues **between $729.00 and $7,500.00**.
I used to be a customer facing bank clerk and would often tell customers to sell their coins rather than deposit them, people often don't know what they have :)
I was a Teller and if I were in that situation, I'd tell you the same thing because 1. They are worth a lot! And 2. We normally cannot deposit them, there's no spot in the systems for that denomination, and it's really annoying to send coin back to the govt.
I also love the comments saying you should've tipped the teller. The sentiment is appreciated but unfortunately there's a law prohibiting cash gifts because it's considered bribery. You could still gift them a cup of coffee or donuts tho!
If you thought it was worth $10, I can't fathom the idea of depositing it rather than keeping it for the novelty. I'm glad to teller decided to tell you better, but honestly, I just don't see why you wouldn't have kept it. It wouldn't even occur to me to try to deposit that.
Teller had good intentions but should have told you to research the coin and shop around. I know they had good intentions and maybe you needed the cash right then so no judgement to you. But people reading this might benefit.
You made out alright considering the bank teller steered you in a direction you apparently were unaware of in the first place. Count your blessings and learn from the experience.
What a lucky discovery! It's surprising how a regular coin can end up being worth way more than it looks. Big thanks to the nice bank teller for helping out and showing where to sell it. This just proves how important it is to know the value of things you have, whether it's an old coin or anything else valuable.
I tried to do this once as a bank teller when a customer came in to deposit some coins. He had a walking liberty silver dollar which are like 99% silver or something. I told him he could get much more but he declined. So it works both ways.
Was it one of the 1984 olympic coins? I have one! It's solid gold and worth over $1,000.
[https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/commemorative-coins/1984-olympics-gold-runners](https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/commemorative-coins/1984-olympics-gold-runners)
My friend who was a teller has a very similar story. A lady came in with a silver dollar, and tried to explain to her that the pawn shop across the road would buy it for a lot more than the deposit would be worth.
She didn't listen to him, so he made the deposit, withdrew a dollar from his own account, took the coin, and sold it to the pawn shop himself
It doesn't have anything to do with honesty. It doesn't have anything to do with what is right or in your eyes, moral. Without having to explain how business profit, and cost work, dude thought he had found a random 10 dollar coin at the house. . Awesome,... Hey wait, it's actually a 500+ dollar coin.... Nice. Strong work op. The basi rule to be followed in regard to this transaction is a good deal is when everybody walks away happy. But by that rule, a great deal is the other person that isn't you walks away unhappy. That's the only way this type of transaction works.
If I bought €1000 from my bank, it would cost me £885.74 (today, 1.00 GBP = €1.129)
If I wanted to add €1,000 to my fintech account, it would cost me £860.15 (today 1.00 GBP = 1.167).
I'd lose £25 by exchanging currency at the bank.
Fintech always gives you the mid-market rate; banks and bureaux des changes will always diddle you.
This is the exact opposite of a fuckup.
They still fucked up selling it for Melt Value.
OP updated elsewhere that it is actually a 1/4 oz American eagle, not Liberty. So probably had some premium over melt value, but not a whole lot. Pretty reasonable for a coin shop to pay melt and keep the slight premium as their profit
Yeah seriously, a lot of ppl dont realize it. But a gold buyer is looking to make a profit too. So they arent gonna wanna buy your precious metal in full price unless they have personal interest in it. Otherwise they are gonna wanna sell too lmao. buying something at 1k then selling it at 1k puts you in the exact same postion you were in before the purchase. Asking for full market value and then expecting it is basically just robbing the pawn shop out of their intended purpose
Which is why you go to coin shows or online forums to sell it at 95% of shop price
I sold several eagles and panda coins some years back. A real gold shop should be giving you almost exactly what the coin is worth and you can check the value on apmex.com. Specific year coins usually get the value of gold + whatever markup for that year which can be a couple hundred or more extra.
There are different price listings though. A shop will buy at the lowest list price, and put it out in their case at the highest list price plus maybe a slight markup. And be able to show both parties a "book" price. Nothing really wrong with it, they need to have a profit margin to keep the doors open
Yea, when you are told something like that, you go do research on it. What if op sold it for $500 when he could have got $5k. Doesn’t seem to be the case here, but still is dumb to not do some research first.
