Local Coin Shops-A Useful Resource

A coin shop just opened up in my town. If you are asking yourself, "So what's the big deal?" let me explain. The town I am talking about has one gas station, one grocery store, a small bank branch, a post office, a couple of gift shops, a few churches, a couple of bars and a smattering of houses. And now a coin shop.

Even though I probably won't be doing big-time business with them, they are another investing resource for me. If you have one or more coin shops in easy driving distance of you, I hope you take advantage of them. Even if you do most of your gold and silver investing with a major out-of-town dealer, or call in to TV coin shows, or use eBay stores/auctions, a local dealer may fill in some investing "gaps".

Although small, this coin shop has a nice selection of coins, especially Morgan silver dollars. It's nice to be able to see these coins up close, examine them, discuss price, etc. By making a few small purchases and developing a relationship with a local dealer, you can use them as a sanity check before investing in particular coins, grades of coins or discussing your basic investing strategy.

There is one thing I noticed about this coin shop that raised a red flag regarding the grading of coins, especially the higher Mint State grades. I will cover that in a future post as this one is longer than I intended.