It seems to me that coin dealers are more interested in selling than collecting. Do dealers collect coins too, or does everything he owns have a price?
I work for a major dealer but i still actively collect, however i know many dealers that don;t collect anymore.
I suspect a lot of dealers are collectors too, but you'll have to wait to hear from some of the dealers we have here on C/T. I can only tell you about the shop I've been going to for the past 20 years. The owner is a great guy and has a lot of really nice inventory, both coins and paper, but I think he likes the collecting part better than the selling part. Don't get me wrong, he makes a good living doing what he does, but you can see the twinkle in his eye when he gets something special come in the shop that he needs for his collection. I've actually had problems buying things from him over the years because he just couldn't part with the piece I was looking at. I've seen parts of his collection and some of the stuff he has would boggle your mind. High rarity and high quality pieces. I couldn't be a dealer because I'd want to keep everything. Bruce
My local dealer does not collect. The penny lady is both a dealer and a collector. Just check out her website.
I am a dealer but I definitely love collecting coins and being a dealer allows me to cherry pick coins for my personal collection (I have photos of every one of my coins on my website just so I can share them with other copper enthusiasts).
"In real life" I am a dealer of collectibles, but not coins, stamps or paper money. I deal in items for which I have no love, so that I can buy and sell them dispassionately. I recently sold an exceedingly rare piece the like of which I'd never seen before. I couldn't have done it had it been from one of my interests.
i know some dealers who do and dont collect. i believe you can sort of tell based on what a dealer has to sell. another thing is that the ones who dont collect dont even really care to talk about them while the ones that do are usually great to talk to.
Some do not collect. Some collect but everything is for sale. Some collect but only collect items they don't deal in, often tokens on one kind or another. Or may sells US collects World etc.
My favorite local dealer is also a collector. He has one of the nicest early proof collections I've ever seen anywhere, none of which is for sale he says. Guy
If your going to be a dealer you can't be a collector or for that matter an investor (unless your confident that material is increasing in bid / bullion value). I have a core amount of money invested in my inventory and it is allocated between coins and currency with a certain bullion position in gold and silver bullion material. I like to have a good amount of cash on hand to buy any deal that walks up at my price. To me its about buying low (buying it right) and selling high (retail if possible). I want to flip it for more money as quickly as possible (with a little strong retail along the way) and achieve the ROI goal for my business while at the same time having a base inventory which has lots of potential for retail or appreciation. I recently sold a big ticket currency deal for almost 100% markup over cost but had to hold this stuff over a year to get my price. Lately, I have made more on currency than coins. The biggest mistake as a dealer you can make is go crazy buying coins off the bourse from other dealers bc of the collector in you which will ruin the cash position needed to successfully run the business taking advantage of the good deals that walk up. Once you have enough material to fill your cases at a show its all about buying it right. Another mistake is to get caught up in a fad or craze (chasing bullion up) and then overpay for material. Other examples are people who bought 1950-D 5c rolls for $1000 in 1964, paid $1000 for MS 65 common date morgans prior to the 1990 crash, pay big money for puffed up mods (MS / PF70's), or way overpay for CAC coins, etc. You don't want to be the end user. If you set up at a show, stay behind your table and buy / sell at your price. Once you start walking around the bourse you will lose sales (from your vacant table) and then probably overpay for material other dealers could not sell. I set up at shows to buy and sell at my price, not chase other dealers material or wholesale to them.