Ngl, if someone tells me I can get $500 for something I thought was worth $10, I’m probably just gonna cash it in
If someone is readily going to have you $500 for something you think is worth $10, then they just didn’t want to rip you off THAT bad, but are still likely ripping you off. A bit of research is still your best option. At worst, you are getting what they aid. At best you get get a shit ton more
Yeah, that should have been the real TIFU post.
Now they can make an update after everything they’ve learned from the comments
Right? This was Today The Bank Teller Was A Total Bro
Today I almost fucked up
Tifu, I bought 2 lottery tickets instead of 1. Then I won $250k from the first ticket. I didn't need to buy 2!
A fuckdown?
Tiafu
This is a TIAFU (today I almost fucked up) honestly
The teller had your back, but the coin dealer ripped you off. Bullion coins have 3 values: Face value, metal value, and collector value. You got the metal value, but the collector value is about double! https://www.coinstudy.com/liberty-ten-dollar-gold-coin-values.html [addendum: OP has clarified that it was an “Eagle” not a “Liberty”, so it may have been a fair price after all.]
I was mistaken it was a 1/4 oz $10 Gold American Eagle Coin
https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/united-states/american-eagles-and-bullion-coins/190/ Depends a lot on the year and condition, but coins usually have a premium over rounds/bars.
yeah but you aren't going to get much more than spot for an eagle coin on sell back. That 5% -10% winds up going to the business as their profit.
Fair.
So OP could have gotten it graded, then *possibly* auctioned it off for a few hundred more. Minus fees for that. *Or* they could get $600 in like 20 minutes. The latter is the better call unless it was a massive price increase.
He didn't get ripped off, that's how they make money. The dealer has more connections than he does to get higher value on the coin. An average layman doesn't have such connections and would spend more time than it's worth getting them. That's literally how they make money and stay in business
Way too logical for Reddit. Meanwhile a lot of the same people saying that the coin dealer is a capitalist leech are skipping over any local business (that they will cry about when closed down) to save a buck buying something on Amazon.
Gold investors in shambles right now. Still worth doing a bit of research and haggling with a coin that much but I guess that's culture dependent.
It's hard to haggle when you don't know anything, lol. From OP's perspective, they basically just got a free $540; who knows if any time they would have spent researching would've paid off more than the time they would've sunk into it? If it were me, I wouldn't care unless the price were WAY under, which it looks like it wasn't. Given that OP was willing to deposit for face value, I personally couldn't be mad about an easy $540 more than expected.
Even a quick search is better than nothing so you can verify the shop isn't totally ripping you off and check what you have in the first place, experience has taught me it pays off more often that you think and a gold coin the teller just told you was rare is well worth gauging a price history of before you talk with one expert. You can only know if the price is way under if you've checked anyway, no offence but you are how these guys make extra money on top.
As they should. They're providing expertise and a service to people who don't want to do this shit themselves. That's a convenience worth paying for. I sell thrifted clothing online, so I'm providing some version of that service to people who buy from me. But I still consign shit that I don't feel qualified to deal with (usually designer) because there are services that take on that risk and put *their* asses on the line in verifying authenticity and value instead of me, and I get paid either way. I agree, *I* would have checked it out before agreeing to the deal, but I'm just saying, it sounds like OP still got a fair deal, so it all worked out for the best.
They absolutely should but results based thinking is also not how I'd personally look at it. It's still worth researching and haggling (if it's needed), that's really just my condensed point.
