Tag: collecting

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Hill Country Treasures

Hill Country Treasures: Evaluating Hotel Roadshows: Due Diligence, Licensing, and Second Opinions

This podcast from MR Mint Coins & Collectibles in Kerrville, Texas, explores the value, history, and stories behind coins, currency, gold, silver, jewelry, bullion, sports cards, memorabilia, and family collections. Whether you are a lifelong collector, a curious beginner, or someone who just inherited a box of old coins, this show helps you understand what you have, what makes it valuable, and how to make smart, confident decisions. Join host Tom Fox and MR Coin owner Mike Russ for a show that celebrates local expertise, honest conversations, and the treasures hiding in plain sight across the Hill Country.

Tom and Mike discuss hotel “roadshows” and buying events, warning that many are fly-by-night operations that pay “pennies on the dollar,” citing undercover checks and a customer who offered half as much for gold chains as MR Mint. Russ advises scrutinizing flyers for clear business identification and a Texas OCCC precious metal dealer license number, noting legitimate dealers must photograph items, record IDs, report purchases to local authorities, and hold merchandise for required periods, controls roadshows may evade by moving town to town. He recommends researching companies via Google, reviews, and the Better Business Bureau, asking what percentage is being paid, understanding appraisal versus purchase offers (retail vs. business buy price), and always getting second opinions. Russ also emphasizes shopping local to keep economic benefits in the community.

Key highlights:

  • Undercover Price Testing
  • Red Flags On Flyers
  • Licensing And Compliance
  • Appraisal Versus Offer
  • Shop Local Impact

Resources:

MR Mint and Coin Collectibles

Categories
Hill Country Treasures

Hill Country Treasures: Coin Collecting 101

This podcast from MR Mint Coins & Collectibles in Kerrville, Texas, explores the value, history, and stories behind coins, currency, gold, silver, jewelry, bullion, sports cards, memorabilia, and family collections. Whether you are a lifelong collector, a curious beginner, or someone who just inherited a box of old coins, this show helps you understand what you have, what makes it valuable, and how to make smart, confident decisions. Join host Tom Fox and MR Coin owner Mike Russ for a show that celebrates local expertise, honest conversations, and the treasures hiding in plain sight across the Hill Country.

Tom and Mike are back to discuss how to begin collecting without getting overwhelmed. Russ advises new collectors of any age to start with a simple niche, often wheat pennies (1909–1958) or a single coin series, rather than jumping across categories, emphasizing the “thrill of the hunt” and learning key dates and varieties. He describes buying wheat pennies in bulk, notes that key coins are often already searched out, and suggests roll-searching nickels or exploring paper currency via fancy serial numbers, star notes, and live auctions. The discussion broadens to using collecting to connect generations, educate children through stories and history (e.g., mint marks), and counter distractions from devices, citing excitement around limited-mintage U.S. Mint “privy” quarters tied to the 250th anniversary. Russ provides MR Mint’s Kerrville contact details and website.

Key highlights:

  • Starting Coin Collecting
  • Wheat Pennies Basics
  • Nickels And Staying Focused
  • Sports Cards And Rips
  • Collections And Family Bonds

Resources:

MR Mint and Coin Collectibles

Categories
Hill Country Treasures

Hill Country Treasures: Every Coin Has a Story – Introduction to Physical Metals, Volatility, and Hedging Practices

This is a podcast from MR Mint Coins & Collectibles in Kerrville, Texas, exploring the value, history, and stories behind coins, currency, gold, silver, jewelry, bullion, sports cards, memorabilia, and family collections. Whether you are a lifelong collector, a curious beginner, or someone who just inherited a box of old coins, this show helps you understand what you have, what makes it valuable, and how to make smart, confident decisions. Join host Tom Fox and MR Coin owner Mike Russ for a show that celebrates local expertise, honest conversations, and the treasures hiding in plain sight across the Hill Country.

In this inaugural episode, Mike Russ (“Mr. Mint Coin”) describes his Kerrville-based business at 1217 Broadway, which began as a collectible coin dealership and has since expanded to include buying and selling gold and silver, bullion, jewelry, and estate items. He explains his early interest in coin collecting and discusses recent precious-metals market volatility from his perspective, citing moves in gold from about $1,800 to roughly $5,600 per ounce and silver from about $22 to $120 before a sharp decline to the $60s and a later recovery to the $80s by May 2026. Russ recounts operational challenges during peak volatility, including heavy customer activity and delayed refiner processing, and outlines how he “hedges” by using physical inventory rather than ETFs or other paper instruments, managing risk through daily buying/selling volume and margins.

Highlights

  • How Mike Started
  • Nutcracker Collecting
  • Gold Volatility
  • Silver Spike and Crash
  • Hedging Explained

Resources:

⁠MR Mint and Coin Collectibles⁠