NUMISMATIST JOB AVAILABLE

I'd love to know how many people are actually out there with true expertise in all those fields, as well as ready access to a numismatic library that encompasses all of them, and the extensive experience in the "numismatic trade" that Leu seeks. And if there are such people, unless they're retired and want to pick up some extra income, why would they want this kind of very junior position anyway, with compensation on a per-coin basis? The pay would probably end up being pretty low on a per-hour basis if the person were as conscientious as one would hope.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

And when they can't find anyone we get to hear "nO oNe WaNtS tO wOrK!"

 

I do a fair amount of piecework cataloging for Agora. Of course I am an old retired fart and my time (which according to various employers was never tremendously valuable) is definitely available in quantity. It keeps me out of trouble and provides a cushion to a none-too-generous social security income. Whether this (or the work for Agora) would have been of any real value to me or those employing me in my younger days is debatable. I've been involved with coins at some level or another since the '50s, acquired my first ancients in 1957, and have "specialized" in ancients since the early '70's. Although I have sold many coins over the years, I'd scarcely call myself a "dealer". I have a biggish library - no one but the most well-to-do and motivated book collector, however, could or would want to have "everything". I find I depend more on on-line sources although having the source material for double-checking in dead tree format at my elbow is pretty handy too.
I have to admit, it does make me curious what Leu proposes to pay per-coin for piecework cataloging, however.

 

After spending all your money on coins, the rent still has to be paid, right?

The numismatics trade is very much part of the 'gig economy'. There's a lot of opportunity but there's also competition for the work that's available. You won't get rich cataloguing other people's coins. Still, consulting is a useful tool in cobbling together an income from numismatics. My problem is that I'm a perfectionist and sometimes end up putting in more time per coin than I anticipated.

 

It's a well-known tactic used by employers who believe they are the most clever in the world. Like an ostrich sticking its head in the sand and then believing its invisible.

 

I very much disagree with this. To do this sort of work with any efficiency, someone would have to work very quickly and not have to 'look up' or 'figure out' every coin. How would a firm decide who to hire? I might suggest providing 1000 high quality images and giving a timed test showing one at a time making sure that Superman could not get finished in the time allowed. Of course the 'test' subjects would include some commonly made mistakes (you know, the Caracalla/Elagabalus, Maximianus/Galerius, Didda Rani/Sandragupta type stuff). Then the grade would apply a factor rights minus 10x wrongs just to weed out the guessers. I also wonder how many people have access to the kind of library required to do this correctly. I know I don't but I only have a few hundred books. Is Leu hoping that one of the current employees of Harlan Berk, CNG or NGC will decide to moonlight? I see two possibilities here; neither good. The could be fishing for what they know to be impossible. How many jobs seek a PhD with 20 years experience willing to work for minimum wages with no benefits? Good luck. The other possibility is to turn up someone who could do the job and would enjoy the work but does not meet half the requirements. They might even take on that job as a resume builder. Maybe furryfrogIVN should apply. I don't recall them stating you had to be over twelve. Leu has a 'name' in the industry. This doesn't strike me as a way to keep that name. I just remembered that I never heard who was hired the last few times we had these job postings. It is too soon to expect to hear about the British Museum position. Who was added to the NGC Ancients staff?

I'm a fan of Jeopardy on TV. They advertise their 'Anytime Test' that is the first step toward becoming a contestant and having the opportunity to prove you are a fool rather than leaving the question with a smidgen of doubt. I have not taken the test and probably won't but part of me would like to know how I would do. In fact, if they called and asked me to fly to where they tape, I would not go.

Similarly, I would like to see the 'entrance exam' for a professional cataloger. Could we simulate this as a game here on CT? What if we posted a bunch of coins with an unannounced number of errors included asking each player to identify the correct ones and correct the errors? Again I would insist on a factor like rights minus not just wrongs but minus 10x wrongs. I'd do pretty well in a few of my specialties but would be lucky to get any number of the Islamic and other tricky areas that are very much not in my experience or interest.

 

I could find this sort of work interesting if it were with U.S. coins, tokens and medals. When I left the corporate world and because a coin dealer, one dealer suggested that I apply to a company like Bowers to write auction catalogs. The trouble is, I'd have a hard time turning sows' ears into silk purses.