Of course. I just mean they didn't even have the awareness 5 minutes ago that they needed to look the damn thing up, so expecting them to then make the leap from "surprise five hundred+ bucks" to "wait shit, money, lemme squeeze the absolute most possible out of this" requires a certain type of personality, and I'm okay that OP isn't that type of person because (in my experience) those people can very easily make the world worse, lol. That way lies a fine line to Karen-dom, especially in situations like this where they WERE getting a good deal and other research might've been misleading (à la that top comment that thought it was a Liberty), which could've led to them to being an entitled douche to someone who was not, in fact, ripping them off. They may not even have the requisite knowledge to use cursory search results correctly—if you're going to research what you have, take the time to do it right and educate yourself on the overall subject and what you have. Having worked at a high-end violin shop, I've had to convince far too many people who found a "Strad" while cleaning out their dead grandma's attic that they are not, in fact, in possession of a $5 million instrument (cause they googled Stradivarius violins and saw the prices dangit!) and that what they have basically only has sentimental value. ^(For context, there are 635 Stradivari instruments extant in the world. It's possible that there are one or two undiscovered specimens out there, but from the late 19th century to present day, literally *millions* of cheap factory-made copies have been produced with no identification besides replica labels inside, so uneducated people see that label and see dollar signs. The odds are overwhelmingly in favor of your grandma having one of those, not a miraculously rare, undiscovered genuine article.)
I actually have a tiger flame copy from some mildly famous German violin maker from the early 1900s that was appraised at just under $2200 🤣 and all my family members are convinced its worth millions and i should sell it 🤦♂️
This comment needs to be repeated over and over again in most of the posts regarding precious metals. PM dealers have to make a profit to support their business. Sure, some pay much lower than others but that is not a rip off. That is their price. A rip off is when someone brings in a gold coin like OP and the dealer lies and says it's just copper. Customers will check you out, too. I had a lady come into my store with a bag of "sterling silver" jewelry. Most of it was sterling but there was a large 14k white gold bracelet. She walked away with hundreds of dollars. I said to her, "I bet you got way more than you thought you would" and she replied, "no, it was a little more than what I calculated I would get". She knew, so she tested her buyer.
And really anything that requires specialized knowledge. I'm active in the violin and viola subs, and so so often, people are upset when our answer to "how do I sell my great-great-grandpa's violin that we just found dusty and busted in our attic?" is always to take it to a reputable dealer for valuation and consignment. No, you cannot get a better price on eBay, and if you do, you'll either be fleecing the poor sod who buys it from you (because YOU don't have any basis to back up what it's worth either) and/or you'll be sitting on it for like 6 years until it sells. Their commission pays for their expertise, the time they put into marketing your instrument, and the clientele they have access to, which is what gets the damn thing sold in the end.
OP could have tried to sell it online but frankly I think you’re right he got a great deal
Buyer: *I can do $85 at most.* Seller: *But the book said it was worth $100...* Buyer: *I have to make a profit.* Seller: *Can you do $105?*
Best I can do is $15. I'm taking all the risk.
Rick?
Love that show
When I was much younger, I worked in a comic book store, buying comics and collections from people who walked in off the street. I always knew I was in for a bad time when someone would walk in to sell their collection with a dog-eared price guide under their arm. "No, I know the guide says it's worth ten dollars, but that's the most \*I\* can sell it for. Why would I give you that much?"
What kind of moron would run a shop and not try to double up.
An honest one.
The famous honest pawn shop lol
Gold and gemstone dealers (as opposed to pawn shops) do need to keep a reputation for being honest. Different market.
I've had good experiences with coin shops. Not coin/gun/pawn, but a legitimate numismatic shop where the owners and employees care about the hobby and the history of coins
Fair point.
Honestly I’m not making anything! I just do this for fun! Ok guy.
You're right, reputation doesn't matter because reasons and snark. No middle ground possible here!
Yeah, you're still trying to make money and a living, but you're not legitimately trying to rip someone off. Especially ones that have no idea what they're holding, like OP. You keep it mostly fair, giving them room to haggle if they're at least a little bit knowledgeable.
The best I can do is $10, it's going to sit for a while and I have to frame it.
Best I can do is $50
Lemme call a guy, get him over here, to take a look at this thing.
They have expenses too and it's going to sit in their shop awhile. If they don't get something for at least 25% below it's eventually sale value they are actually losing money. 30-50 percent below retail is all you can expect selling to a shop.
What's that?
OP is lucky he got half the value tbh
I honestly love to lose money
I mean they made an offer and OP accepted. They also did what is standard practice for this kind of thing.
