One of the most powerful techniques you can use, when negotiating with a coin dealer, is to know how much he likely paid for a coin, and what price is the lowest he is likely to accept.  Fortunately, the coin market is so vast and complex that dealers must rely on price guides to do most of their business.  This is especially true of the dealers you encounter at coin shows or in their own shops.

Learn what these coin price guides are called, and how to get your own sample copy very inexpensively, in my article about coin wholesale price guides.

This edition of "Coin Dealer Ethics" deals with inheritance; not the kind of inheritance where someone dies and you get their fabulous coin collection, but where a coin dealer decides to retire and sell his business to another person. Should the new owner benefit from that dealer's "goodwill?" Here's the scenario:

Ernest K. of Honest Man Coins (names are fictional) had been in the coin business for 40 years. He had an excellent reputation, and belonged to numerous numismatic associations, including the ANA and PNG. Although his coin business wasn't large, it had a devoted following of customers, and Ernest attended several coin shows each year which helped him broaden his reach and gain access to a wider range of material. When Ernest retired, he sold the coin business to a single buyer, including the stock, the business name and goodwill, the lease to his excellent downtown location (which still had 14 years left on it at a great monthly rate,) and all other assets that belonged to the business (including the customer list, store fixtures, coin safe, etc.) The "stock," of course, was the coins that Ernest had in his inventory, plus a goodly assortment of coin collecting supplies and books. Basically, Ernest sold everything that you'd find in a normal local coin shop, what business salesmen call a "turn-key operation." Unfortunately, less than a month after the sale, Read more...

The U.S. Mint has issued a Consumer Advisory warning citizens about the counterfeit U.S. coins that have been flooding into the United States from China.   Although counterfeit coins are as old a phenomena as coins themselves, dating back to antiquity, the Chinese-made counterfeits represent an unusually dangerous threat because of the high technology being employed to produce many of them.

The U.S. Mint Advisory characterizes the coins as "imitations" and includes a photograph of a Proof Morgan Dollar.  The Advisory states that the imitation coins bear dates prior to 1950.  You can read the entire counterfeit coin advisory on the U.S. Mint's Web site.

I have been warning coin collectors about these Chinese-made counterfeit coins since early 2008, when I obtained photographs and the operational details of a working coin counterfeiting ring based in China.  The fake coins are primarily entering the hobby marketplace through online auction venues such as eBay.

Learn More About Counterfeit Coins

• Inside a Chinese Coin Counterfeiting Ring
• Top 5 Tips to Avoid Buying Fake Coins on eBay
• Counterfeit Coin Detection Kit
• Fake Chinese Ackey Coins and Dies

The U.S. Mint has begun selling one of its most popular annual items - the Uncirculated Mint Set. This attractive set comes in two separate folders, one for the Philadelphia-struck coins, and one for the coins struck at Denver. This year's set has an all-time high number of coins - 36! The 18 coins from each Mint are as follows:

• 4 Presidential Dollars
• 1 Native American (Sacagawea) Dollar
• 1 Half Dollar
• 6 Territorial and D.C. Quarters
• 1 Dime
• 1 Nickel
• 4 Cents

The Cents are struck in the original 95% copper alloy that the Lincoln Cent was struck from in 1909 when it was first issued.  They bear the 4 special designs commemorating Lincoln's life which are being issued this year.

The cost of this year's Uncirculated Mint Set is $27.95, plus the U.S. Mint charges an additional $4.95 per order for shipping and handling.  You can order the 2009 Uncirculated Mint Sets from the U.S. Mint Web site.