IF THE COIN MARKET??

BAJJERFAN

Just got a Heritage brochure for the upcoming FUN auction in Orlando in 2009. On the back page is a bit about their consignment staff. I count 24 faces, so if the coin market is starting down how are they keeping 24 consignment people employed full time? Isn't job layoff one of the first signs that all is not well in the coin biz?

doh

Maybe they're not all full time

BAJJERFAN

<< <i>Maybe they're not all full time >>



Maybe, but thats still a fairly hefty staff. Or then again the market hasn't really started down yet.

bidask

it hasn't fallen that much yet....

BAJJERFAN

<< <i>it hasn't fallen that much yet.... >>



So what would it take to put it into a free fall?

Bayard1908

I still keep getting outbid at Heritage auctions. All this talk about the market going down isn't backed up by the prices being paid.

BAJJERFAN

I would guess that money isn't generally an issue with many of the more serious collectors. As long as one isn't in a position where he has to sell he shud be able to weather a storm.

FullStrike

They could be volunteers. Bored Millionaire volunteers that is - volunteering just so they can get first dibs at the good stuff.

lasvegasteddy

i'd imagine with an influx of sales looming...they'd need more staff

Coxe

The market is funny now, but not falling. It has gotten more sane. People, collectors and dealers alike, aren't going for as much of the crap and gee-whiz nonsense but settling, for the most part, on quality coins with proven track records. The other side of it is that such coins are not leaving collections all that easily anymore. Strong hands or just sensible collectors, nice coins are not flipping every 6 months. Look at the dramatic decline in really nice coins in any auctions. You have to wade through so much dreck to get to them and then bid like nuts to secure one. The disparity I have observed is that quality is not only difficult to find in public auction but that the gradient to it seems to be exclusively toward Heritage. Yeah, there's some nice stuff at Goldberg's and I saw a few at B&M too. The last Superior catalogue offerings IMO were tragically awful, with only a coule coins in the Morgans of marginal interest. The consignment directors for the houses are going to get increasingly aggressive and creative in trying to get consignments from colelctors they know have the coins they need to handle. As long as enough continues to flow to maintain the retail market's interest, the market will maintain sufficient inertia.

Longacre

This market is hard to figure out. Heritage seems to be doing well, and it is probably just not the time to right-size the company and personnel.

ricko

Darn Chicken Little keeps running through this forum... someone get a shotgun and shoot it.... Cheers, RickO

lkeigwin

Heritage is huge! That number doesn't surprise me. If you factor in all the different collectibles they auction I wouldn't be surprised if their staff (full, part-time, voluntary, whatever) numbered in the hundreds.