lament of a Coin Dealer "You Signed Up For This"
braddick
Posts: 24,895 ✭✭✭✭✭
When speaking to a Coin Dealer, I don't think I have ever heard a more crass statement spewed to my face. In 5 words, a person strips years' worth of trauma and reduces it to some inanimate object with a dotted line that somehow magically clears the horrors of selling coins as a profession:
Coin Dealers willingly plunge their hands into the mires of society time and again and generally stand strong through it. At times they break; they buckle under the torrent of weight, and mounting emotional debt collectors heaps on their backs. They scream, they yell, and they peel back the veil to show those pieces of the horrific jigsaw puzzle that has assembled itself into a Frankenstein monster that is their career.
It is a terrifyingly beautiful portrait. It shows the tears, laughter, and dread that accompany their careers. Yet with all that is seen and experienced, the ignorant see this portrait and say, "You signed up for that."
Those words are injected under their skin like venom from a snake. They sting and tear, and yet somehow, they bear. They accept it, and they grow strong from it. They do this until one day, the phrase's meaning is reversed into something that strengthens them.
In a twisted way, they all did, in fact, sign up for this. They volunteered to take part in collector's horror shows under the banner of being a helper to the weak, the shields to the helpless, and the defenders to those who are at their most terrifying moments.
They do this knowing they are not perfect. Knowing they are not immortal or bulletproof. In fact, they ignore all human instincts in dire situations and plunge further into danger. In a sick twist of fate, they do these things with the thought of I signed up for this.
peacockcoins
Comments
And those things became amplified with the advent of the internet, especially where sites such as EBAY are concerned. Some have embraced it, others still look to get brick and mortar prices. With such fierce competition could one blame them?
I somehow don’t think this applies to all coin dealers…
I agree as I have no idea what the OP is about.
I have a great relationship with my clients
edited as @MFeld was quoting:.
To the OP - An exquisite example of the critical sardonic twist needed to fully effectuate satire.
Well executed and very well played, sir
I was sobbing? laughing? sobbing so hard I hurt my back when I fell off my wallet 
Your back should have already been sore from sitting on such a fat....
wallet 😄 Of course, that’s part of what you signed up for.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Who will think of the poor put upon coin dealer?😂
Such elegant prose, posted by the OP.
A very interesting read.
Of course prose of equal depth and conveyance of meaning/emotion could be penned by one on the other side of the hobby fence (or fences). Collectors, investors, spouses, children, heirs, grading companies, etc.
A book of such writings would be a great read and would illustrate a wide range of human behavior and psychology.
I would enjoy stories of the good, the bad, the triumphs, the tragedies and the just plain strange things that take place in the hobby of kings.
I got lost in the poetic license and the descriptive verbiage... can someone clarify it for me? I assume something has happened and the op poster is venting...
But of course we signed up, if we decide to sell on ebay, attend coin shows to sell or buy.... I'm waiting for the Paul Harvey "the rest of the story".
But a flippant "you signed up for it" directed at someone at the wrong time can certainly be irksome....
Yep! Guess one has to decide whether that fat wallet is worth the pain in the a** that goes along with it.
There's nothing like busting your ass at a coin show all day, attending an auction that night and, when you're done at 10:30, having just figured out your profit for the day was over $10,000, you find you can't locate anything open but an IHOP.
Salty tears please
If it’s IHOP it would be powdered sugar tears. 😉
A: The year they spend more on their library than their coin collection.
A numismatist is judged more on the content of their library than the content of their cabinet.
Instead of “ you signed up for this”, I prefer “life is the sum of all of your choices”
add circumstance
"Mothers, tell your children not to do as I have done....".
On the other hand, my grandpa was a bookie and a bootlegger too.
My kids never wanted to be coin dealers. I wish I could blame their mom
I guess I should sorta thank her instead 
I read the OP and reflected on it a bit. If you remove 'coin dealer' and substitute 'policeman', along with a couple of other minor phrases, you have an apt description of said career.
Cheers, RickO
You’re an Animal.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
I’ve always told different professions when they tell me how long or how hard they work. You’re getting paid aren’t you? Some take it in jest. Some don’t and that’s ok too. 😆
Albert Camus didnt
I wonder how many coin dealers have children that follow in their footsteps.
Ones I can think of:
Mitch > Justin
Art > Don
@MFeld How did you get involved? Were you influenced by Max?
Camus can do but Sartre is Smartre… (+10 internet points if you know the quote reference)
Dorothy Parker with a 2% chance of Simone de Beauvoir
Well, not quite…