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Post by toledos5 on May 20, 2017 11:59:03 GMT
I have always bought coins from either the Royal Mint or direct from dealers either in person or on-line. Thought I might try a coin fair this year but no sure it will be for me. What do we think the pros and cons are of attending Coin Fairs over buying very specifically from dealers?
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bob50
New Member
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Post by bob50 on May 22, 2017 12:51:14 GMT
Hi toledos5
It worth attending a fair even as a day out it a good way of seeing what is available on the market and meeting dealers. I do fine that there is too much to see and I end up not buying as I what so much I can't make my mind up like your self I only buy from the same few dealers that I know and trust.but it give me the opportunity to see what is available and what dealers are asking for there items. I usually go and have a chat with the dealers that I buy from and see if they have anything new coming on the market that l may be interested in it's a good way of reserving any thing that is going to sell fast as most rare coins are sold before being listed and in auctions the price can just go over the top.
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Post by coins4me on May 24, 2017 20:03:18 GMT
Must be honest I have tried Fairs a couple of times without having a good experience.
They are often overcrowded and lighting very poor and in these conditions it seems very difficult to properly "assess" a coin, esp. a high grade/valuable one.
Also got the idea that a lot of the coins were "priced up" to include overheads like fuel, cost of table etc etc.
Would rather buy online or from a dealer face to face in a more relaxed environment!
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Post by toledos5 on Jun 3, 2017 15:55:39 GMT
Thank you both for your comments - much of what you say I found true. Just back from today's London Coin Fair and the only coin of note that I bought I had already researched via the dealer's website which narrowed down a choice of two coins to one once I could see them both in reality. So having now been, here are my pros and cons:
Pros;
See coins in reality rather than just website pictures.
Compare similar coins across numerous dealers at same time.
Discuss coins with dealers.
Cons;
Too noisy and cramped.
Lots and lots of mediocre coins.
Poor lighting - difficult to assess quality.
Way too many coins
I think I will only be going again if I have determined in advance that I'm interested in coins from dealers who normally only sell on-line. I feel I really need to see the coin before I buy. I think today I wasted a lot of time rigorously going around each dealer trying to take in everything. There was just too many coins full stop.
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