AUGUSTA – William Guerrette Jr. hadn’t heard that the Treasure Hunters Roadshow was in town this week until a customer who had just been there walked into his shop Tuesday morning.

The customer was asking what he could get for a Morgan silver dollar.

“I said $25 and his eyes just lit up,” said Guerrette, owner of China Lake Coins, Currency and Jewelry in Augusta. “He said he had 36 of them, and asked if I’d pay that for each of them.

“When I said yes, he said, ‘I’ll take it.’ Normally, customers don’t react that quickly. He sat down at the counter and he said he’d just been to the Roadshow people.”

The customer, Guerrette said, had been offered $180 for all 36 of the silver dollars by representatives of the Treasure Hunters Roadshow, a business that has teams of buyers traveling the country purchasing gold, silver, coins and other collectibles.

The outfit set up shop at the Augusta State Armory this week. Today is its final day in Augusta.

The man, Guerrette said, left the armory angry at what he considered a low-ball offer. “He left here pretty happy.”

Rich Gunther, manager of the Treasure Hunters Roadshow’s five-person team in Augusta, acknowledged that people with old valuables to sell are likely to get better prices from collectors of specific items.

Gunther was quick to note that the Illinois-based firm’s traveling teams are not appraisers. They buy items they can resell at a profit.

“We’re in business to make money, like anyone,” he said. “We’re buying things to resell them — not to put them on a shelf.”

He said about 75 percent of the people who come to an event sell items and leave with checks. Gunther said the company has 75 teams traveling the country every week, and is a company of integrity. It has been in Maine several times, he said, and intends to return. “Integrity is everything,” he said. “We’re not a fly-by-night company. We have a reputation to uphold.”

Adam Patterson, owner of the Timeless Treasures antique shop in Hallowell, which buys precious metals and specializes in coins and estate jewelry, said he hadn’t heard of Treasure Hunters Roadshow but was familiar with other traveling outfits.

“It’s OK to take something to them, just don’t sell it,” he advised. “Get a second opinion. If you bring your items to a local professional in that field, you’ll always get a better price.”

 

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