If you found out one of your favorite coin dealers. . .
abcde12345
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...was not a coin collector at heart and was only in the game to make a living, would it bother you?
What if that same dealer plays the "collector game" yet has no interest in the hobby other than the
business side of it? Should coin dealers also be entusiasts?
2
Comments
No they shouldn't have to be enthusiasts. I know lots of dealers that do this just to make money.
You don't see many gas station owners who are gas enthusiasts, or Starbucks employees who are coffee enthusiasts.
I would say 30 percent of the dealers I know are in it for the money only
HAPPY COLLECTING
I don't care if my coin dealer was a robot, as long as he was honest, experienced, and sold me coins way below wholesale. I don't care if he loses or makes money either.
It is a business for dealers.... some do collect. However, the two pursuits can lead to conflict.... If I were to get involved beyond collecting (i.e. selling coins), I would have to devote myself to the business rather than the hobby. Cheers, RickO
No. I would prefer they didn’t collect and were not attached now to their coins
m
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
One of the best guys I buy from always gets me what I want at a reasonable price and it's all shipped free or even combined shipping. He doesn't care if it's a coin or hat or card or whatever, and starts foreign gold, bullion, us gold at .99 cents.. and everything in between.
If he told me he wasn't a coin collector, I wouldn't be shocked or care.
For the consumer, better if the dealer is NOT also a collector.
Insert witicism here. [ xxx ]
Yup. And when they leave business cards and start putting things aside for you.
I think you went a little too far with the "way below wholesale" part. Nice thought, though.
Pete
I've never asked them what they collect, so I would probably be indifferent to finding out they don't collect anything. If they're a good, honest, knowledgeable dealer that I'm willing to pay for coins I want, that's all that matters.
There are other things I could find out about a dealer that would bother me much more, and them being a collector would not make up for it.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
I would think that to be successful, a dealer's main collecting focus should be customers.
Here is the thing...When I was very young, I got pitched out and banned from one of the local coin shops because I told the dealer the coin he was selling to me was lightly buffed. A year or two later, after I got my position with ANACS, I suddenly became his best buddy. He was a great guy too, He gave me his Nikon SMZ-2 (which I still have) for an authentication class I "actively" collected coins back then as the prices were going up better than a bank account. I never, ever quibbled with the price he quoted.
I would be lying if I said that I don't believe I'm treated any differently than the average collector when I am interested in something. As you should know, TPG's do not sell coins but at some services, we are allowed to buy them with permission.
Not important. I once asked a local dealer what he set aside for himself for his collection only to find he never collected coins and is in it for the business. It didn't and doesn't matter. He really knows his stuff.
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I am a bit surprised it is running 100% for not really caring if your dealer also collects. I don't know why exactly, I just thought it would bother some to see others in this hobby that are strictly in it for the paycheck.
I dont think my local dealer really collects a lot. I think it would be tough to do both.
It is well known there are several who simply view coins as a product to make money from. If I had to guess, about 40%-yes 40% do not collect. This includes some of the biggest name dealers too. You'd be shocked.
The new breed of dealer seems to be in it for the quick hits from the grading games. The collecting passion is just not there no matter how they try to act like it is too fool people.
About half the coin dealers I have run across could care less about collecting or even coins for that matter, they were simply there to make a buck and nothing wrong with that. There are also many who are just flat out snakes. Be careful who you deal with is the best advise I could give any of you.
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
BOOMIN!™
The fact that the dealer is not a collector would not bother me in the least, but I don't think I've never seen a successful dealer, with whom I've done business, who didn't know anything about grading and some of the fundamentals of the hobby. They might exist in the "investment houses," who sell "investment portfolios” to “pigeons,” but they won't don’t last long in the real collector market from what I’ve seen.
Most of the dealers I’ve known started as collectors and then got into dealing.
Do you think a lot of the dealers who don’t collect started as collectors and progressed to vest pocket dealers and then on to full time dealers and left the traipings of collector behind in the process? Hard to imagine many people just deciding to become a coin dealer as a career path without being a hobbyist first.
IMO, the attachment and passion about numismatics is what would handicap a dealer. The coins I have paid too much for (and that is most of them) are coins that I just have to have. I lose my business, financial sense and buy on emotion. That is a bad combo.
This is easy to switch around. What if your dealer collects the same as you? Would you like knowing he probably keeps the better examples and they may not be offered to you?
I would like him to be a former collector, so that he has knowledge and a good eye for technical quality but no emotional attachments. That way his prices are fair and he does not withhold any of the good stuff.
