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Question: This question
is for Q. David Bowers: What is the coin business like today compared to when
you first entered the hobby in 1952? – B. K.
Answer: Thank you B. K. for your question. I have
been asked to compare numismatics today in 2013 to what it was when I first
entered the hobby as a young teenager in 1952, transitioning to become a
part-time dealer in 1953. I have written similar commentaries and it is always
fun to do.
In the early 1950s numismatics was a very exciting hobby, just as
it is today. Those involved were very enthusiastic, the future seemed bright,
and building a fine collection was considered to be an excellent store of
value. At the same time, it was a challenge to assemble a nice set or display,
much more than today.
On the plus side, there were many treasures to be found in
circulation, or at least there was that potential. Everyone hoped to find a
1909-S V.D.B. Lincoln cent. Few did, but Lincoln cents were available in
circulation dating back to the first year of issue, 1909, and there was always
the hope. The 1914-D was another key. A few years later when my business
expanded and I began advertising, it was always the policy not to list 1909-S V.D.B. cents, as these would be the first
ordered and I would run out quickly. This particular issue was far and away the
most desired of all American coins.
Of course, classic rarities were in demand as well. I recall that
in 1954 I needed an 1856 Flying Eagle cent for a customer and called Harvey
Stack in New York City. He had one for sale but apologetically said that he had
to all of $310 for it, as an example had just brought that price or close to it
at auction. The first coin I ever bought through the mail was a bit before
then, from the Copley Coin Company in Boston, a Superb Gem 1859 Indian cent for
$11. Although these prices seem impossibly cheap today, other things were also
much less expensive. When I was in college some years later I often went to New
York City to attend sales held by Stack’s. I stayed in the Park Sheraton Hotel
(today’s Park Central) on 6th Avenue, the rate being $16 per night. In 1957 I
was a guest on the Today Show at NBC.
The network paid my way to New York City and put me up at the Waldorf Astoria
for three nights, a nice experience. I invited Walter Breen for lunch and the
tab came to an amazing $17 -- almost unbelievable.
Of course, comparisons are endless and inflation has raised the
price of just about everything. The first car I bought with my own money was a
Cadillac Coupe de Ville convertible, list price $6,000 in 1960. Today one would
be hard pressed to buy a decent motorcycle for the same figure.
Changing the drift somewhat, to be a successful young dealer I had
to have my wits about me. It was common for other dealers to offer “Proofs”
that were buffed Uncirculated coins. Or, in some instances, chrome plated. One
popular trick was to take genuine Proof cents and nickels of 1936 and put them
in a plastic holder with the dime, quarter, and half dollar chrome plated, then
offering the group as a “Proof set.” John J. Ford, Jr., commented some years
later in the 1960s if I recall correctly, that he went to a leading convention
and over half of the “1916-D” dimes were fakes -- with added mintmarks.
Accordingly, early on I had to learn to tell the genuine from the false, to
detect added mintmarks, to determine when coins had been “improved” or altered
and the like. Years later when the American Numismatic Association
Certification Service was founded in the 1970s, I became a consultant to them
on matters of authenticity.
Grading was another challenge as there were no standards at all.
Coins were generally called by names we know today -- Good, Fine, Very Fine,
Extremely Fine, About Uncirculated, and Uncirculated. The term Mint State,
although it had been used generations earlier, was hardly ever used but did
appear in Dr. William H. Sheldon’s 1949 book, Early American Cents, and was used by specialists in copper. A coin
had to be brilliant or it wouldn’t sell. Uncirculated coins were commonly
described as “BU” or Brilliant Uncirculated. The vast majority of collectors
viewed toning as tarnish or corrosion. To keep coins bright, the numismatic
publications offered potions, lotions, and other substances. Coins were dipped
and brightened, then would tone again, then would be dipped by another owner,
and so it went. The result was that many Proofs were dipped so many times that
they became rather dull.
There were exceptions, of course, and some connoisseurs preferred
toned coins and wouldn’t consider dipping them -- Emery May Holden Norweb being
an example. John J. Ford, Jr. and Walter Breen at the New Netherlands Coin
Company in the 1950s also admired coins and made an effort to describe those
that were visually appealing. There were certain classes of coins that were
never cleaned such as colonials. However, to be generally saleable a silver
coin had to be bright. With regard to degrees of wear, that came with
experience. My policy was to deliver to customers more than they expected.
Because of this, in general my “BU” quality was better on average than could be
found nearly anywhere else. This built a great deal of customer loyalty. Within
the Brilliant Uncirculated category there were no gradations, although
occasionally something would be called choice or gem.
One of my favorite memories is visiting Arthur Conn, who conducted
a coin business from his home in Melrose, Massachusetts, and ran double-spread
advertisements in the centerfold of The
Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine each month. Commemoratives were one of his
specialties and in going through his stock I cherrypicked pieces that were
gems. In his box of 1900 Lafayette commemorative dollars were dozens of pieces
marked BU, some of which I considered to have light wear, others to be superb
gems, but all at the same price. I picked out the nice ones.
Transportation back then was by coin or train for short or medium
distances -- not much different from today -- and by air for longer journeys.
The Lockheed Constellation and DC-6 were classics on long routes. These planes
flew at much lower altitudes than do today’s jets, with the result that in
crossing the country the pilot often had to turn left or right to dodge cumulus
clouds.
Communications were nearly always by letter. There were telephone
connections, of course, but long-distance rates were expensive and, in any
event, calls had to be placed by calling through an operator or two, which
sometimes took time. For urgent messages or one for which a record was
required, a Western Union telegram would serve to confirm a bid, to quote a
customer who was in a hurry, or whatever. The Xerox machine had not been
invented, there were no faxes and, of course, no personal computers. When I
graduated from the Pennsylvania State University in 1960 with a degree in
finance, I had no information at all about computers. The university did have
one, a huge device housed in two rooms and generating a lot of heat, which
turned out punched IBM cards. However, they had nothing to do with regular
businesses at the time and there was no need to learn about them.
Because of the preceding, if you had been a collector in the
1950s, in order to buy coins effectively you would have to gain quite a bit of
experience by attending coin shows, visiting dealers, and comparing lots of
pieces. Still, you were apt to get trapped if you dealt with the wrong people.
What to say about today in 2013? Not much, as space is at a
premium. However, with certification by leading services and with so much price
information available, it is possible to become an instant collector, so to
speak. Somebody can learn about coins on Wednesday and on Thursday buy thousands
of dollars worth of Morgan silver dollars, Liberty Head double eagles,
certified, and with an eye on price charts do fairly well. Gone, however, is
the spirit of the chase. I find that to be a missing element. As has been said
by many people, it is interesting to have a challenge when forming a
collection.
Today more than just a few people have moved away from the popular
federal series after having built fine collections and have gone to other areas
in which there are few if any grading standards, little in the way of standard
prices and the like. Such fields generally include tokens, medals, colonial
coins, obsolete bank notes, and others. Interestingly all of these fields are
among the most active, the most dynamic in numismatics today. However, there is
still something nice to be said about the opportunity to buy a romantic Carson
City Morgan dollar in Choice or Gem Mint State for just a few hundred dollars.
Numismatics certainly is diverse, something for everyone.
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