Wealth Of Experience Inside Fairmont Coin Shop
Arizona Coin Collector
http://wcco.com/local/kuehls.coins.shop.2.905866.html
Jan 12, 2009 7:41 am US/Central
Wealth Of Experience Inside Fairmont Coin Shop
FAIRMONT, Minn. (AP) ? Signs along Highway 15 advertise
gold, silver, diamonds, coins -- everything you can
expect to find inside Kuehl's Coins.
A step through the shop's front door reveals little
floor space but case upon case of collectibles and
valuables. Indian head pennies mingle with buffalo
nickels. Silver dollars share space with proof sets.
Rings and necklaces sparkle side by side in one
case, while several watches hang on the wall above
them. And over it all reigns the shop's owner,
Vaughn Kuehl.
(STORY IMAGE LINK)
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A step through the shop's front door reveals
little floor space but case upon case of
collectibles and valuables.
Kuehl's Coins has been a part of Fairmont for 26
years. A couple hundred regular customers come and
go, Kuehl said.
Recent fluctuations in gold and silver prices have
had their impact on his business. In the spring
and summer, when prices were high, many people were
coming to Kuehl to sell their valuables. When prices
went down, more people were interested in buying.
But even now that trend is changing.
"People think the economy is going to get really,
really bad," Kuehl said, adding that many people
have stopped buying despite the low metal prices.
Still, this has been a good year for Kuehl's Coins.
Kuehl, who also farms corn and soybeans near Ormsby,
said some years the farm brings in more money, and
other years the coin shop is at the top. This year
both enterprises are bringing in about the same
amount.
Unlike other stores that enjoy an increase in
business during the Christmas season, Kuehl's Coins
doesn't really get any busier.
Members of the older generations, who are more
likely to sell their collections, don't travel as
much in the winter, Kuehl said. He also said people
tend to buy other items than coins and jewelry as
Christmas gifts.
It seems when people buy coins they tend to buy them
as an investment, Kuehl said. The only problem is
rare coins, which provide the biggest return, are
getting harder and harder to find.
"If you find the rare coins and hold them long enough,
they'll be a good investment," Kuehl said.
Three of the most valuable coins -- the 1877 penny,
1916-D dime and 1909-S VDB penny -- are worth about
$1,000 each, Kuehl said. The 1916-D dime is so named
for the year and the mint in Denver where it was
made. The 1909-S VDB penny is named for the mint in
San Francisco, and the VDB on the back of the coin
refers to its designer, Victor D. Brenner. Kuehl
currently has an 1877 penny in one of his cases at
the shop.
According to Answers.com, there are several things
that make a coin valuable, including the condition
of the coin, the metal it's made of, the country of
origin and the year it was made.
About five years ago, a man brought a collection to
Kuehl for appraisal. The man, Kuehl said, had gone
through probably millions of coins in more than 40
years, and he had managed to find 15 three-legged
nickels. A three-legged nickel is a buffalo nickel
that was polished so much at the mint -- where the
coins are made -- that one of the buffalo's legs
was polished away. Such mint errors, because they're
often rare, can raise the value of a coin.
Kuehl was surprised the man managed to find 15 of
them, adding that those coins would now be worth
about $1,000 each.
Such finds are uncommon, though, which leads Kuehl
to suggest that people not get into coin collecting
for investment purposes.
The reason they should get involved, he said, is
"just for the enjoyment of it."
Kuehl himself became interested in coins back in 1980
when the metal prices were unusually high. It was an
interesting time, he said, and the silver prices were
always in the news.
"That got me kind of interested," he said.
Now the coins in his shop are the only collection he
has time for. He buys and sells coins and other
valuables, and he also offers appraisals.
Many people who inherit coin collections from older
relatives bring the coins in to be appraised and
possibly sold.
The average collection brought into Kuehl's shop sells
for between $2,000 and $5,000.
Kuehl does have two pieces of advice for
collectors: Avoid buying coins off a TV shopping
program and be wary of traveling coin traders.
Coins sold on television may look pretty, he said,
but they are often so marked up in price to help pay
for advertising that they're not a good investment.
And traders who travel from hotel to hotel
advertising cash for coins often only pay about 60
or 70 percent of the coin's value, Kuehl said.
He also suggested people not clean their coins. He
used the example of a customer who brought in some
old Indian head pennies a couple of years ago. The
pennies were the nice brown color they're supposed
to be, Kuehl said, and he recommended the customer
not clean them.
The customer, however, didn't heed his advice. After
being cleaned, the coins turned a strange green
color, Kuehl said, and went from a value of about
$300 each to $75 each.
"It's not a good idea to clean coins," Kuehl
reiterated.
By CHRISTINE RUPP
Sentinel
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