To provide a short summary, we decided to use dime mintages as a baseline and compare it to the performance of the Dow. The general idea was that if the economy was starting to get depressed the order for coinage would decrease and if times were good then demand for coinage would increase. Sure enough back in 2009 we saw a possible trend. But, identifying a trend after a major stock market crash is in itself not that impressive. Anyone looking in hindsight can make oddball connections so I am revisiting the theory to see how it has panned out over the last few years (good years) to see how the trend is going.

As annual mintages increased from 2010 to 2012 there were also annual increases in the Dow. It appears the trending works in up years as well as down years. Yet the real proof is still yet to be had as we still need to predict a significant stock market fall or even a rise. So where are we for 2013? As of June 2013 the U.S. mint has produced 1.12 billion coins and is at a pace to handily beat the 2012 figure of 1.6 billion coins.

If the trend theory holds up then the Dow should close out the year up versus the end of 2012. Now we have our first forecast and considering there are some financial experts claiming the market is overvalued and due for major correction it will be even more interesting to see how this forecast works out. If it does work out it still does not prove out the trend between the two. Beyond forecasting an up year it will also need to forecast a down year. This is definitely getting interesting :))

Please note that this all theory and speculation and should not be used for making financial decisions.

Do not know why no-one thought of this earlier as most collectors know that certain metals have distinct tones when dropped but it was definitely a brilliant find. Beyond the Canadian coin test, I can see a great application for this in testing authenticity of older silver coins providing us with yet another tool in our arsenal.

Earlier this year I picked up another great toy that has proven fantastic for coin shows. It is a 7 inch tablet that has allowed me to no longer carry books or lists to coin shows.

I realize some folks use smart phones that can do the same while others use an ipad, my problem was with size. I needed a screen that was large enough to easily bring up e-books but small enough that it was easily portable and a 7 inch screen was perfect and since I like to wear cargo pants it fit perfectly into the large pockets.

Now for the good stuff, I loaded an electronic copy of a Krause catalog for 20th century coins, a want list (in MSExcel), photos of all my coins, and an electronic copy of grading coins. Having these resources at my fingertips saved me money, time, and even allowed me to haggle for some coins. Best of all I didn’t have to carry around a notebook, pens, or books! Surprisingly I was the only person walking the floor using a tablet but I can see that changing in the very short term.

I am not going to endorse one tablet maker over another as I made my decision based on functionality. I needed a tablet that could handle e-books, use MSOffice tools, and be able to link with my home computer and it just happens that an Archos 70b tablet fit the bill. Currently, Amazon’s Kindle Fire is the top dog in the 7 inch screen size and major competitors want in on the action so expect to see lots of new stuff from major manufacturers (such as Samsung or Acer) and at reasonable prices if anyone wants one for the same reasons.

I own a small website about Cyprus Numismatics and a World Coins Blog

coinsofcyprus dot com
coinsofcyprus dot blogspot dot com

I divided the coins into piles, 1 for coins older than 20 years and 1 for coins younger than 20 years and was shocked by the disparity. 18 of the coins were older than 20 years while 22 were younger. And the ones that were 20+ years were actually in decent condition with the exception of two quarters from 1967 & 1969 and a 1940 cent which were worn down to a very good condition. It is hard to believe that many of these coins have been circulating 20, 30, or even 70 years and that is one of the elements that attracts new collectors. The history in your pocket change is absolutely amazing.

Since the bulk of the coins were pennies (21) I thought I'd share some pics on how well good o'l Abe Lincoln has withstood over the years.

This leads me to a piece of advice for all new collectors and maybe even some older ones :). Do not place a hobby over your personal life and commitments. It is understandable that you can get excited about a hobby but I have witnessed firsthand people that should have used money to pay bills or save for something big (like college) instead spend it on a coin purchase. In my case, all of the holiday shopping and credit card bills finally came due so without hesitating coin collecting was placed on hold and the bills got paid.

The same can be said about personal time, you can spend too much time on the hobby and not enough with family or friends. If you over extend yourself people will feel ignored and resentment starts to set in. At the end of the day it all comes down to practicing time & financial management. Find that balance and you’ll be a happier person all around for it.

As for me personally, March is the beginning of signing my kids up for the start of traditional spring activities (more time & money). Also, some of the February commitments did bleed over to March as I couldn't pay off everything in one month so I expect to not be buying coins again until April as I need to take care of family first. As the old saying goes…"Life just happens".

You got the right attitude! Over the years I've been purchasing more and more on-line and I'd say 90% of my purchases are now done on-line. kudos to you ;)

1. They were friendly and gave every customer their undivided attention regardless if the spent nothing or a thousand dollars
2. They had a huge variety on display and if you needed a specific year there were trays or books behind the tables. One table in particular never displayed more than 3 of any one coin series and if one sold he'd reach into one of those trays in the back and pull out a replacement for it.
3. They always lowered their price even without asking

The most popular table though had two other things, first was he had an 11x17 sign that he accepted paypal and the name of his e-bay store. Second as you would be looking at the coins he would openly announce that he was also willing to trade or buy. Not sure if that had anything to do with it or not but thought it was worth noting.