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I cannot imagine anyone thinking badly of a dealer wanting solely to make a profit and not collect. BUSINESS not hobby. I can imagine though the small percentage who do it for the hobby's sake and meeting friends and new people at coin shows and only hoping to cover their costs. A very small percentage, though.
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
I would think every dealer collected at one time or another?
How would you even get into selling if you didn't?
No...what annoys me are people who pretend to be collectors but really only care about making money off of something, not actually about the something I'm collecting (or even something I'm not collecting)
However, dealers are supposed to be the knowledgeable people you go to for help. If they never collected they might not have the knowledge to answer questions, or probably more importantly, know if they have something you are looking for.
That is theoretical, though, as I don't have a local dealer.
I could never be a dealer, by the way. I buy something because I want it, and if I want it, and have it, I will treasure it forever. I can barely even bring myself to trade duplicates.
How many of us are passionate about our jobs...or is it just a job?
Latin American Collection
Actually, I think it is better if the coin dealer is NOT a collector. The bias that goes with being a collector would skew, in both ways, the evaluation of coins. For example, I know a dealer who is a VAM enthusiast. He is always paying too much for VAMs but paying too little for things like Indian cents that he has no personal interest in collecting.
You'd be surprised. Half of the local dealers in my medium sized city were NEVER collectors. They were ALWAYS working in retail and somehow ended up in coins - usually as the result of a spike in bullion prices that led to easy money in scrap.
Frankly, how many collectors have encyclopedic knowledge of ALL AREAS of collecting. Most collectors have a specialty or two or ten and spend all of their time in that area.
I don't know how important it is that a dealer is also a collector and I won't try to put a number on how many are. what my personal experience teaches me is that the most successful, long term, old school dealers do in fact collect something. also, the Hobby is currently flooded with younger "dealers" who are in it strictly for the money.
what is important to me, past a dealer being a collector or not is whether I can judge him as a Numismatist. there is a very clear and well defined line between the two. the old school dealers knew/know about coins, have a sense of History and can easily engage in a discussion about those things. the new generation of dealers can't necessarily do those things, but are tech savvy and know how to read a price guide/pop report/TPG submission form/TPG slab insert.
How many of us are passionate about our jobs...or is it just a job?
if you are serious about your job, do you know how to properly perform at work?? or do you just show up and go through the motions??
I found out the local weatherman did not care about the weather. I was mortified, as the temperature dropped.
Sometimes we allow the worry of what others do supersede what we do. Not good.
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
I understand that, although I got one of my best coins from a dealer who really was attached to it. I "overpaid" and have no regrets.
If the deal works for me don’t care. The more a dealer is a collector that could be a drag on his business.
Coins are like sugar babies - your not going to be seeing them forever. Unlike SB the money u put in them can be recovered when u sell - that side of ball important w coins. Play it well u make money.
If u have a conflict between spending money on coins and another hobby put that activity first (x pct of income) plus gross margin on coin biz as a budget example. Coins are an income vehicle for me. RCI should be last on the spend list.
The best time to buy is when you see it. I like your style
m
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
My favorite thing to do is ask my dealer buddy to bring in his personal stuff. Sometimes he does, and I usually get a really nice coin of his each time. He will say, you can't afford that anyway. That is when I have him.
If he didn't collect all these years, some of those coins would never be mine. There is value in the guy knowing his stuff and saving if for years.
Some of my favorite dealers are enthusiasts, whether in Capped Bust Halves or Bryan Money or whatever. Then again, I gravitate towards those who have passion about what they do.
Many dealers are just coin merchants and that's no problem. Just sell me the coin. Just like I don't care if the guy at the QuickieMart is a soda enthusiast ... just sell me the Coke!
See http://www.doubledimes.com for a free online reference for US twenty-cent pieces
Bingo. I would have a big problem with that. I want my dealer to be knowledgeable and show me the best examples (and not put them away for their own collection).
https://pcgs.com/setregistry/showcase/2819
If a dealer is also a collector, when he buys coins to put in his personal collection does he expect to pay dealer prices or does he pay collector prices? How that question is answered says a lot about the dealer.
I would wager at least 50% of the coins I have in my collection I have paid retail +...Including many from you!
Really don't care one way or the other
You obviously have a different kind of QuickieMart in your neighborhood!
See http://www.doubledimes.com for a free online reference for US twenty-cent pieces
I can't even figure out what that question means, so I certainly can't answer it.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
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