Stamp and coin shop is a rarity these days
Michigan
Posts: 4,942 ✭
Jules E. Topfer's resume is about as rare these days as the collectibles he has handled in his career.
It reads something like this:
1978-present: Monmouth Stamp and Coin Shop owner.
1963-1978: Monmouth Stamp and Coin Shop employee.
"I knew before I was in high school this would be my avocation," the 52-year-old Fair Haven resident said. "I loved it."
Topfer, who began working at the shop part-time when he was only 9 years old, has turned the Red Bank store into a treasure-trove of stamps, coins, baseball cards and post cards. And he's held onto the store even as collectors gravitate toward the Internet and a new generation, raised on video games, sometimes finds these hobbies too slow for its liking.
Topfer works in the store with his wife, Patricia, and two part-time employees. He wouldn't disclose his annual revenue, but he said the store has never had an unprofitable year. He wouldn't disclose the size of his inventory, but he said the most valuable items are safeguarded in a bank. He preferred not to mention their value for security reasons.
Monmouth Stamp and Coin Shop, on Monmouth Street, is considered a rarity itself. When stamp collecting, for example, was at its popular peak from the 1940s to the 1960s, hundreds of dealers took up storefronts in areas such as Nassau Street in Manhattan, said Joseph Savarese, executive vice president of the American Stamp Dealers Association in Glen Cove, N.Y.
But expenses began to outpace the price dealers could get for stamps, he said. So many decided to close their shops and operate out of their homes or — these days — on the Internet.
"Unfortunately, (stamp stores) are like a dinosaur," Savarese said. "They face the high costs of rents and maintenance, so there are less and less every year."
Still, stamp and coin collectors are trying to stir interest.
Jim Majoros, president of the Ocean County Coin Club, said 10 to 25 children attend the club's twice-monthly meetings in Point Pleasant. And attracting young collectors is getting easier thanks to new coins being issued. For example, a new nickel with the image of Thomas Jefferson on it — the first coin with a president facing forward — is coming out this month.
The lure of the hobby "gets into families, and they say, "Geez, my son isn't athletic, he isn't a computer (expert), let's get him in something else,"' Majoros said. "They come to a meeting and get hooked."
Topfer started collecting stamps when he was 5 years old, thanks in part to the encouragement of his father, a marine engineer also named Jules.
The two often visited Monmouth Stamp and Coin, which Irving Carol and Wesley Crozier started in 1953. When Topfer was 9, the two offered him a job. "Jokingly, I think," Topfer said.
He took it. Topfer worked Friday evenings and Saturdays, sweeping floors, stocking shelves and learning the art of collecting — and selling — coins and stamps. Each one was a window into history, he said, a snapshot of what was happening at a given point in time.
The hobby helped to satisfy his curiosity. High school bored him, he said. And he didn't think he'd have patience for college, so he didn't go. Instead, he continued to work at Monmouth Stamp and Coin, until 1978, when, at 24, he borrowed money from friends and relatives — an amount he said he doesn't remember — and bought the store from Carol and Crozier.
To find merchandise, Topfer travels to auctions and estate sales in New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York, working upwards of 80 hours a week. He appraises items based on the demand, the condition and the rarity. And he refrains from collecting for himself; he needs to sell the items he buys so the business stays afloat. Not that he wouldn't want to. He acknowledges that he sometimes gets attached to his inventory.
He points to a case holding some of the first 1-cent coins. They were produced in the United States between 1793 and 1857 and are larger than today's pennies, with a Liberty-head design on their faces rather than Abraham Lincoln.
He opens a book holding a 1-cent postage stamp issued in 1904 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. Today it's certainly more valuable than the 39-cent stamp the government introduced last weekend.
And he shows off a coin issued by the Roman Emperor Nero, who ruled from 54 to 68 A.D. and was vain enough to put himself on the currency. One of these coins probably represented a week's pay for a Roman soldier, Topfer said.
The coin sells for $650 today, Topfer said, but "our primary thrust is to collectors, not to investors. The hands-on approach with people. Helping them build collections over the years. The types of things you can't get through the Internet."
The future of Monmouth Stamp and Coin is a bit cloudy. More and more dealers are doing business on the Internet. The hobby might not be exciting enough for a younger generation. And Topfer doesn't have children, so there is no one to hand the store to once he retires.
But he thinks the demand will continue long enough for him to reach retirement. Which is a good thing, because where else would he go?
"I came to this so early in life, there never was any other consideration," Topfer said. "I never had to give it much thought or decide what else I might want to do."
It reads something like this:
1978-present: Monmouth Stamp and Coin Shop owner.
1963-1978: Monmouth Stamp and Coin Shop employee.
"I knew before I was in high school this would be my avocation," the 52-year-old Fair Haven resident said. "I loved it."
