Frank Robinson At NYINC

Frank made a blog post on attending NY International Coin Show for anyone interested in reading it.

https://rationaloptimist.wordpress.com/2022/01/22/el-exigente-at-the-ny-international-coin-show

 

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Fun read, thanks for posting it.

 

Wow !
That verus is really something !

Q

 

He points out a real problem to some of us. The dealers we valued thirty years ago are thirty years older than they were then. Some have had the audacity to retire. Will there be suitable replacements for them from the ranks of our 20-something CT members or will the only source of coins be two or three major auctions and a hoard of know-nothing mass marketeers? Are the dealers you support students of numismatics or business management? To me, the hope is that some dealers start in the business as they near retirement age and are looking for something to enjoy when they no longer punch a timecard. Maybe it will be the 40-60 age group that saves the hobby???

 

Think about what it means when people tell you they have a lifetime guarantee of authenticity. Whose lifetime are they talking about? I've always assumed it's the dealers. If the dealer 70 years old how long does that actually last? Does CNGs guarantee last the life of the company?

 

My guarantee lasts the lifetime of a mayfly.

JUST KIDDING!

 

Thanks for sharing! Reading Frank's blog & emails is worth a smile or two.

 

If I remember this species only "lives but a day." Sorry, can't remember the Latin binomial nomenclature of the Mayfly, At least lifetime of a mayfly is only one day, better than no guarantee at all .

Oh, I have an excuse...I'm over 70.

I have always enjoyed Frank, good people to say the least. My last NYIC was the last one and it does seem like ancient history in the Covid world. We were there from Jan.11-16th. Little did we know that Covid was already there.

The bourse was packed cheek to jawl at every table and aisleway. Prime territory for
the plague to infect. We felt very lucky when the news broke about Covid that we weren't infected from the flights to and from NYC. I do hope to make it next year.
I'm still pondering the upcoming ANA show in The Springs. We shall see. I wish all
good luck.

 

Cudo's to Frank for publishing his observations.

 

With all the dealers I have interacted with at the few shows we've attended, all are much older than me. Most of those dealers will be retiring permanently, like one of my favorite dealers, or dying off. I feel like I got into this hobby much too late.

 

I was not counting on you so much as hoping one of your kids is so successful at whatever they choose to do that they buy CNG with their petty cash.

 

One of the 4 has to be the Great Hope Haha.
It definitely won't be me since I have to spend all my money to keep them fed/clothed.

 

I can't speak for anyone else, but I do engage in some dealing in my spare time. That's not a lot lately. But I am gaining experience and funding my hobby, and I could see myself investing more time and effort into it some day.

 

Believe me, I do believe that we would all be better off if people calling themselves coin dealers had to have 20 years experience in the hobby even counting the time they spent as kids playing with dads collection. An extremely small fraction of all professionals in the field are really suited to sell everything they handle. I admire big name dealers who recognized that fact and hired staff that had a clue in the areas in which they were not strong. I have no respect for those whose major asset is a business degree and a few million dollars made in some previous endeavor. Those who want to set up shop in another twenty years could do well offering a job now to FFivn and his sister (Frogette? I forgot her proper designation).

 

I remember once at NYINC, not this year, a dealer told me he purchased a large group of Celtic coins, which he knows nothing about, so that he could learn about them and re-sell them.

It seemed reckless to me. How does he offer a fair price to the seller? How does he know if they are genuine? Yet perhaps this was the best move for him.

I bought some modern commems from Allen G. Berman but no ancients. He knows the material so well that nothing he had was under-priced! For me I like the feeling that there are at least one or two guys who don't see as well as I see. I recall you posting something similar -- that your dealer friends got nervous if you wanted something, because it meant that they missed factoring what you saw into the price!

 

That is the point. Sure we might be protected from fakes by a return policy but it is a lot harder to be protected from stupidity, either ours or the seller's. I spent a lot of effort 20-30 years ago showing dealer/friends at shows how to distinguish mints of the Severan period. Most said thanks. I don't know what happened to the guy at Baltimore who refused to sell the coin to me but whatever I lost was offset by the compliment it entailed. The only greater compliment I received was the dealer (still a friend).

I still don't mind trying to help people who ask but I am tired of blind-contacting people who claim to be professional and telling them their listing is in error.

BTW, I do appreciate the notes I get from friends who tell me of a coin in my interest area that is listed in some sale and that they believe is misidentified. In most cases, the difference will not make any difference since the most ignorant sellers are more inclined to overprice ordinary items than to undervalue a real sleeper. Coins are selling more by grade so a rarity is only likely to go high if it is also high grade. In the 90's I was buying almost any Eastern denarius I saw unless I already had a better one just like it. Those days are over.

 

I could see dealing for fun when I retire. It is a great way to see a lot of cool material and would be fun. It wouldn't be for the money but for the fun.

 

My favorite part of Frank's blog post is when he's out of town, meets up with an old girlfriend for dinner, and his wife still picks him up at the train station to take him home.

He's obviously not married to Mrs. Collector.

 

Perhaps once people reach a certain age, when an old girlfriend really is an old girlfriend, they don't let having dinner with one bother them so much anymore. As long as it is just having dinner. I suspect that you and Mrs. Collector have a long way to go before you reach the age of Mr. and Mrs. Robinson.

 

That's dark... and made me chuckle.