I've finally seen the light....the benefits of working closely with quality dealers

I just wanted to take some time and relay a bit of advice that I thought wasnt really all that important when it was given to me as a new collector to the hobby, but oh how the tables have turned.

You see, when I first got into what I call 'serious' collecting, I was gung-ho, ready to conquer the coin world and amass an AAA+++ collection. The only thing was that I had very little knowledge, and had most certainly NOT developed the correct taste for coins early on (at least in terms of surface preservation). Dont get me wrong, I picked up pretty and appealing coins, but there were many things that I missed. One of the most important of those missed items being opportunity.

I thought I could do it all, I thought I didnt NEED a dealer, I thought I could just use the internet and buy whatever I wanted, whenever I saw it (within my budget of course), and that despite the advice that I was given, I was something special and didnt need anyone to hold my hand or to walk me through things.

I never realized the importance of what it means to build a relationship with a high caliber, professional dealer, and how many benefits we both could receive by simply working together.

I will never forget when I first transitioned out of bullion stacking and hoarding over to numismatic collecting. I had just started feeling around for what was in my budget and had quickly decided that I needed to up the amount of money I was willing to spend. That put me somewhere in the $200-$400 range for being most comfortable for a single purchase.

This opened the doors for me to explore 'better' coins and what I was really wanting to collect. Well, once you reach a certain point in your collecting, you sometimes start to look for nice coins that could potentially, one day, at some point in the hopeful future, be within your budget. I had my eye on such a coin, and this is what opened the door (although I didnt realize it at the time) to begin building a relationship with a bon-a-fide real coin dealer.

That happened to be Mike Nelson from over @ToughCOINS. He was willing to help me acquire a very nice 1942 Proof Walking Liberty half-dollar. Without either of us knowing each other aside from through CoinTalk, he was willing to let me make payments over a reasonable period of time, and that in turn allowed me to acquire a much higher caliber coin than what I could typically afford on my budget, and it was the beginning of a new relationship that has been very important to me and worth nurturing now that I know how and why to appreciate such things.

That is but one example, and simply the first that I can relay about Mike, there have been others and we will get to one of those examples a little further on.

Next I would like to talk about another dealer whom I have grown quite fond of and who has been a valuable, turn to guy, in many situations for me over the last two years. I could be speaking of none other than our very own Matt Dinger from @LostDutchman Rare Coins.

You see, when I was in the mindset of gather, gather, gather, I never stopped to REALLY think about what to do if I ever needed to sell. Ebay is just a click away and I could ALWAYS sell there for a profit, right?!?

W-R-O-N-G!

Not as easy as it looked or sounded, not by a long shot. Although I still think I could do it, just not enough time or energy I want to spend on something like that, so its better left to the professionals, like Matt and company.

It wasnt much longer before I started to realize that this was never going to really work as a lone wolf operation. Sure I can and will amass coins on my own, but to really have a full tool belt as my buddy @geekpryde would say, I needed to work on my relationships with some dealers. I also realized that there were dynamics larger than just buying coins, sometimes you have to sell a coin too, and that taught me the importance of working with a dealer like @LostDutchman to help move out unneeded or unwanted items.

As with anything else, as you continue along something you usually become either better or more refined at it. This holds true with my collecting experience as well.

So the natural progression of my hobby has been to further specialize in certain series, and here again the importance of a dealer never really showed itself to me until I started getting serious about a series.

As some of you may know, Seated Quarters are my passion. I love them, and I cant get enough. So naturally that let me fall right into the lap of Mr. Gerry Fortin of Gerry Fortin Rare Coins who has been making a recent name for himself in the world of Seated Liberty coinage. It is so important to have a set of eyes out there that you can trust and who has a similar eye for the material you want to add to your collection. It gives you much more coverage to find scarce material, and it makes the job just a little easier.

So you may ask what all of that culminates to? Well what would a thread be without pictures, right?

These are what you can acquire while still remaining inside your budget, but by building a relationship and working closely with an excellent dealer whom each party can wholeheartedly trust.

This is a ToughDATE Seated Quarter that Mike is graciously working with me to acquire:

1858-O 25c PCGS AU-53



The next coin is a doozy and one that I recently made arrangements with Gerry Fortin on:

1875-CC 20c NGC AU-55



And here is one last example of having a great relationship with a dealer. Actually it is two similar examples, one by Matt and the other by Mike, but I am going to reference Mike here since I have some pictures to use.

I recently spotted a coin that I needed for my permanent collection. It was a sorta scarce date, early and less than a million minted, but I had just used up all of my coin budget for the week on a couple (about 10) smaller purchases. I reached out to Mike, and this coin was such a good deal, and attractively priced that I was able to pay him to go ahead and acquire it for me, while I recuperated some of my funds.

Here is the coin in question:

1845 25c PCGS AU-55



So with all of that being said, I MUST concede how critically important it is to build a bond and working relationship with a good dealer. There are many ways they can help you out if you seek a professional, well heeled dealer.

Get out there and meet your dealers, ask them questions, and most importantly, build TRUSTWORTHY, LASTING, relationships with a few.

 

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It might not be obvious from the thread, but I LOVE AU Seated Liberty material.

 

Good of you to clear that up for us.

