Tree Snapped / Coin Time

Pedzola

The power went out as I was in the shower this morning. Quickly discovered that a large pine at the end of my driveway had snapped and fallen across the road and power lines. We have had some strong wind gusts. So I cancelled and delegated my morning meetings and have time to kill!

I am always thinking about what comes next for my collection (See gold type set in my signature link). Since the pandemic started I've been in high gear. Very happy with my set, and still have a few pieces to find, but nearing the end of the line for coins that will be "affordable." Many of the remaining coins are just plain out of reach financially. There are I think 5-6 more that I can do, and which will keep me occupied for a while. but then I will hit a wall.

So I think about consolidating or trading or even selling and starting over. (Or quitting my day job to be a coin dealer! Would have a great start selling my collection but fuzzy on how I'd acquire more coins to sell!)

Thought I'd share some musings... happy to get any feedback or hear what others have done when they came to these decision points. Cant post pics due to no wifi, but you can see all referenced coins in my registry set (link in sig).

1) Trading big coins. In my opinion, the 1801 $10 in MS62+ is the most impressive coin in my collection, also the most expensive. I sometimes wonder if I could turn this coin into 2. I would be happy with a high end AU coin for an early $10. For example, some quick lookups suggest that an 1801 $10 and 1813 $5 both in AU58 CAC should be very resonable $$ equivalent for my coin. Anyone want to trade? Another part of me says to double down and consolidate to get an even "bigger" coin. Could I trade up into maybe a small eagle $5 in 55-58 cac with some added cash or coins?

2) Upgrading. Two coins in my collection, in my humble opinion, are very high end for the grade and could merit an upgrade. My 1802/1 in 55 CAC OGH is a special coin. It has prooflike surfaces, and would look perfectly at home in a 58 holder. The other is my 1878 $3 in 62 CAC OGH. This is a comparatively common coin but looking at this one I don't see anything that would make it questionable as a 63. It has amazing luster and color and clean surfaces. For both of these I think the correct thing to do is probably leave them as-is in the old holders and let the coins speak for themselves if it ever comes time to sell. But it does cross my mind to try to get these into new holders.

3) Upgrading to better coins. I'm not really emotionally attached to my coins. I would sell/trade any of them to get into a better position overall with my set. This is maybe about prioritizing some types over others. For example, I would trade my $20 HR Saint + 1808 $5 for a nice AU/CAC $2.5 Draped Bust. I greatly prefer trading where possible, but doesn't always work. Don't really want to sell without something guaranteed coming back.

4) Consolidate the whole set into just 1 amazing coin? What would it be?

5) Quit the grind and turn my set into seed $$ to be a dealer. There are a hundred reasons in my head why this would be a terrible idea. But I also feel like working for a paycheck for another 20+ years sounds like a bad option! I have fun trading coins. Why not just do that?

Thanks all for reading. Let me know what you think!

ctf_error_coins

5) Quit the grind and turn my set into seed $$ to be a dealer. There are a hundred reasons in my head why this would be a terrible idea. But I also feel like working for a paycheck for another 20+ years sounds like a bad option! I have fun trading coins. Why not just do that?

This!!!!,

It actually is really fun and you end up with more and better coins.

Downtown1974

Chris,

Those are big choices. I had to go back and delete much of my response because it became long-winded and verbose. I will offer my opinion in a more concise manner.

1) You already have a beautiful 20th century 8 piece type set. It needs nothing - it’s perfect as is.

2) I would upgrade the type 2 gold dollar, get a nice type 1 and you’ll have an exceptional 12 piece set.

3) The HR Saint is iconic and the 1801 $10 in MS62+ is plain and simply an heirloom type coin. Those should be kept. I would also hold on to the 1838 $5.

That would be 15/20 coins towards a beautiful mint state box of 20 gold pieces.

The remaining AU coins could either be added to the box or sold off to subsidize the cost of MS pieces to add in the remaining 5 spots.

As far as option 5 is concerned….that’s a big leap of faith. But if you decide to do it, I work cheap. 😁

Pedzola

Thanks for the thoughtful response! I'm having fun with collecting. Part of the fun is plotting the next move. It helps to "talk out loud" and bounce ideas off of others. I have learned a lot from members here and I appreciate different perspectives.

I should maybe come up with better defined goals. I have been more opportunistic vs disciplined in collecting.

So let me take a shot... Goals:

• For my type set to be as complete as possible.
• For each individual coin to be special in some way.
• To buy coins that are a good value - fair price / price appreciation.
• To develop relationships with other collectors and dealers so I can continually learn and grow my network to find better coins.
• To be in the top 10 on the registry in my categories
• To one day "make" a cac coin!
• To keep myself occupied!

Coinscratch

Life is short, do what you love - you'll be far better at it and it sounds like happier as well.
Just as long as your not going to lose the house, savings, or wife - Scratch that the wife can deal.
Other words - Is this going to be a low stress situation financially? If yes then go for it! If no then plot first.
I QUIT WORKING FOR THE MAN and went self employed at 24 (not coins) and struggled with the ups and downs for the next...I don't know still struggling but making more than most Phd's (post hole diggers) and wouldn't trade for the world.

Best of luck
Chris

Pedzola

I am half serious when I talk about becoming a coin dealer. By any objective measure I have a great job/career. It seems extremely unlikely that I'd be able to replace my current income with a coin biz. On the other hand, I don't really want to work 10-12 hour days with all the stress for another 25 years.

I often contemplate different paths, as I'm sure many people do. Maybe I need to stop contemplating and commit! I would have a lot to learn. And I don't have a great niche like our friend EoC above - So my #1 problem with becoming a dealer - it should be easy to sell my kind of coins (US gold) but how do I buy them?

Biz would be all about rapid inventory turn, but how can you do this with no inventory? I just have no idea where I would get coins that I can make a profit on. As a collector I've lost money on almost everything I've ever sold. lol. So until I figure out this gaping hole in the business plan I will hold off!

Coinscratch

Just like the monkey you don't let go of one branch until you have a firm grip on the next one.
Once you are well known/established I'm sure collections walk through the doors all the time.
The problem is getting to that point. Fortunately, you can get a nice website for little these days, couple hundred per month.
The coin business sounds like a really tough industry to make money in. But, like any other you would need to build up relationships with other dealers, vendors, and wholesale sources. Meanwhile stock piling your inventory and pushing marketing campaigns. I think every Tom, Dick, and Harry is on FB and SC. I'm not sure I would waste my time there. Instead opting for the High end classier look.
Anyway, you do all of this while still collecting your current paycheck. The tendency will be you trying to convince yourself that you can make just as much and that you need to go fulltime to really make this work but until you start seeing some actual profit, well.