<< <i>[q} One thing you don't have to be a genuis on, is a company or people that are in a revolving door. I liked it when coin collecting and the companies involved were all smaller 30 years ago. Places like Spectrum are killing mom and pop business all in the matter of a buck. Is bigger really better for the coin market? >>
Let me guess - you dont shop at Walmart? >>
He probably still wears a necktie and fedora when he goes to a baseball game, too. >>
I understand progress and capitalism and shareholder value and all that, but at the end of the day I'd much rather deal with the mom & pop guy than the faceless corporation. Who wouldn't? >>
Depends. Does the mom and pop guy give you 8% of hammer and pull in thousands of internet bids on the coins they have in auction?
Competition is a good thing. Heritage is great, and my preferred auction venue. A strong competitor will mean they have to step up their game even more. That is a great thing for all of us. A third strong auction company would make life even more interesting ...
As for Stacks-Bowers merger, I can imagine the internal discussions going something like this:
Bowers - We have a strong presence and the ability reach a lot of consumers, but people complain about our personal service and we can't seem to get it right on our own.
Stacks - We have great relationships with our customers, but we have just not been able to expand our customer base as far as we would like to.
hmmm ... maybe we should talk to another company about merging to supplement our weaknesses ....
Congratulations to both companies! I've always had positive experiences with Bowers and received excellent friendly customer service. And Stacks has had some amazing auctions with a very personal touch. I think these two companies will have a nice quality marriage and offer strong competition to Heritage auctions, especially since Stacks now will be the ANA host auction company for the next several shows and I believe Bowers will be hosting the pre-show auctions.
In the end, I believe this merge and the combining of such talented staff will force both Stacks/Bowers and Heritage to offer more quality customer service, more favorable auction terms, more customer friendly websites and higher quality auction catalogs and photos that will better serve all of us.
<< <i>I don't get this. Spectrum coin business did $156M in sales last year and Stacks did $65M. How does Stacks get 49% of the coin segment? They should have gotten around 25%. >>
Which would you rather have: a company that grosses $10M a year and nets $1.5M or one that grosses $25M a year and nets $1M? Volume means very little in valuing a company - what matters more is net profit, ability to leverage that volume into greater profits and strategic fit. >>
Well said. I looked at a business this year that had sales the previous fiscal year of nearly $40,000,000 and the business itself was valued at about 4% of that figure plus fixed assets and spare parts inventory (No real estate involved).
Bear's "Growl of Approval" award 10/09 & 3/10 | "YOU SUCK" - PonyExpress8|"F the doctors!" - homerunhall | I hate my car
Poor QDB. Ever since he stopped running auctions he has not been able to keep a steady job: B+M sold to CU (he got the royal boot), ANR (merged into Stacks and he became a full time writer), now Stacks merged into B+M! I'll bet this time Dave is retired.
Even if the execs at Spectrum feel bigger is better, they are no where near Heritage. my concern is they may not survive. The coin market is only so big. B+M, Stacks, and even Heritage had trouble getting consignments in 2010. Why do the Spectrum people feel a bigger firm will do better?
I'ved watched Ivy since he was his own auction. Now, Heritage has branched out into the real world of collectables and art to become the #3 auction house in the world. At least they have a larger "feed" for their auctions that just the finite coin world (as well as a larger marketplace). B+M certainly has no exposure to anything outside-you can see it by the prices realized.
My point to all this: I do not think the merger serves any collector or the numismatic community well at all. In fact if having two major auctioneers is even legal. I can see fees going up for sure.
<< <i>Poor QDB. Ever since he stopped running auctions he has not been able to keep a steady job: B+M sold to CU (he got the royal boot), ANR (merged into Stacks and he became a full time writer), now Stacks merged into B+M! I'll bet this time Dave is retired.
