At A Pawnshop

minkybodl

Sr. Member
Aug 19, 2011
392
123
My CRH finds have been off so much this month that I wanted to check with a local Pawnshop about buying some silver 10 oz bars and when I went in the customer in front of me was an old man with the entire counter covered with 2 by 2 coin holders. As the broker was going through the collection, I said that must have taken a lifetime to collect and he replied yeah but they were just sitting in the bottom of my closet now. There were 2 big, 20ish, stacks of war nickels as well as smaller stacks of better dates and condition, stacks of Buffalos, and a stack of Liberty nickels along with a whole lot of Wheaties. He said that he had brought the quarters and dimes in last week and now he was getting rid of the last coins that he had. I couldn't tell him I would have paid him 3 times what the Broker probably would give him inside of the guys store so I stood there as he added everything up and said, "21 dollars" and took the cash for what I figure was over 100 worth easy.
When the guy left I asked him what he would sell me some of the war nickels for and he said 80 cents each, so I asked if he would take .75 if I bought 20 of them. He went into the backroom and called someone and asked what he could get for them and came back and said 1.05. I said that's a lot more than 80 cents and he said yeah but that's what I can get for them so I went back to the silver bars. He had one Silvertown in a ripped plastic holder in his case and said he wanted 2 dollars per oz over spot for the bars. He went into the back again and came out with a bag of them and had a nice Engelhard and Johnson Matthey sealed so with spot right near 24 he said 260 a bar. I got him to throw in 2 war nickels if I bought them both which I did. I have had both companies before and when silver is moving they bring spot easy and I needed to replace a few that I had sold closer to and in the 40's.

Someone asked about pawnshops the other day and from today I would say not to sell to one but they might be OK to buy from on some items.

The old guy showed him 3 pocket watches he had that were all over 100 years old and the broker said he would sell them for like 50 dollars so he would pay the guy 15 a piece for them. One looked worth a 100 easy and the other 2 had to be worth 60 anywhere else besides a pawnshop, but if he doesn't rob people's silver and gold, he wouldn't have any to sell to me, I guess.
 

Upvote 0

CardsNCoins

Bronze Member
Nov 17, 2010
1,024
192
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
He quoted you .80 per war nickel, and probably wouldn't have "gone in the back" if you hadn't to chisel him down on the already only 60% of melt he quoted you.

So for $1 (20 war nickels X the nickel off each you asked for) you cost yourself the chance to get 1 1/8 ounces of silver for only $16. Nice work. :icon_thumright:
 

PhattyB

Sr. Member
Apr 3, 2012
352
204
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
He quoted you .80 per war nickel, and probably wouldn't have "gone in the back" if you hadn't to chisel him down on the already only 60% of melt he quoted you.

So for $1 (20 war nickels X the nickel off each you asked for) you cost yourself the chance to get 1 1/8 ounces of silver for only $16. Nice work. :icon_thumright:

I couldn't see them getting $1.05 out of war nickels right now, I'd have haggled from .80 cents too!

Not gonna pay near spot for 35%.. refiners hate them, 99% of the population doesn't know they're silver..
 

Joe777Cool

Bronze Member
Feb 6, 2013
1,906
1,149
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Gotta agree with cards, thats what happens when one gets greedy. Even At $1.05 approx 25% under melt, im not into war nicks but I know a deal when I see one
 

PhattyB

Sr. Member
Apr 3, 2012
352
204
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Gotta agree with cards, thats what happens when one gets greedy. Even At $1.05 approx 25% under melt, im not into war nicks but I know a deal when I see one

Get into nickels then, because 25-50% under melt is very common... In fact, I don't know a refinery that buys them due to their difficulty to work with... My LCS was paying 10x face, selling for 15x when silver was ~$38
 

Last edited:

Joe777Cool

Bronze Member
Feb 6, 2013
1,906
1,149
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I'm seeing them go, right now, for $1.35-$1.50 each on ebay. I'll buy em for $1.10, sell em there, and still make 10-20% off each coin even after fees
 

Thorne

Hero Member
Dec 5, 2012
984
197
Michigan
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
If that is not a place you go to all the time I'd have said something like that's all...I'd bet you could get more.and start talking to the customer. It's bad business but hey you might get to buy or at least get the old man some more money
 

OP
OP
M

minkybodl

Sr. Member
Aug 19, 2011
392
123
He quoted you .80 per war nickel, and probably wouldn't have "gone in the back" if you hadn't to chisel him down on the already only 60% of melt he quoted you.