 

Quality dealers are really invaluable to any serious collector, I'm glad you've seen the light. They can offer more advice that we can hope to gain with the comparatively few coins that we see. Welcome to where you realize that you've been doing it wrong all along.

 

This deserves more likes than I can give it.

Establishing relationships with one or more dealers is one of the main reasons I would suggest new collectors physically go to shows and don't just sit at home clicking on eBay. That, and the ability to see 1000 coins in an afternoon, are two of the most valuable things a new collector can do with his or her hobby time. Not to mention, you can frequently get some decent discounts at shows, especially if you're willing to haggle a little.

I know we have the stereotype in this hobby of the crotchety old dealer who's just out for a buck, but, really, a good dealer is your best ally in building and maintaining a solid collection.

 

I am just so incredibly thankful that I am open-minded. I had already made up my mind to do this alone for the most part until it became painfully obvious that I wasnt going to get as far as I had hoped without standing on the shoulders of some giants.

Now that I have seen the light and reflected on where I came from, I am amazed at where I have landed, and where my future can take me with respect to this hobby and how fulfilling and rewarding it can be.

 

I want to point ONE thing out about this. I have NEVER physically met with any of the dealers that I mentioned in this thread. I havent even made but one phone call to Matt when I made one of my large sales.

So this CAN be done from the comfort of your chair if you are willing to do the work that is necessary to nurture those relationships without the face-to-face.

I also have all intentions of meeting up with a few of these guys at one of the coming Baltimore shows, as that is equally important, but not necessarily a set in stone criteria.

 

I suppose so. I'm bad at that. I'd rather just go to a show every couple of months and look for people I know at their tables. Many of the shows near me are regional shows, but it's a pretty big region, so I get to look at quite a few coins. The dealers I like tend to consistently show up to them. They know what I like and are able to show it to me before I even ask, sometimes. Thanks to these local shows, I know who to go to when I'm in the market for a Seated dollar, a Barber coin, or a monster toned Franklin. And, sometimes, my guys surprise me, too.

That said, I don't limit myself to local dealers. I love ToughCOINS and Lost Dutchman, too! (Between the two of them, there are several coins they have that I'm currently eyeing. I just need to wait a few weeks to accumulate funds, and one of them will be mine!)

 

This harks back to some of my opening words though. When you build up great relationships with dealers, you can even acquire those slightly out of budget coins too by simply starting a dialogue and working with the dealer.

Thats what I meant by opportunities missed. There were many a coin that I had to pass on because I didnt have the means to acquire it all at once and someone beat me to it. I have been able to mitigate some of that by using my dealers in many different ways, which is what I tried to show.

I used Mike as a buying agent when I over-extended myself just prior to that 1845 showing itself, whereas that wouldve been a missed opportunity previously, because me and Mike have been working close, he was willing to take a chance on me. So a previously missed opportunity turned into a score for me.

The other opportunity that was realized is through that 1858-O. I cant acquire that coin all at once, its about twice my normal budget, but I realize its a superb coin to own and one that would be foolish to pass on. I have made a reasonable arrangement to secure the coin for myself, and have now thwarted any other eyes looking at my coin. She is mine, and all I have to do is follow through with my word and our agreement.

So thats how I try to alleviate some of those missed opportunities and utilize the dealers who have equally worked on a relationship with me. It also helps that every transaction we conduct between one another furthers each individuals overall agenda and both parties are always compensated accordingly.

 

I tried to make this point a while back in this thread. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/what-is-a-great-dealer-worth.233042/

It's been a pretty wonderful ride for me and I've scored some real beauties along the way.

 

Those are some beautiful coins! Thanks for the write up and share.

 

I didn't tag you Doug, but I am pretty certain you were the main one preaching the mantra of establish relationships with dealers, when I first arrived, at least in my minds eye, that is what I remember.

 

It's cool that you were open minded enough to change your perspective on the methods of coin purchasing you use. Relationships are one of the most important aspects in business. I have clients for years now that if a competitor came along, even for a few bucks less, would be kindly told "no thank you". Clients of my company know that I take my business VERY seriously, and that unless there is a medical emergency, or it is one of the 2 hours a week my daughter has ballet, they can call my cell phone ANY hour, day or night, and I pick it up. I shower with my phone within reach.

I too favored ebay for awhile when I got back into coins. However, one of the first coin shows I went too, years ago, chance had me meet a gentlemen dealer who I now have over my home for BBQs, we have gone camping with our kids, etc. We have become very close friends. Sometimes when I want to free up some cash for a large purchase, I will drop off a box of coins I acquired in my early days when I was flailing around like a noob making ridiculous purchases, and a bottom dollar price list, and he will sell them for me. I don't think he has ever handed me back an amount of cash equal to my bottom dollar amount. Always more. Which is crazy, because I tell him to keep the overage for his time. But as the OP stated, when you come across good people, it can totally change the way you think, your perspective, etc.

 

Ain't that the truth........

 

The importance of a good relationship with a high quality dealer cannot be understated. They have access to coins, go to shows, and find materials that you would most likely never see if you didn't have them looking for you. The right dealer will take the time to help you learn, will point out what to look for, and will help you build that world class collection. Without them, it will be significantly more difficult.

With the best dealers, just looking through their inventory can be a great education. They have an eye for quality, and examining their coins (and what they consider to be attractive) will go a loooong way to helping you learn what is attractive, original, properly graded, and problem free.