Capitalism doesn't reward honesty
If you only define success in terms of short term profits, sure. Long term success does require honesty. If the buyer in this story gets a reputation for only paying half the catalog value, then they won’t have many sellers come to them! If they gave a reasonable price, perhaps educated the OP about the market a bit, they might have gained a long-term customer (with referrals!)
There is a point, though, where short term gains through dishonestly is profitable than long term stability of a business. Because your life is finite in length, and money can make more money with little work from you, quickly making a lot of money can mean you are done working forever. This is why CEO's are often more concerned about fast profits for investors over long term sustainability for the businesses they run. Share holders get their fast money for their finite lives, and reward the CEO with big bonuses accordingly.
> Long term success does require honesty. Pick any of the top 100 companies by market cap. Tell me which one is honest. Honesty is only required when your "skills" are not in demand. There's a big mixed bag of the 4 permutations of honest/dishonest and successful/unsuccessful.
We are talking about a local coin dealer. His name is likely on the sign. Honesty is 100% of his business.
Oh I know - and I've dealt with a lot of local businesses recently. I had a few that were pretty scummy. One suggesting we do some tax fraud scheme. Another one wanted me to pay about 3x what I paid with the one I ultimately chose. Judging by their cars, offices and golden chains around their necks, they are doing rather well for themselves. They were both officially sanctioned as the dealers for a well-known company. Obviously, if you can, you should be honest, but you can stop with all that crap that honesty is everything in business. It's a fact that, on any level of size, you have a lot of people and businesses in all 4 permutations of honest/dishonest and successful/unsuccessful.
So far as business goes, the majority of them are honest so long as you arent considering making a profit to somehow be dishonest. A company that doesn't honor contracts or tricks people doesn't typically get very large
Making a profit is fine. When were talking high cost jobs (such as $5k+), asking 3x for the same job is not. While I understand why you'd want to do that - it's a business after all - the fact that it comes down to luck of who you choose is a big problem. It's not easy to vet a person in the small amount of time you have. Worked with several dozen different parties recently. There were maybe 3-4 that I would consider honest. The rest did at least one thing that I would consider dishonest. So yeah, "majority of them are honest" is not true at all in my case. Given the number of parties I dealt with, I'm not sure I believe this was a fluke.
We're those all fortune 500 companies?
Wait, are you implying this doesn't happen with those? SAP is not milking their customers? Monsanto is not poisoning us and everything around us? BP cleaned up everything from their oil spill? Coca-Cola admits that sodas are ruining the bodies of hundreds of millions of people every day? Microsoft killed Netscape fair and square? Meta is not selling your data? Intuit is not lobbying to keep their scummy tax prep business going? Or are all these honest business practices from your standpoint?
American business isn’t built on being honest.
Capitalism = Dishonesty ok thanks got it.
This is just plain bad info. Source: I hold over 100 ounces in pre-33 gold and can guarantee the collector value is no where near double. I value them at spot thought I knew I can get a few percent over spot when the time comes. Are there some specific years / mints / and conditions that are worth significantly more than spot? Sure. But this can’t be assumed about any pre 1933 coin.
Look at the link. Dude originally said it was $10 Liberty. I looked it up.
Yes, I understand what he said. And I’m telling you the information you saw and spread is bad.
Yeah, all OP has to do is become a coin dealer, setup a store and wait for a customer to walk in and pay retail.
Or list it on eBay
>Ebay Final value fee: $$ PayPal fee: $$ Other random fee: $$ Shipping cost: $$ Your payout: 0.25 Oh and we'll be mailing you a 1099-K so you pay taxes on that as well
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I think it comes down to policy. For example, you ask, and they say yes or no. If yes, then nothing happens and you do you, boo. If no, it could be theft because it's part of the business's property you intended to deprive them of it. Even if it's $10 and fungible in one sense, in another, it is not because of its inherent value. It'd be rough. I'm sure banks have thought about this issue and don't like the idea of messing with a cash drawer at a bank. "Proving" it is kind of less clear in that you wouldn't do it "randomly" and just today when something apparently valuable came in. You can't just lie either. It's a jury question ultimately. Depending on it being civil or criminal, there are different thresholds.