Even if the execs at Spectrum feel bigger is better, they are no where near Heritage. my concern is they may not survive. The coin market is only so big. B+M, Stacks, and even Heritage had trouble getting consignments in 2010. Why do the Spectrum people feel a bigger firm will do better?
I'ved watched Ivy since he was his own auction. Now, Heritage has branched out into the real world of collectables and art to become the #3 auction house in the world. At least they have a larger "feed" for their auctions that just the finite coin world (as well as a larger marketplace). B+M certainly has no exposure to anything outside-you can see it by the prices realized.
My point to all this: I do not think the merger serves any collector or the numismatic community well at all. In fact if having two major auctioneers is even legal. I can see fees going up for sure. >>
It's the Clown of Condescension parrotiing the Queen of Complaints. Watch out for splinters when you stick your hand up there.
I'm not making QDB out to be a god, but I doubt if I've ever heard of anyone with his stature in this business spoken of in a way which so discounts and diminishs his work. But since you've been BFF's with Steve Ivy since before he and JH formed Heritage, we will all listen to you tell us what she (oops, you) thinks.
You suggest that having only two major auction companies may or may not be legal. Did your BFF Eric Holder show his cards early on the anti-trust issue? What does he think about a scenario in which Spectrum doesn't survive and Heritage ends up with an monopoly. Wouldn't that be even worse for you and the constituency for which you speak (the collector and the numismatic community)?
As always, we may be assured that you speak dispassionately and with total objectivity, totally devoid of self-interest or any agenda other than saving our hobby. And we love your spelling.
Interestingly, even though I would pay to not watch it, some rather perverse character from Beverly Hills called me and said he'd pay $1000 for a videotape of "The Legendary Lover" loving publically. He said something I didn't quite understand about "we either have to buy a strap-on or hire a fluffer". But I was assured they are both available on Hollywood Boulevard.
I spoke to the guy who pulls MY strings. He likes your work. Said he'd be pleased to meet you and he hopes you guess his name. Thinks what's confusing you is the nature of his game. Says that every cop's a criminal, and all the sinners saints.
His heartfelt advice:
Don't worry about the coin auction duopoly. It's the Manichean Dichotomy that'll getcha in the end.
Hey, I'm just passin' it on. DON'T KILL THE MESSENGER.
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." - Geo. Orwell
I do not think the merger serves any collector or the numismatic community well at all. In fact if having two major auctioneers is even legal.
DaveE - "Having two major auctioneers" is certainly legal. However, the merger could theoretically be blocked on antitrust grounds. (I'd put the odds of that happening at four million to one.)
Andy Lustig
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Jessup, my point is that for the little collector, the merger is bad. Big getting bigger in a finite world is not good. I especially do not understand how a combined firm can make any money. I do agree, if they fail having heritage as stand alone is not good either.
My point about QDB is not taken right. The poor guy has become a transient laborer basically! Who'd have thought the man who invented numismatic marketing would have his career end this way (being controlled and manipulated by others).
Don't worry, you do not have to pay me for the video!
Now go wait for Santa to bring you that extra long massage wand.....
<< <i>I do not think the merger serves any collector or the numismatic community well at all. In fact if having two major auctioneers is even legal.
DaveE - "Having two major auctioneers" is certainly legal. However, the merger could theoretically be blocked on antitrust grounds. (I'd put the odds of that happening at four million to one.) >>
Does antitrust laws apply to numismatics which is not well know outside its community and basically viewed as a hobby....?
I manage money. I earn money. I save money . I give away money. I collect money. I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
<< <i>Even if the execs at Spectrum feel bigger is better, they are no where near Heritage. my concern is they may not survive. The coin market is only so big. B+M, Stacks, and even Heritage had trouble getting consignments in 2010. Why do the Spectrum people feel a bigger firm will do better? >>
It's news to me that these companies had trouble getting consignments in 2010. Auction catalogs seem to be larger than ever, live auctions go to 2 am or 3 am, there are more auction sessions as well. Why do you think the companies are having trouble getting consignments?
