A Mercenary's Guide To The Rare Coin Market
questor54
Posts: 1,351 ✭
I bought a copy of this from an eBay seller and it arrived yesterday. I haven't started it yet.
So who has read it and what do you think of it?
It will be interesting to see what HRH was thinking back in the day.
So who has read it and what do you think of it?
It will be interesting to see what HRH was thinking back in the day.
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I first met David in 1991, after I became a pretty outspoken critic of his plan to start slabbing colonial coins (before then, PCGS only did Federal stuff). I published a pretty nasty letter in Coin World and some other places comparing him to a developer who would destroy a rain forest to make a buck, and I sent a copy to him too. He wrote me back a very nice letter, assuring me that he wasn't a heartless moneygrubbing jerk and noting that they had some very competent people on staff to handle colonials, including copper specialist Gordon Wrubel (who would later become my co-worker and good friend).
At the Chicago ANA in 1991, someone introduced us, and he asked me if I had a copy of his book. I said I didn't, and grabbed a copy and signed it to me "From one heartless capitalist to another, David Hall."
As the years have passed, I ended up working for David when CU owned Bowers and Merena, and we've gotten to know each other a bit -- I can now recognize both his nerdy love of coins (far from mercenary, at root) and his particular sense of humor.
The book is now a bit dated, written for a particular audience at a particular moment in time, but it's a useful view of what the market was like in the late 80s.
Betts medals, colonial coins, US Mint medals, foreign coins found in early America, and other numismatic Americana
I bought a used copy for cheap a few years back and found it an enjoyable read, if a bit of a time
capsule. The cover is a riot...
Wow, 1991! How old were you then, 15?
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
I like the write ups about each individual coin.
Michael Kittle Rare Coins --- 1908-S Indian Head Cent Grading Set --- No. 1 1909 Mint Set --- Kittlecoins on Facebook --- Long Beach Table 448
the coming of the rare coin boom in the 2nd half of the 1980's. That phrase was coined well before "moon money." During that period I only had one deal with DHRC and that was on a shipment of some 62-64 unc type coins I wanted to move on. Sent them out and was offered $800 for the lot. Seemed on the low side so I declined. A week later shipped them to Renrob (Rose and Iskowitz) and was offered $1300, which was accepted. Renrob probably hadn't read the book yet.
roadrunner