So for $1 (20 war nickels X the nickel off each you asked for) you cost yourself the chance to get 1 1/8 ounces of silver for only $16. Nice work. :icon_thumright:

I have 8 or 9 rolls of war nickels I got for free, didn't feel like paying for more. Besides he threw in two for free when I bought the 10 oz bars so I made an extra 2 dollars worth of silver anyway. I wouldn't cry too hard over 20 war nickels dude it was more a point of how pawnshops operate.
 

PhattyB

Sr. Member
Apr 3, 2012
352
204
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Last edited:

Owassokie

Sr. Member
Jun 28, 2012
497
422
Oklahoma
Detector(s) used
Equinox 800, Ace 250
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I keep seeing people say they can get 90% coinage at spot. Meanwhile, you can sell 90% well above spot to reputable PM dealers as we speak...no questions asked. I'll assume people are being honest because that's what we do here on Tnet. With this assumption, I'll still say you shouldn't be able to buy at spot any more because you should have bought every 90% coin available to you.

Without haggling, looking for the best deal, or anything, I found a quote from a reputable dealer willing to pay $1,956.00 for $100 of 90% coinage. Spot price is ~ $1730.00 for $100 face. So assuming you take the easiest path and just mail it to one of these dealers, you're opportunity is 10 to 12% instant return on your money, after costs. This would be about a 2 week turnaround (assuming you sold online). When you get your check from the PM dealer, you do it all over again. You have virtually zero chance of losing money. I'd cash out retirement accounts or put it on a credit card if necessary with that kind of opportunity.

OO
 

PhattyB

Sr. Member
Apr 3, 2012
352
204
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I didn't say I could get $100 face, but I bought all they had (~$18 face) on Monday at my normal pawn shop and cleaned them out. Just because I said I could buy at face, didn't mean it was infinite. If I hit pawn shops hard, and craigslist, I can find just enough to buy on my excess salary. I'm sure the others that have said that are in the same situation.

Hoarding long term anyways, not looking for a quick buck.
 

Iamrussell

Bronze Member
Mar 12, 2013
2,114
697
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I keep seeing people say they can get 90% coinage at spot. Meanwhile, you can sell 90% well above spot to reputable PM dealers as we speak...no questions asked. I'll assume people are being honest because that's what we do here on Tnet. With this assumption, I'll still say you shouldn't be able to buy at spot any more because you should have bought every 90% coin available to you.

Without haggling, looking for the best deal, or anything, I found a quote from a reputable dealer willing to pay $1,956.00 for $100 of 90% coinage. Spot price is ~ $1730.00 for $100 face. So assuming you take the easiest path and just mail it to one of these dealers, you're opportunity is 10 to 12% instant return on your money, after costs. This would be about a 2 week turnaround (assuming you sold online). When you get your check from the PM dealer, you do it all over again. You have virtually zero chance of losing money. I'd cash out retirement accounts or put it on a credit card if necessary with that kind of opportunity.

OO

Had the same thoughts-
 

Joe777Cool

Bronze Member
Feb 6, 2013
1,906
1,149
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I keep seeing people say they can get 90% coinage at spot. Meanwhile, you can sell 90% well above spot to reputable PM dealers as we speak...no questions asked. I'll assume people are being honest because that's what we do here on Tnet. With this assumption, I'll still say you shouldn't be able to buy at spot any more because you should have bought every 90% coin available to you.

Without haggling, looking for the best deal, or anything, I found a quote from a reputable dealer willing to pay $1,956.00 for $100 of 90% coinage. Spot price is ~ $1730.00 for $100 face. So assuming you take the easiest path and just mail it to one of these dealers, you're opportunity is 10 to 12% instant return on your money, after costs. This would be about a 2 week turnaround (assuming you sold online). When you get your check from the PM dealer, you do it all over again. You have virtually zero chance of losing money. I'd cash out retirement accounts or put it on a credit card if necessary with that kind of opportunity.

OO

I can buy at spot but not at any volume - My 2 sources usually have $10-$20 face at any given time and I usually clean them out. I'd love to have the discipline to sell and make a little profit but 99% of the times I buy and say "I'm gonna sell some of this" I keep all of it!
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top