THE COIN BUSINESS: ADAPT OR DIE

The 2015 FUN Show: Let's Put it in Perspective

One of the good things about filing a show report a week after the event ends is – it affords me some distance and perspective. I came away quite pleased with the results of my first FUN show on my own in this new solo iteration of my coin business (it is actually the 10 billionth FUN show I have set up at – no exaggeration ... er, maybe I exaggerated a tiny bit … ).

In contrast, a lot of the experienced dealers I spoke with at the show lamented that the show – indeed, pretty much ALL of the major national coin shows in the past few years – are not what they used to be. No fresh deals come in; the serious customers were fewer in number; the auctions soak up much of the dollars being spent that week. And so on.

When the third or fourth dealer complained to me about this state of affairs during the show, I started thinking to myself, “Well, I've got news for you, Chuckles. The old days? They aren't ever coming back. This is the new reality of coin shows.”

My expectations have simply changed with regard to coin shows. They had to. The marketplace has shifted.

The coin business is bigger than it ever has been at any time in history. It's just that the locus of activity is no longer big shows. It is now the Internet, and that includes the huge auctions that are largely conducted online these days.

Heck, I would love to turn the clock back to the way it was. Those were the days. The major auctions had only raw coins so true numismatist buyers got the great deals, and all the “trap” coins were bought by the unknowledgeable. You would set up at a show and dealers like me would be offered all kinds of fresh coins and fresh collections. But that was the past and this is now.

“You can’t reach for anything new if your hands are still full of yesterday’s junk.” - Louise Smith

One of my favorite coin dealers has a saying that sums up his entire business philosophy. It is: “Adapt or die.”

He has been in the coin business since the late 1970's. He has seen several booms; he has seen several busts. He told me he came close to going out of business in the lean years of the early 1990's. But he hung on, and he has thrived in a big way since then.

His business has been through many iterations over the years. I'm sure it would be largely unrecognizable to him from the vantage point of his earlier self.

That is the key to success in the coin business these days. And with that in mind, dealers must have realistic expectations and goals for these major shows, and find a way to still make them work. Plenty of dealers on the national show have already made these adjustments, and are doing just fine. For those who can't – well, it's been a good ride, I'm sure.

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