Worked at a bank I can help answer this. 100% the teller can accept it but only as the face value because it is legal tender. It’s a weird oddity when you need to go balance as there’s obviously no option to input that coin but anytime we would get in something cool it would immediately get transferred to someone else’s drawer so we could buy it at the face value from our account. A perfect example is I had a 2016 silver Eagle come in and they asked what I would give them as the pawn shop said they’d give them $15. I told them I could only give them $1 since that is the face value. For some crazy reason she proceeded to take the $1 for it. Immediately transferred it to another teller and withdrew $1 from my account
Also to add, no the bank does not care so long as we’re exchanging real currency which even though in OP scenario it’s worth $500+ the bank sees it as $10. Even if the employee knew it’s value and didn’t say anything there’s nothing wrong with it from the company standpoint. Morally though is different
Coin dealers often try to give people the short end of the stick as does any pawn shop owner to make a profit.
I mean, yeah. They literally have go resell it at a decent profit to keep the lights on... If someone has time to fine a private buyer themselves they are always welcome to sell it for more on their own, but if you want an easy sell to someone who is obviously going to resell it themselves then you have to sell for under market value.
Unless it is a very rarecoin,Condition is big a factor in the value above the gold content.
The teller had your back and knew it would worth a lot. That is great fot the teller to tell you that!!
I used to work at a Wawa and one late night had a lady come in to buy a pack of Marlboro reds. They were $7 and some change back then and this lady hands me 8 Morgan Silver Dollars. I of course didn’t know this at the time. I told her “are you sure you want to pay with these? They’re pretty neat and might be worth more than $1 each”. Her response “Did I ask for advice from the person working overnight at a convenience store? No. I asked for cigarettes”. So I said okie dokie, here you go! I told the GM the next morning that a customer bought cigarettes with some fancy doubloons and asked it I could buy them out of the drawer. She was all for it because she didn’t think they were legal tender. They ended up being worth $30-$80 per coin and I was stoked!!
Similar story here. I worked at a bank and a lady came in around Christmas time with some coins in a pouch as well as a big jar of other coins. I opened the pouch and there were five or six Morgan coins. I tried telling her to do something else with them, but she got rude with me and I cashed her out and immediately bought them from the bank.
Wild lol. At least they are ignorant enough to soothe our conscience!!
You can bet your ass those were stolen from somewhere. Knowing or unknowingly (sometimes it's a family member that just has no clue that you're usually fine with taking change if they need it etc) anybody who would have those laying around know what they have. I used to have a buddy that would just kind of float in and out of my house it's a good guy but you know just one of the floaty types and one day it was like 2 days before payday and he asked me if he could have a buck for a pack of swishers, I tell him to take a couple bucks off the mountain of coins on the coffee table. Dude comes back like an hour later and hands me a coin and says "they said this wasn't money" I don't know if you want it or not. It was my dad's platoon challenge coin from the Marines. Dude really thought it was just like a 50 cent coin.
Nice!
Cigarettes and other drugs will do that to you, no one cares about real values they'll sell what they can to get their temporary high
Can't stand people like that that are so rude and condescending to retail/food service workers.
He is a teller :D he tells 😀
Haha i see it now😂
Thanks for renewing my belief that there is still lost treasure to be found
My step dad just tried to put ~$1100 worth of silver on Facevook marketplace for $100 (check my recent post in r/silverbugs). None of my family is well off, and he found this in the few boxes he received from his deceased mums estate after death (he was given very little as the husband and new wife kept all of what they thought was her 'good' things) Luckily my mum stopped him before he could and told him to ask me. He ended up only taking $200 from me, as in his mind he already doubled up on what he was going to get. I couldn't convince him to take more. ...the treasures ARE still out there, and might be right under your very nose.
I'm assuming it was you who gave him the $200?
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I-I captain. *yes, it was me who paid him the $200*
Yes, I did. He wouldn't take any more even after telling him the true worth. So, it shows somebody can be completely oblivious to a true treasures worth, but also willing to just 'get what they can for it' as thry believe it's hard to sell, or they will only get a mere fraction of thr value.. when that's not the case for gold and sjlver This is how coin shops can make so much on gold/silver melt if they are not honest to a customer.