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
<< <i>Jessup, my point is that for the little collector, the merger is bad. Big getting bigger in a finite world is not good. I especially do not understand how a combined firm can make any money. I do agree, if they fail having heritage as stand alone is not good either.
My point about QDB is not taken right. The poor guy has become a transient laborer basically! Who'd have thought the man who invented numismatic marketing would have his career end this way (being controlled and manipulated by others).
Don't worry, you do not have to pay me for the video!
Now go wait for Santa to bring you that extra long massage wand..... >>
1) In what way does the "little collector" suffer from this merger. Or benefit, for that matter.
2) WTF does "big getting bigger in a finite world" mean? Is this voodoo economics at its best? Or is it a little Malthusian humor?
3) How did you ferret out the information about the parlous state of Spectrum's' finances? Their public filings show nothing that causes anyone else the same level of concern that you appear to have. The Bowers division has had an increase in sales that would be encouraging to anyone. They have a quarter BILLION dollar credit facility.
Dave, this could be big! PM me before the market opens Monday. I need help in formulating a short-sale plan or hedging strategy if we can avoid that insider information pothole.
4) "The poor guy".. really, when you learn to spell it, look up con-dee-sen-shun. Transient labor? He spends a lot less of his time riding around in a Gulfstream, and with less stress, than you do. If you're considering going green I think a hot-air balloon would integrate into your current program incredibly smoothly. Chumlee will fire up the gas whenever you're ready to hyper-inflate.
5) B. Max Mehl invented numismatic marketing. You think we were going to wait around another 50 years for a goy to figure it out?
6) A possible misunderstanding. I don't want to watch the video, but I do want to pay for it. The Beverly Hills collector has upped his offer to the point where we could send a YN to ANA Summer Seminar on the proceeds. He says this could be the most momentous event in numismatics since Austin started buying Ultras. And he says, with great family pride, that it is his first-born who has the incredible magic wand.
And that remark in a previous post on this thread about "rubbing you the right way".. Dave, that just skeeves me out. But Leona can have her shoulder rubs, bourse floor or auction room, whenever you give her permission to cross over that line.
"You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?" Every cop's a criminal, Dave. Unless you take that Manichean world-view.
GTG now, I hear PETA's now lurking here and, for their usual reasons, wants me to scale back on our special dialogue. The people from PITA, however, carnivores all, keep urging me on.
Anyhoo, "Sarah Palin's Alaska" is cued on my TIVO, and in the absence of a Hot Topics, it's as close as I'm going to get to reality this weekend.
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." - Geo. Orwell
3) How did you ferret out the information about the parlous state of Spectrum's' finances? Their public filings show nothing that causes anyone else the same level of concern that you appear to have. The Bowers division has had an increase in sales that would be encouraging to anyone. They have a quarter BILLION dollar credit facility. Dave, this could be big! PM me before the market opens Monday. I need help in formulating a short-sale plan or hedging strategy if we can avoid that insider information pothole.
Did you read the same public filings I did? They are horrible!!!. The credit line is for AMark, not the auction side. The auction side hasn't been making any money which goes beyond reason. Now they have to give 49% to Stacks if and when they do make money.
AMark has barely been making any money either. 20% of those profits go to the majority holder.
The parent company still has a lawsuit pending in Spain. Long time employees have fled. The CFO position is a revolving door. Auditors come in, get a handle on the books, and then leave. The majority stock holder is the now defunct Afinsa accused of the massive Ponzi scheme. They bought the military business 2 years ago and now just dumped it.
Has anyone asked Ian why he left and what he thinks?
<< <i>The Bank in my town has changed ownership at least a half dozen times. Its still the same Bank. >>
My bank has done that as well 3X and this last time around, I don't see any of the former bank's employees there anymore either. I'm afraid I'll need to move on myself. And I do have another bank in mind, a bank that gave me a loan.