Topfer, who began working at the shop part-time when he was only 9 years old, has turned the Red Bank store into a treasure-trove of stamps, coins, baseball cards and post cards. And he's held onto the store even as collectors gravitate toward the Internet and a new generation, raised on video games, sometimes finds these hobbies too slow for its liking.
Topfer works in the store with his wife, Patricia, and two part-time employees. He wouldn't disclose his annual revenue, but he said the store has never had an unprofitable year. He wouldn't disclose the size of his inventory, but he said the most valuable items are safeguarded in a bank. He preferred not to mention their value for security reasons.
Monmouth Stamp and Coin Shop, on Monmouth Street, is considered a rarity itself. When stamp collecting, for example, was at its popular peak from the 1940s to the 1960s, hundreds of dealers took up storefronts in areas such as Nassau Street in Manhattan, said Joseph Savarese, executive vice president of the American Stamp Dealers Association in Glen Cove, N.Y.
But expenses began to outpace the price dealers could get for stamps, he said. So many decided to close their shops and operate out of their homes or — these days — on the Internet.
"Unfortunately, (stamp stores) are like a dinosaur," Savarese said. "They face the high costs of rents and maintenance, so there are less and less every year."
Still, stamp and coin collectors are trying to stir interest.
Jim Majoros, president of the Ocean County Coin Club, said 10 to 25 children attend the club's twice-monthly meetings in Point Pleasant. And attracting young collectors is getting easier thanks to new coins being issued. For example, a new nickel with the image of Thomas Jefferson on it — the first coin with a president facing forward — is coming out this month.
The lure of the hobby "gets into families, and they say, "Geez, my son isn't athletic, he isn't a computer (expert), let's get him in something else,"' Majoros said. "They come to a meeting and get hooked."
Topfer started collecting stamps when he was 5 years old, thanks in part to the encouragement of his father, a marine engineer also named Jules.
The two often visited Monmouth Stamp and Coin, which Irving Carol and Wesley Crozier started in 1953. When Topfer was 9, the two offered him a job. "Jokingly, I think," Topfer said.
He took it. Topfer worked Friday evenings and Saturdays, sweeping floors, stocking shelves and learning the art of collecting — and selling — coins and stamps. Each one was a window into history, he said, a snapshot of what was happening at a given point in time.
The hobby helped to satisfy his curiosity. High school bored him, he said. And he didn't think he'd have patience for college, so he didn't go. Instead, he continued to work at Monmouth Stamp and Coin, until 1978, when, at 24, he borrowed money from friends and relatives — an amount he said he doesn't remember — and bought the store from Carol and Crozier.
To find merchandise, Topfer travels to auctions and estate sales in New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York, working upwards of 80 hours a week. He appraises items based on the demand, the condition and the rarity. And he refrains from collecting for himself; he needs to sell the items he buys so the business stays afloat. Not that he wouldn't want to. He acknowledges that he sometimes gets attached to his inventory.
He points to a case holding some of the first 1-cent coins. They were produced in the United States between 1793 and 1857 and are larger than today's pennies, with a Liberty-head design on their faces rather than Abraham Lincoln.
He opens a book holding a 1-cent postage stamp issued in 1904 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. Today it's certainly more valuable than the 39-cent stamp the government introduced last weekend.
And he shows off a coin issued by the Roman Emperor Nero, who ruled from 54 to 68 A.D. and was vain enough to put himself on the currency. One of these coins probably represented a week's pay for a Roman soldier, Topfer said.
The coin sells for $650 today, Topfer said, but "our primary thrust is to collectors, not to investors. The hands-on approach with people. Helping them build collections over the years. The types of things you can't get through the Internet."
The future of Monmouth Stamp and Coin is a bit cloudy. More and more dealers are doing business on the Internet. The hobby might not be exciting enough for a younger generation. And Topfer doesn't have children, so there is no one to hand the store to once he retires.
But he thinks the demand will continue long enough for him to reach retirement. Which is a good thing, because where else would he go?
"I came to this so early in life, there never was any other consideration," Topfer said. "I never had to give it much thought or decide what else I might want to do."
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Comments
"The only thing rarer than this (junk) we sell is a person who'll come in an' buy it!"
This during one of the best coin markets ever and bullion going bananas. He says that no one comes in looking for coins much and almost no one comes by to sell. What a shame. That could be fixed in a hurry.
roadrunner
only dealer with storefronts.
The coin/stamp/metal detector guy is hanging on only because
he also sells on Ebay in order to meet store expenses.
One advantage with having a store front is you do get people
coming in trying to sell you coins that you might not otherwise
get to see. OTOH you have to enjoy dealing with the general
public and the "stupid questions"
of the dinosaur.
this will allow the collectors to shape the hobby as they see fit. trade
and sell among themselves with the semi-serious dealers long gone.
i know of two coin stores in southern NH and not a single stamp store.
">"http://www.cashcrate.com/5663377"