Another Tale from the Coin Shop

[Dips]

Mr. Dips told me about this SC he observed where he works.

The SC called ahead and talked to Barb to see what he could get for some "silver" coins he wanted to sell. She quoted the going rate they paid for silver but said they couldn't give a firm quote until they saw the coins (Duh!). JFTR the SC kept asking for the going price of silver and Barb kept telling him what it was (yes, mistake, she knows) but emphasizing that coins are almost NEVER solid silver. Silver coins are, at best, 90% silver. And dealers don't pay the market rate because they need to make a profit. So nobody is going to get the going rate for 100% silver if he is selling coins.

Barb had a feeling the guy wasn't really listening so she told him to just come in.

So the SC showed up later that day. Lucky for him he brought his very elderly mother and young son (who was about 4 y.o.) with him. That's because the owner, despite the fact that he can be an asshole (albeit an honest one [TM Jester ]), is a perfect gentleman in front of little old ladies and children.

Where was I?

Yes, so the SC showed up and presented his "silver" coins. Which those of you who understand punctuation have probably figured out were not, in fact, silver at all.

Barb was the one who gave him this bad news and tried to let him know (gently) that he wasn't going to get the price of silver for stuff that wasn't, you know, silver.

Cue the fit.

It was epic. Mr. Dips works in the back and could hear the racket. SC accused Barb of lying to him. Of ripping him off. It went on for a while.

The SC's own mother was apologizing to Barb that her son was always embarassing her like this.

Eventually Barb called the boss in because she gave up on trying to reason with the guy.

Boss would have given the SC a piece of his mind but he wasn't going to do that in front of a nice little old lady and an innocent little kid.

So he stood there and listened to the abuse without responding.

Finally the SC realized that he wasn't getting anywhere and parted with a, "Fine! I'll go to [other store] where they'll give me [price]."

Boss man didn't stop him.

Five minutes later the SC came back very sheepish. It seems that while he was arguing with Barb, the little 4-year-old had been filling his pockets with wheat pennies from one of the bins.

We don't know why he came back to return them but Mr. Dips, Barb and the boss all believe his nice old mother had shamed the SC into coming back to return them.

They tried very hard not to smirk during the whole thing.

Believe it or not, this story has a part 2:

A few days later the SC came back. This time he actually had real silver coins. And, this time, he didn't have his nice old mother or sweet little boy with him.

It all started out OK, but remember that part about most coins only being 90% silver?

Yeah, this guy claimed they were 100% silver and it wasn't long before he (AGAIN!) accused Barb of lying and ripping him off.

She was quick to call the boss up front and he simply told the SC to leave and not come back. He'd had enough. People who won't listen don't make good customers.

The SC countered that the boss couldn't kick him out and threatened to call the police and report how thay had attempted to rip him off.

At that point Mr. Dips (who usually doesn't deal with customers) had heard enough. He walked up front and asked the boss if he needed help or wanted him to call the police. Very calmly.

SC looks at Mr. Dips with a quizzical "What?" expression. Mr. Dips just looks at him and says, "Just leave."

I guess the guy saw the three stony faces staring at him and decided to leave.

Of course he didn't do so silently.

SC: I'm going to call the Better Business Bureau!

Boss: Good!

SC: I know the chief of police around here!

Boss: Good!

SC: I'm going to call my friend the Attorney General!

Boss: Good!

SC then slammed the door on his way out.

It did not hit him in the ass, but boss did make sure to get his license plate number. Just in case.

[XCashier]

More proof that people only hear what they want to hear.

Besides, the coin shop is under no obligation to buy anyone's stuff. You cannot sell someone what they do not want to buy.

[Shalom]

If coins were minted of 100% silver, I would think they'd be too soft to circulate without getting defaced very quickly. Same reason "gold" coins intended for circulation (e.g. the old $2.50 coins, Krugerrands, UK Sovereigns, US Gold Eagles) aren't 24K gold either.

(Maple Leafs, US Buffaloes, and similar investment-grade coins are in fact 24 karat gold, but most people aren't going to be walking around with a bunch of those in their pockets banging around with their keys and stuff.)

I vaguely remember. Weren't there some coins that were minted of only 40% silver as well? Some of the half dollars maybe?

[raw456]

I can sympathise with Mr Dipps

I spent my first 3 years in customer service in a coin shop (we also did mail order) I lost track of the number of customers who accused us of "ripping them off" cause of the prices we offered them. You cant buy a gold coin for $800 and expect to sell it for the same when the price of gold drop by a third!

Idiots!

[fireheart]

If coins were minted of 100% silver, I would think they'd be too soft to circulate without getting defaced very quickly. Same reason "gold" coins intended for circulation (e.g. the old $2.50 coins, Krugerrands, UK Sovereigns, US Gold Eagles) aren't 24K gold either.

Fun fact: all Australian coins are more than half copper. The Australian $1 and $2 coins are 2% nickel, 6% aluminium and 92% copper.

The first Australian 50c coin (which was circular) was made out of 80% silver and 20% copper.

Nowadays, the "silver" coins in the Australian dollar (5c, 10c, 20c, 50c) are 75% copper and 25% nickel.

Australia used to have 1c and 2c coins in circulation (they're no longer made but are still legal tender) which were melted into the "bronze" medals for the 2000 Olympics.

[Victory Sabre]

US coins WERE made of 90% silver before 1965. After 65' they are copper and nickel. Half dollars between 1965 and 1970, and also in 1976, were made with 40% silver. Eisenhower dollars were made with 40% silver for collectors between 1971-1976.

The mint does make silver Eagles which have a face value of 1 dollar and have one ounce of silver in them. With the price of silver going up they are worth, around, $20.

Starting in 1992 the US mint made silver proof sets with the Quarter, Dime, and half with 90% silver in them. Most are expensive as heck on the secondary market, except for the 1992 set (the mint made over 1 million of them).

[KabeRinnaul]

Starting in 1992 the US mint made silver proof sets with the Quarter, Dime, and half with 90% silver in them. Most are expensive as heck on the secondary market, except for the 1992 set (the mint made over 1 million of them).

I think I might have some of those, from my late grandfather.

[PepperElf]

hmmm that much copper?
makes me wonder how much you can sell the copper for though

[draco664]

hmmm that much copper?
makes me wonder how much you can sell the copper for though

Apparently quite a bit. We just had the hard rubbish collection on our street, and one morning all the broken TVs on the rubbish piles had been smashed open and had all their copper removed. I can't imagine that there would be *that* much copper in an old CRT TV.

[fireheart]

Apparently quite a bit. We just had the hard rubbish collection on our street, and one morning all the broken TVs on the rubbish piles had been smashed open and had all their copper removed. I can't imagine that there would be *that* much copper in an old CRT TV.

We get reports of thieves stealing every single little last bit of copper piping you can find. I'm actually surprised they haven't just gone and melted down coins.

[Chromatix]

Not to mention all the reports of electric cable theft - including from railways, and including energised high-voltage power cables. Yes, there are some Darwin Award nominees in those statistics. You can stick several thousand pounds/dollars/euros worth of copper cabling on the back of a truck.

Even the price of scrap *steel* is sometimes high enough to encourage people to steal that. There was a case in Finland where a disused railway line, which is kept intact for historical value, was partly dismantled by someone who wanted the rails for scrap. They'd managed to convince some foreign labourers (who weren't aware of the history) that it was a legitimate dismantling job.