Leo
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
<< <i>jessup, your going to make me take up smoking and drinking! >>
You two should just get a room already. >>
Brucie, Brucie, Brucie. Do not be disingenuous.
You are business partners with Glenn Beck... uh, I mean Edgar Bergen. Both of you with superb talents in various areas of the hobby and the business. And then there's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.
I am responding not to poor Dave (con-dee-sen-shun), but to his harsh mistress, who makes public pronouncements on these issues all the time. Then her parrot corrects the spelling and presents them over here as HER MESSAGES TO US.
You want respect for your numismatic esthetic; you've earned it.
You want respect for your business and financial acumen; you've earned it.
You want to own a major chunk of a company that espouses the corporate doctrine and takes the stands Hot Topics does in the tone that Hot Topics does, stand up and take responsibility for it.
You're stuck with it anyway. Just a fragment of the truth, but apparently a truth you'd like to avoid.
You know who the ventriloquist is. You know EXACTLY what's going on here.
Take DaveE to a poker night and introduce him to the Beverly Hills porn collector. I fear smoking and drinking will not be enough to sooth DaveE's shattered psyche.
Getting a room? Remember, I don't want to watch. I have absolutely no ulterior motives here. No. None. None at all. My goal is simply and purely to send a YN to Summer Seminar.
No agenda at all.
None.
Notice how every time I insist this is true (and imply that it is the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth) it becomes just a little bit easier to remember those words of the Bard of Avon "Methinks the lady doth protest too much".
BTW, besides the psychosexual material which caught your attention, any comments on any other of the business-oriented remarks passed along by Charlie McCarthy. Or are you still the good cop?
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." - Geo. Orwell
I made my comments: competition is good. It's the American way. Is two equals going head to head better than two smaller rivals nipping at the heels of Mr Big? That remains to be seen.
<< <i>I made my comments: competition is good. It's the American way. Is two equals going head to head better than two smaller rivals nipping at the heels of Mr Big? That remains to be seen. >>
So are you disavowing either your partner's statements or her tone? Unindicted co-conspirator, enabler, or simply someone willing to reap the benefits? Or just a high-minded fella in a very high-minded business. I commend your restraint. It superficially makes you look almost devoid of any involvement or even association with your partner.
Go back to swimming in the river. And helping mix the Kool-Aid
You have no responsibility or obligation to respond. What was quoted is, in some eyes, not a response but a pure and total evasion.
About getting a room? I score at about 2.4 on the Masters and Johnson bisexuality scale. Check it out. Woody Allen said that the best thing about bisexuality is it doubles your chances of getting lucky on Saturday night. Just to be clear, this is not flirting
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." - Geo. Orwell
If you choose to consider it a non response or evasion, that's your problem. I stated my opinion. Unlike some, I'm here for the long term - not just to stir the pot for a while and see what floats to the top.
Jessup, my point is that for the little collector, the merger is bad. Big getting bigger in a finite world is not good. I especially do not understand how a combined firm can make any money. I do agree, if they fail having heritage as stand alone is not good either.
My point about QDB is not taken right. The poor guy has become a transient laborer basically! Who'd have thought the man who invented numismatic marketing would have his career end this way (being controlled and manipulated by others).
Don't worry, you do not have to pay me for the video!
Now go wait for Santa to bring you that extra long massage wand.....
It's true. The spelling is pretty good!
Andy Lustig
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Well, gee, the long-term. I was buying proof Bust Dollars when you were just a teen with a dream. And Laura's business partner chiding someone for stirring the pot goes beyond comical.
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." - Geo. Orwell
Lets face it, Stacks basically failed and B+M which is stuggling thinks that by adding it the combined entity will prosper?
I can see someone like myself paying higher fees and still seeing nothing but junk offered. Only a few months ago I remember one of the Heritage guys telling me how difficult it had become for them to get consignments. Take away the Malibu Collection and what would B+M have had in the last 2 sales?
