Gold, silver & platinum
Gold, silver and platinum, weighed and appraised in person
Coins, bullion, sterling and jewelry, bought and sold at the counter on Illinois Street in Lawrence, with an honest appraisal first.
Coins, bullion, sterling and jewelry: what crosses the counter
Kansas Coin Connection buys and sells gold, silver and platinum in several forms. Coins are the obvious starting point, from gold and silver coins and silver dollars to certified pieces in PCGS and NGC holders. Bullion is part of it too. Then there is the metal that comes out of drawers rather than safes: sterling silver, and gold, silver and platinum jewelry.
Jewelry is the category people forget. Broken chains, odd earrings and rings that no longer fit are the kind of thing that turns up in a Lawrence kitchen drawer, and Dean will look at all of it. You do not have to arrive with a tidy collection. Bring what you have to 846 Illinois Street and he will go through it with you.
Because the shop is also a coin dealer with 40 years behind the counter, a piece gets looked at twice: once as metal and once as a collectible. A silver dollar or an old gold coin can be worth more to a collector than its metal content, and sometimes the reverse is true. Sorting that out correctly is a large part of the job.
A proof set in a velvet case from the cases at Kansas Coin Connection in Lawrence
How an offer relates to spot price, purity and weight
Every gold, silver or platinum offer starts from the same few facts. Spot price is the live market price of the metal, and it moves through the day. Purity says how much of an item is actually precious metal: 14 karat gold is not 24 karat, and sterling silver is an alloy rather than pure silver. Weight comes from a scale, not from a guess.
An offer is built from those facts, then adjusted for what the shop can do with the piece afterward. A coin with collector appeal is a different conversation from a scrap chain. That is why a flat number quoted for something nobody has looked at deserves some caution. Weight, purity and condition all need eyes and a scale.
At the counter in Lawrence the order is simple: honest appraisal first, offer second. Dean tells you what you have, and then what the shop will pay for it. You can say no, take the piece home and compare. Metal prices move, which is one more reason offers are made in person with your piece in front of him. Call (913) 426-2567 if you want to ask a question before you come in.
Buying from the counter: see it, hold it, then decide
Selling is only half the shop. Gold, silver and platinum are sold from the collection too, and the cases at 846 Illinois Street hold coins and proof sets you can look at properly: silver proof sets from the US Mint, Marine Corps and wartime nickel sets, a proof set in a velvet case. They are the kind of thing that is worth turning over in your hand.
Buying in person is the whole point of a local coin shop. You can check the color, the strike, the holder and the weight before you pay anything, and you can ask Dean why a piece is in the case and what to look for in the next one. A photo on a screen will not tell you any of that.
Credit cards are accepted with a 3% surcharge. The shop is open Tuesday through Thursday from 10 AM to 5 PM. Monday, Friday and Saturday are by appointment only, so call (913) 426-2567 first on those days, and the shop is closed on Sunday.
“I felt I was treated very well and the pricing was better than online buyers i checked.” Guy Incognito, Google, 5 stars.