 

'Jeopardy' is not so much about knowing all of the correct questions to ask. It's about being able to discern the correct question faster than one's opponents.

It's akin to the joke about the two hikers(or in this case, three contestants) that are confronted by a bear in the woods. One doesn't have to be able to run faster than the bear. They merely have to be faster than the other person(s).

For a person whose mind operates as an information sink, 'Jeopardy' by-in-large is fairly elementary trivia. The skill comes in being able to discern the question earliest while the answer is still being stated.. Therefore, being first to the buzzer.

Your point rings true. Many experienced collectors could do the job; when given an open-ended amount of time. However, efficiency would be the name of the game here. Whereas many collectors specialize in select areas, a numismatist ought to be well-versed in most all areas. The job would demand a person that is methodical enough to be both expeditious and exacting most all of the time.

 

They did sent out newsletters with their staff additions, but you can also see who they are in their webpage.

By the way, how does anyone with a PhD in history or archaeology automatically qualifies as a numismatist? An ancient coin collector is by far more qualified for such a job.

 

Being able to catalog coins like this quickly seems incomprehensible to me. There are so many coins covered in the areas they are demanding expertise. Most of the dealers I know specialize in a few of these areas, but not all of them.

 

I still don't really understand why you disagree with my point. Why isn't it possible that there are experienced collectors who could do as well as many dealers on such a test? Dealers make plenty of mistakes in their coin descriptions, most of them noticed by collectors. And there are collectors who have access to libraries as extensive as those of many dealers except perhaps the large auction houses. For example, anyone living in or near NYC could simply join the ANS and sit all day with a laptop in the 100,000-volume ANS library.

That said, I've also thought about what the interview process would be like for the position. I imagine it would involve something like sending the applicant photos of, say, 20 coins (some of them tricky, as you suggest) and seeing how many complete and accurate descriptions they could prepare in a limited time, such as two hours -- which would allow someone 6 minutes per coin for research and writing.

My guess is that in a two hour time period I might be able to complete the research and cataloguing of about four or five out of 20 coins. If I were especially lucky!

Edited to add: extra credit should be given for every documented provenance found in the time allotted.

 

Someone who wants to do this part-time for extra money and maybe doesn't have all the qualifications they're looking for but can get the job done might take it.

I doubt most of the new auction houses look up every reference citation in paper volumes before spamming them into their auctions. I am sure there is a lot of cutting and pasting going on.

 

Since the payment to the expert is per-piece, surely it would make more sense for Leu to employ four separate experts -- one each in these coin specialties. It wouldn't increase their costs at all, it would be easier to find these specialists, and they would likely get better quality of identification in each specialty. It would slightly increase their management efforts -- four contractors instead of one -- but the benefits would far outweigh the added effort.

 

I would be interested to know what Leu would pay per coin. Although ancient coin prices have soared during the past couple of years, how much would they pay for a $300 coin? They would almost certainly pay on a scale relative to the anticipated hammer price.

 

I think in the UK alone, there are something like 80 classics PhDs minted per year and only about 4 tenure-track job openings. I'm sure other countries are somewhat similar.

 

Who wants to bet pay is $1-2 per coin, plus the "benefit" of waived buyer's premium at auctions?

It does seem like they're wanting PhD level expertise for what I assume is barely over a minimum wage job, but I have half a mind to apply for it anyway, despite only owning a couple reference books and having minimal experience with Byzantine or Islamic. I spend enough unpaid hours cruising auction sites for fun, it might be enjoyable to get a little "hobby money" to do it a couple hours a night.

 

I applied for a position with Leu a couple years ago and was one of the finalists for it. I will say that although the descriptions are written remotely with the aid of photos, they are quite rigorous in demanding accuracy and attention to detail. I actually found this a little challenging. Even though I think I usually have an eye for a good deal, I tend to describe coins more academically, without the same eye for minute differences of condition. The application process was a good learning experience.

If I weren't too busy with graduate school, I might apply again. I do like the idea of potentially working in the industry some day...

 

..well i'll be danged....i got an email for the job from Leu too...^^...

 

part of the problem is that the people that are capable of everything that they require are probably already doing their own thing.

 

Hit the nail on the head. My gar in tea means something to me