Common sense says to me the coin market for auctions is saturated. Heritage maybe too big already and to try and create an equal when the material does not exist? What will that do to the market? It will only make JUNK appear better than the stuff really is to start.
I am very curious as to where QDB will end up in all this. He is definately been a lost child since he sold B+M to CU. The new firm will have a totally inexperinced President. Maybe they will raid Heritage?
<< <i>Well, gee, the long-term. I was buying proof Bust Dollars when you were just a teen with a dream. And Laura's business partner chiding someone for stirring the pot goes beyond comical.
>>
That's nice - methinks that maybe you weren't just buying them. A few too many chemical fumes in closed areas are in evidence here?
What Laura says is up to her. I try to tone her down .... interesting phrasing considering the current discussion.
Companies joining forces during a downturn is quite common - quite a bit of savings can be experienced by cutting redundant expenses. Save your tears for later - methinks Napolitano is gonna do just fine.
Comments
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>[q}
One thing you don't have to be a genuis on, is a company or people that are in a revolving door. I liked it when coin collecting and the companies involved were all smaller 30 years ago. Places like Spectrum are killing mom and pop business all in the matter of a buck. Is bigger really better for the coin market? >>
Let me guess - you dont shop at Walmart? >>
He probably still wears a necktie and fedora when he goes to a baseball game, too. >>
I understand progress and capitalism and shareholder value and all that, but at the end of the day I'd much rather deal with the mom & pop guy than the faceless corporation. Who wouldn't? >>
Depends. Does the mom and pop guy give you 8% of hammer and pull in thousands of internet bids on the coins they have in auction?
As for Stacks-Bowers merger, I can imagine the internal discussions going something like this:
Bowers - We have a strong presence and the ability reach a lot of consumers, but people complain about our personal service and we can't seem to get it right on our own.
Stacks - We have great relationships with our customers, but we have just not been able to expand our customer base as far as we would like to.
hmmm ... maybe we should talk to another company about merging to supplement our weaknesses ....
In the end, I believe this merge and the combining of such talented staff will force both Stacks/Bowers and Heritage to offer more quality customer service, more favorable auction terms, more customer friendly websites and higher quality auction catalogs and photos that will better serve all of us.
The Penny Lady®
<< <i>
<< <i>I don't get this. Spectrum coin business did $156M in sales last year and Stacks did $65M. How does Stacks get 49% of the coin segment? They should have gotten around 25%. >>
Which would you rather have: a company that grosses $10M a year and nets $1.5M or one that grosses $25M a year and nets $1M? Volume means very little in valuing a company - what matters more is net profit, ability to leverage that volume into greater profits and strategic fit. >>
Well said. I looked at a business this year that had sales the previous fiscal year of nearly $40,000,000 and the business itself was valued at about 4% of that figure plus fixed assets and spare parts inventory (No real estate involved).
Even if the execs at Spectrum feel bigger is better, they are no where near Heritage. my concern is they may not survive. The coin market is only so big. B+M, Stacks, and even Heritage had trouble getting consignments in 2010. Why do the Spectrum people feel a bigger firm will do better?
I'ved watched Ivy since he was his own auction. Now, Heritage has branched out into the real world of collectables and art to become the #3 auction house in the world. At least they have a larger "feed" for their auctions that just the finite coin world (as well as a larger marketplace). B+M certainly has no exposure to anything outside-you can see it by the prices realized.
My point to all this: I do not think the merger serves any collector or the numismatic community well at all. In fact if having two major auctioneers is even legal. I can see fees going up for sure.
<< <i>Poor QDB. Ever since he stopped running auctions he has not been able to keep a steady job: B+M sold to CU (he got the royal boot), ANR (merged into Stacks and he became a full time writer), now Stacks merged into B+M! I'll bet this time Dave is retired.