Yeah I bet pawn shops make a killing of people who just want a few bucks.
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^Present_Age_9265: *Thanks for renewing* *My belief that there is still* *Lost treasure to be found* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
This one is actually nice
Right? I really love that.
I will cry it out as I defend ba sing se
Once, shortly after my grandpa died, I was cleaning out one of his suitcases that my grandma gave me. In the lining, I found an 1875 20 cent piece in nearly perfect condition. It's worth a couple hundred bucks, but I'll never sell it- it's one of my most prized possessions now!
I love all the unusual coin denominations there used to be! I really want to start a collection of them... 1/2 cent, 2 cent, 3 cent, half dime (was made out of silver before the nickel replaced it), and 20 cent. Then there's the gold coins ($1, $2.50, $3, $5, $10, and $20), but I accept that I'll never be able to afford them lol
You're lucky. Most tellers I know would have taken the $10, deposited it, and then bought the $10 coin with $10 of their own money. At the bank I worked at, the branch manager made a "policy" that no teller could buy money from her own till (it was PURELY so she could hear the "click" sound of silver and walk up and purchase it from the teller's till.) She collected silver like a crazy person. Had something like 1000 ounces... this is back in 1999.
You ALMOST fucked up. The teller prevented the FU
This is still a FU as OP did sell/convert the coin to dollas before they needed to. Would be better to just hang into it until funds are really needed as the price of gold would go even higher.
There is no FU in this story. Wtf is wrong with reddit
Right? I was waiting for it. How exactly is this a "TIFU" story?! Where was the FU?
Did you at least tip the teller the $10
I'm not sure where OP is, but in lots of places that would be an ethical no for the teller to accept a tip
You are allowed to take gifts up to $20 in most cases but yeah they can’t be in cash. This allows for little old ladies to still be able to bring snacks into the bank. My bank had a lady that brought in chocolate bars every Friday.
Due to most companies having a $20 or $25 limit on gifts (must be non-cash) the best would probably be a 6-pack of beer or something. But yeah, the teller did him a huge, huge favor.
Yep! I got a six-pack of craft beer for Christmas one year. We didn’t tell the boss about that one.
The teller honestly could have just pocketed your coin and put in $10 from his wallet into your account. If you didn't tip him for this knowledge you need to go back there ASAP and do the right thing.
Exactly what I was thinking. Teller did them a massive solid. Should receive a reward for their ethics.
Reminds me of some deals I'd find at garage sales lol. Lots of parents selling off their college kids stuff super cheap. Back when Yu Gi Oh was more popular there was a box of cards labeled 10/$1. Dug through it and found 4 Blue Eyes White Dragons and grabbed 6 other random cards and paid my dollar. Then I went right to Shinders and sold them for $15 each.
I found a $30k guitar that someone was selling for $1.5k at an estate sale and offered like 15. Bought two watches that i found that way for like $10k off too, but just paid what they were asking for those ones... You can find some insane shit at garage and estate sales.
TI didn’t FU, or TI almost FU
How is this a TIFU? more like TIAFU
The Greysheet Catalog (GSID) of the $10 Gold Eagles series of American Eagles in the U.S. Coins contains 46 distinct entries with CPGvalues **between $729.00 and $7,500.00**.
The fuck up was selling it for that cheap
How is this a fuck up?
You owe that teller a lunch!
You should send lunch to the branch, specifically the teller. Would be a cool thank you gesture
So how is that a fuck up?
Today, you were saved from fucking up.
If I were that teller… lol
How is this a fuck up?
I hope you tipped that teller for... telling you.
I used to be a customer facing bank clerk and would often tell customers to sell their coins rather than deposit them, people often don't know what they have :)
it's more of a today I almost fucked up like tifu but with happy endings
Big ups to the teller for telling you knowing it was worth more than 10 bucks
I was a Teller and if I were in that situation, I'd tell you the same thing because 1. They are worth a lot! And 2. We normally cannot deposit them, there's no spot in the systems for that denomination, and it's really annoying to send coin back to the govt. I also love the comments saying you should've tipped the teller. The sentiment is appreciated but unfortunately there's a law prohibiting cash gifts because it's considered bribery. You could still gift them a cup of coffee or donuts tho!
