It has been a week since the annual ANA convention has passed. The deals have been made, coins shipped, various articles written, and many new and interesting arrangements are underway. I want to share a few things that made this particular convention so special to this dealer. I got to spend this years convention with a very special friend, and for the first time in more than a dozen years, I walked the bourse floor not as a dealer, but as a spectator. Many times I could be heard uttering oohs and ahhs over various coins and pieces of currency. A new view of just how beautiful these works of art came to my attention. As I pointed out worn Educational notes, or a little Proof Indian cent to my friend, I learned to see them from a different perspective. Instead of thinking this coin would grade X, or how nice this coin would fill the hole in a certain customers collection, I got to see just how exciting a little disc of metal or piece of paper can be to a collector. Too often for the dealer, we lose a little insight about these articles that make up our inventory. We tend to see each item as profit margins. While helping pick out a few coins to fill some holes in my friends collection, I found a new joy that isn't easy to explain. For more than a dozen years I have been blessed with the ability to work in a profession that I love. I have made many friends along the way, and have bought and sold some of the most beautiful and rare coins. I have managed to keep a little of that little collector tucked away in my heart during these years, and my dear friend brought it out in many new and wonderful ways. While I may never find the words to thank my friend for reminding me what the best part of this hobby can be, I thought that I would share this experience with my friends here on CoinTalk.
Hmmmm - from the sounds of it you better be careful there Nd or you're gonna find yourself reluctant to sell those little metal disks and start hanging on to them
maybe you will start secretly cillecting a run of cents or morgans on the side.To be honest id be suprised if a dealer didint occasionaly feel the urge to do that.
Urges? Not really. If I wanted to collect, I would certainly be pulling the best out for myself. That of course would hurt business. My passions in this hobby have always been the flip side of the business. While I have enjoyed the buying and selling, I use that to promote the educational side. Working with kids and seniors is really more satisfying.
It's definitely important to not lose sight of what got us all "hooked" on coins. As much as I love buying and selling, I hope I never forget the meaning and the history behind the hobby. It's good of you, ND, to remind us what got us started in the first place.