Even if the execs at Spectrum feel bigger is better, they are no where near Heritage. my concern is they may not survive. The coin market is only so big. B+M, Stacks, and even Heritage had trouble getting consignments in 2010. Why do the Spectrum people feel a bigger firm will do better?
I'ved watched Ivy since he was his own auction. Now, Heritage has branched out into the real world of collectables and art to become the #3 auction house in the world. At least they have a larger "feed" for their auctions that just the finite coin world (as well as a larger marketplace). B+M certainly has no exposure to anything outside-you can see it by the prices realized.
My point to all this: I do not think the merger serves any collector or the numismatic community well at all. In fact if having two major auctioneers is even legal. I can see fees going up for sure. >>
It's the Clown of Condescension parrotiing the Queen of Complaints.
Watch out for splinters when you stick your hand up there.
I'm not making QDB out to be a god, but I doubt if I've ever heard of anyone with his stature in this business spoken of in a way which so discounts and diminishs his work. But since you've been BFF's with Steve Ivy since before he and JH formed Heritage, we will all listen to you tell us what she (oops, you) thinks.
You suggest that having only two major auction companies may or may not be legal. Did your BFF Eric Holder show his cards early on the anti-trust issue? What does he think about a scenario in which Spectrum doesn't survive and Heritage ends up with an monopoly. Wouldn't that be even worse for you and the constituency for which you speak (the collector and the numismatic community)?
As always, we may be assured that you speak dispassionately and with total objectivity, totally devoid of self-interest or any agenda other than saving our hobby. And we love your spelling.
Interestingly, even though I would pay to not watch it, some rather perverse character from Beverly Hills called me and said he'd pay $1000 for a videotape of "The Legendary Lover" loving publically. He said something I didn't quite understand about "we either have to buy a strap-on or hire a fluffer". But I was assured they are both available on Hollywood Boulevard.
I spoke to the guy who pulls MY strings. He likes your work. Said he'd be pleased to meet you and he hopes you guess his name. Thinks what's confusing you is the nature of his game. Says that every cop's a criminal, and all the sinners saints.
His heartfelt advice:
Don't worry about the coin auction duopoly. It's the Manichean Dichotomy that'll getcha in the end.
Hey, I'm just passin' it on. DON'T KILL THE MESSENGER.
DaveE - "Having two major auctioneers" is certainly legal. However, the merger could theoretically be blocked on antitrust grounds. (I'd put the odds of that happening at four million to one.)
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
My point about QDB is not taken right. The poor guy has become a transient laborer basically! Who'd have thought the man who invented numismatic marketing would have his career end this way (being controlled and manipulated by others).
Don't worry, you do not have to pay me for the video!
Now go wait for Santa to bring you that extra long massage wand.....
<< <i>I do not think the merger serves any collector or the numismatic community well at all. In fact if having two major auctioneers is even legal.
DaveE - "Having two major auctioneers" is certainly legal. However, the merger could theoretically be blocked on antitrust grounds. (I'd put the odds of that happening at four million to one.) >>
Does antitrust laws apply to numismatics which is not well know outside its community and basically viewed as a hobby....?
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
<< <i>Even if the execs at Spectrum feel bigger is better, they are no where near Heritage. my concern is they may not survive. The coin market is only so big. B+M, Stacks, and even Heritage had trouble getting consignments in 2010. Why do the Spectrum people feel a bigger firm will do better? >>
It's news to me that these companies had trouble getting consignments in 2010. Auction catalogs seem to be larger than ever, live auctions go to 2 am or 3 am, there are more auction sessions as well. Why do you think the companies are having trouble getting consignments?
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
I don't know where the poster got this kind of information. Take a look at the size of the upcoming Heritage FUN catalogs - they're huge!
(or they don't count because the sales will be in 2011.