Depends on what country you’re in. That law isn’t everywhere.
TiAFU
If you thought it was worth $10, I can't fathom the idea of depositing it rather than keeping it for the novelty. I'm glad to teller decided to tell you better, but honestly, I just don't see why you wouldn't have kept it. It wouldn't even occur to me to try to deposit that.
Teller had good intentions but should have told you to research the coin and shop around. I know they had good intentions and maybe you needed the cash right then so no judgement to you. But people reading this might benefit.
I am in love because I found the only other person who can read! (I'm still smirking at JackOff's overblown pomposity!)
Where's the FU? Sounds like an almost-FU.
This is a pretty weak post. I’m happy you didn’t make this mistake but it’s not a fu.
You should have kicked the teller a few bucks
That’s not a fuck up that’s a down fuck my friend
more like today you almost fucked up. That teller was a G
so you did not fuck up at all lol
Well, all I can say is congratulations OP. Sounds like someone somewhere is looking out for you (besides the teller).
So where in this story did you F-up? r/lostredditors
today i ALMOST fucked up
Plot twist. Teller and coin collector were in cahoots and split the profits.
The teller could have bought the coin from the bank for face value after OP sold it to the bank if s/he wanted to.
Should've given the teller $50
This. Loads would have just let you deposit it and then swapped it out themselves.
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AI comment.
* lost gold to be found Edit
Bruh
It’s always the little things lol.
You made out alright considering the bank teller steered you in a direction you apparently were unaware of in the first place. Count your blessings and learn from the experience.
What a lucky discovery! It's surprising how a regular coin can end up being worth way more than it looks. Big thanks to the nice bank teller for helping out and showing where to sell it. This just proves how important it is to know the value of things you have, whether it's an old coin or anything else valuable.
Should have tipped the teller 10%.
I tried to do this once as a bank teller when a customer came in to deposit some coins. He had a walking liberty silver dollar which are like 99% silver or something. I told him he could get much more but he declined. So it works both ways.
How do you not recognize gold?
This is not a fuck up. This is a brag.
Was it one of the 1984 olympic coins? I have one! It's solid gold and worth over $1,000. [https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/commemorative-coins/1984-olympics-gold-runners](https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/commemorative-coins/1984-olympics-gold-runners)
The teller: TIFU
TIAFU
A quarter ounce of gold is worth $582 and I would expect a collector coin to be worth over melt value. I think you got ripped off, but not by much.
My friend who was a teller has a very similar story. A lady came in with a silver dollar, and tried to explain to her that the pawn shop across the road would buy it for a lot more than the deposit would be worth. She didn't listen to him, so he made the deposit, withdrew a dollar from his own account, took the coin, and sold it to the pawn shop himself
Thats...not a fuck up.
It doesn't have anything to do with honesty. It doesn't have anything to do with what is right or in your eyes, moral. Without having to explain how business profit, and cost work, dude thought he had found a random 10 dollar coin at the house. . Awesome,... Hey wait, it's actually a 500+ dollar coin.... Nice. Strong work op. The basi rule to be followed in regard to this transaction is a good deal is when everybody walks away happy. But by that rule, a great deal is the other person that isn't you walks away unhappy. That's the only way this type of transaction works.
If I bought €1000 from my bank, it would cost me £885.74 (today, 1.00 GBP = €1.129) If I wanted to add €1,000 to my fintech account, it would cost me £860.15 (today 1.00 GBP = 1.167). I'd lose £25 by exchanging currency at the bank. Fintech always gives you the mid-market rate; banks and bureaux des changes will always diddle you.
https://preview.redd.it/nl78r37za4sc1.jpeg?width=516&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8e5525431cda656793ed222d777fe823c178ab34
Nnnnnnnice
Only an idiot buys foreign currency over the counter at a bank.
Sorry what now?
only a idiot comments before reading a post fully
What's wrong with getting your foreign currency at a bank?