Greg

The remainder of people that wandered around were vest pocket players or other dealers looking for new material which sounded fine until it hit me. These tables that were suffering are small local dealers. They do not attend the major coin shows, tour the country, have the wealthiest clientele, or access to some of the larger coin auction houses. When a dealer or vest pocket investor approaches them with a coin for sale they hesitate with making a $2,000 to $5,000 investment and almost can never afford anything above that price range. To them this is a big investment; their ability to turn over high value coins is much less so their business has had to rely on the collector as much as dealer to dealer sales. Coin shows probably make up a decent percentage of their income. Now I’m starting to appreciate their anger or frustration.

So what is going on here? Is it collector attitude, the show sponsor, or dealers? The internet has been an information and point of sale boon. Millions of coins are available for sale with photos, there are specialty websites to assist almost any collector, forums to trade war stories, and even a place where you can sell your stuff at auction. This new technology without a doubt has influenced collector attendance at the local shows but it seems too easy to blame the internet.

I asked the dealer if he was interested in my opinions and he said he was willing to listen. So I explained from my perspective (nice word for my opinion) that it has nothing to do with collectors but the issue is with dealers and promoters.

Dealers:

1. Most dealers at this particular show price their coins incorrectly. When you ask how much for a coin most reach down grab a grey sheet and then quote the ask price and only come down a few dollars. Here is the reality check, as a buyer I can pay that price anywhere so why should I buy from you! Understand that collectors have internet access and can get as good or better pricing online. Dealers need to factor this in to create some financial motivation so ease up on the high prices.

2. Are you listening to your customers??? Each show location probably has different buyer habits so watch and listen to what they are buying and adjust your inventory. In this dealers case he said most buyers are interested in a single type of coin and not a whole series. So stop displaying 100 Morgan Dollars in a case and throw in variety.

3. Figure out how to accept credit cards. Coin shows are one of the few venues that still do not accept credit. Are you kidding! Most folks do not walk around with thousands of dollars in their pocket. How about creating a paypal account and advertise you accept paypal. Many people have smart phones with web access so this would open a whole new world for both the customer and dealer.

Well at this point the guy was pretty much upset but he didn’t stop me from continuing so I moved on

Promoters:

1. Most promoters do a darn good job of advertising and getting dealers to rent tables but that is usually where many small shows stop. You cannot stop there, as a customer I can go anywhere to buy coins so add something else to the venue. Most successful shows have some type of speaker or special learning sessions. One really good one I witnessed was at a Texas coin show. The promoter advertised a special session for collecting 20th Century coins. It was about an hour of powerpoint presentations and when they were done they handed out info pamphlets about 20th Century U.S. coinage and a checklist to make a set. He also announced that dealers had special sections to find these type coins and they could be easily recognized by a round green sticker on the coin holders at each dealers table.

2. Offer free wireless, this day in age how much does wireless access cost for a day? This would give dealers another resource to use at the show. You could use it to show customers additional content online and educate your customers that you do have an online presence. Or offer to let a customer use your laptop for that paypal customer without a smartphone.

3. What happened to door prizes and giveaways? I’m not talking about that free garbage from the U.S. Mint that’s handed out at the door but useful stuff; books, coins or supplies. There are still small shows that do this and benefit greatly but overall most small shows have dropped this to keep table prices down to attract dealers. My advice here is stop being so darn cheap!

4. Speaking of the door how about a greeter? It would be nice if someone said “Hi welcome to the… “ and then give you a map of the show/tables, a schedule of events and a list of dealers with additional contact info (shop location, website, e-bay, whatever). A friendly face still goes a long way.

At this point I stopped my rant and the dealer just shrugged and just said “yeah I guess so”. I think he stopped listening after I criticized his pricing and got him upset. What he probably heard was “your too expensive and you should give your coins away” and everything else just went in one ear and out the other.

Regardless of whether or not he listened I did listen to him and now appreciate the position of smaller dealers. At the same time I have seen good and bad shows and tried to share that experience. Hopefully there are some folks out there that get the message that coin shows need to be freshened up with new venues and a sprinkle of modern technology.

I am bettyjames, Interesting news……..It is really hard to belive………So Thanks.

Annie

The answer is maybe. The material removed is not obvious without magnification but the tremendous amount of brush marks in the coins fields are quite a distraction. For myself I was simply looking for a single example of a George V design and I believe a little aging and toning may diminish the the ugliness of the brushed fields so it barely squeaks by as an acceptable piece but I will annotate it as "Heavily Cleaned".