Member ANA, SPMC, SCNA, FUN, CONECA
<< <i>Jessup, my point is that for the little collector, the merger is bad. Big getting bigger in a finite world is not good. I especially do not understand how a combined firm can make any money. I do agree, if they fail having heritage as stand alone is not good either.
My point about QDB is not taken right. The poor guy has become a transient laborer basically! Who'd have thought the man who invented numismatic marketing would have his career end this way (being controlled and manipulated by others).
Don't worry, you do not have to pay me for the video!
Now go wait for Santa to bring you that extra long massage wand.....
1) In what way does the "little collector" suffer from this merger. Or benefit, for that matter.
2) WTF does "big getting bigger in a finite world" mean? Is this voodoo economics at its best? Or is it a little Malthusian humor?
3) How did you ferret out the information about the parlous state of Spectrum's' finances? Their public filings show nothing that causes anyone else the same level of concern that you appear to have. The Bowers division has had an increase in sales that would be encouraging to anyone. They have a quarter BILLION dollar credit facility.
Dave, this could be big! PM me before the market opens Monday. I need help in formulating a short-sale plan or hedging strategy if we can avoid that insider information pothole.
4) "The poor guy".. really, when you learn to spell it, look up con-dee-sen-shun. Transient labor? He spends a lot less of his time riding around in a Gulfstream, and with less stress, than you do. If you're considering going green I think a hot-air balloon would integrate into your current program incredibly smoothly. Chumlee will fire up the gas whenever you're ready to hyper-inflate.
5) B. Max Mehl invented numismatic marketing. You think we were going to wait around another 50 years for a goy to figure it out?
6) A possible misunderstanding. I don't want to watch the video, but I do want to pay for it. The Beverly Hills collector has upped his offer to the point where we could send a YN to ANA Summer Seminar on the proceeds. He says this could be the most momentous event in numismatics since Austin started buying Ultras. And he says, with great family pride, that it is his first-born who has the incredible magic wand.
And that remark in a previous post on this thread about "rubbing you the right way".. Dave, that just skeeves me out. But Leona can have her shoulder rubs, bourse floor or auction room, whenever you give her permission to cross over that line.
"You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?" Every cop's a criminal, Dave. Unless you take that Manichean world-view.
GTG now, I hear PETA's now lurking here and, for their usual reasons, wants me to scale back on our special dialogue. The people from PITA, however, carnivores all, keep urging me on.
Anyhoo, "Sarah Palin's Alaska" is cued on my TIVO, and in the absence of a Hot Topics, it's as close as I'm going to get to reality this weekend.
Did you read the same public filings I did? They are horrible!!!. The credit line is for AMark, not the auction side. The auction side hasn't been making any money which goes beyond reason. Now they have to give 49% to Stacks if and when they do make money.
AMark has barely been making any money either. 20% of those profits go to the majority holder.
The parent company still has a lawsuit pending in Spain. Long time employees have fled. The CFO position is a revolving door. Auditors come in, get a handle on the books, and then leave. The majority stock holder is the now defunct Afinsa accused of the massive Ponzi scheme. They bought the military business 2 years ago and now just dumped it.
Has anyone asked Ian why he left and what he thinks?
Must be in pretty good shape to have a 250 million credit line, if that is what this means.-----------------BigE
Their respective accounting firms?
Are their 'investment bankers' in this industry?
Were there fees paid to perform the due diligence...?
What was their findings to come up with a 49/51 split?
How and why was the decision to bring in an outsider ( CN from Summit) to run the company?
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
<< <i>jessup, your going to make me take up smoking and drinking!
You two should just get a room already.
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>1)
5) B. Max Mehl invented numismatic marketing. You think we were going to wait around another 50 years for a goy to figure it out?
Here is a real classy statement. >>
>>
Spoken like a shaygitz.
<< <i>The Bank in my town has changed ownership at least a half dozen times. Its still the same Bank. >>
My bank has done that as well 3X and this last time around, I don't see any of the former bank's employees there anymore either. I'm afraid I'll need to move on myself. And I do have another bank in mind, a bank that gave me a loan.
Leo
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
My Jefferson Nickel Collection
<< <i>
<< <i>jessup, your going to make me take up smoking and drinking!
You two should just get a room already.
Brucie, Brucie, Brucie. Do not be disingenuous.
You are business partners with Glenn Beck... uh, I mean Edgar Bergen. Both of you with superb talents in various areas of the hobby and the business. And then there's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.
I am responding not to poor Dave (con-dee-sen-shun), but to his harsh mistress, who makes public pronouncements on these issues all the time. Then her parrot corrects the spelling and presents them over here as HER MESSAGES TO US.
You want respect for your numismatic esthetic; you've earned it.
You want respect for your business and financial acumen; you've earned it.
You want to own a major chunk of a company that espouses the corporate doctrine and takes the stands Hot Topics does in the tone that Hot Topics does, stand up and take responsibility for it.
You're stuck with it anyway. Just a fragment of the truth, but apparently a truth you'd like to avoid.
You know who the ventriloquist is. You know EXACTLY what's going on here.
Take DaveE to a poker night and introduce him to the Beverly Hills porn collector. I fear smoking and drinking will not be enough to sooth DaveE's shattered psyche.
Getting a room? Remember, I don't want to watch. I have absolutely no ulterior motives here. No. None. None at all. My goal is simply and purely to send a YN to Summer Seminar.
No agenda at all.
None.
Notice how every time I insist this is true (and imply that it is the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth) it becomes just a little bit easier to remember those words of the Bard of Avon "Methinks the lady doth protest too much".
BTW, besides the psychosexual material which caught your attention, any comments on any other of the business-oriented remarks passed along by Charlie McCarthy. Or are you still the good cop?
<< <i>I made my comments: competition is good. It's the American way. Is two equals going head to head better than two smaller rivals nipping at the heels of Mr Big? That remains to be seen. >>
So are you disavowing either your partner's statements or her tone? Unindicted co-conspirator, enabler, or simply someone willing to reap the benefits? Or just a high-minded fella in a very high-minded business. I commend your restraint. It superficially makes you look almost devoid of any involvement or even association with your partner.
Go back to swimming in the river. And helping mix the Kool-Aid
You have no responsibility or obligation to respond. What was quoted is, in some eyes, not a response but a pure and total evasion.
About getting a room? I score at about 2.4 on the Masters and Johnson bisexuality scale. Check it out. Woody Allen said that the best thing about bisexuality is it doubles your chances of getting lucky on Saturday night. Just to be clear, this is not flirting
My point about QDB is not taken right. The poor guy has become a transient laborer basically! Who'd have thought the man who invented numismatic marketing would have his career end this way (being controlled and manipulated by others).
Don't worry, you do not have to pay me for the video!
Now go wait for Santa to bring you that extra long massage wand.....
It's true. The spelling is pretty good!
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
I can see someone like myself paying higher fees and still seeing nothing but junk offered. Only a few months ago I remember one of the Heritage guys telling me how difficult it had become for them to get consignments. Take away the Malibu Collection and what would B+M have had in the last 2 sales?
Common sense says to me the coin market for auctions is saturated. Heritage maybe too big already and to try and create an equal when the material does not exist? What will that do to the market? It will only make JUNK appear better than the stuff really is to start.
I am very curious as to where QDB will end up in all this. He is definately been a lost child since he sold B+M to CU. The new firm will have a totally inexperinced President. Maybe they will raid Heritage?
<< <i>Well, gee, the long-term. I was buying proof Bust Dollars when you were just a teen with a dream. And Laura's business partner chiding someone for stirring the pot goes beyond comical.
That's nice - methinks that maybe you weren't just buying them. A few too many chemical fumes in closed areas are in evidence here?
What Laura says is up to her. I try to tone her down .... interesting phrasing considering the current discussion.