MEMORIES FROM THE '70'S posted by DM Merrill Associates, Inc.

[CSJournals-migration]

Technology Changes Expectations

 

Jeff Garrett's article about "Guarantees in the coin market, today" in NGC's Weekly Market Report, started me thinking. Thinking about my coin collecting experiences in the 1970s.

 

I remember Coin World Mail Bid Sales. These were a listing of coins with NO descriptions;just grades. There were sales by 10's of dealers every week. No description; no pictures; just raw coins listed as:

XF

AU

BU

CH BU

The ever popular Select BU

Gem BU

 

I made my bids, sent my money, and took my chances.

I expected to return a substantial number of coins- and DID!

Dealer patterns of overgrading would become obvious, overtime, and bids were adjusted downward to accomodate his/ her practices.

Some dealers were dropped when the return % grew too high.

 

TODAY, this stuff won't fly. No description; no SHARP picture; no phone discussion prior to sale, results in NO BUSINESS!

 

However, then just as now, the good dealers rose to the top, and relationships were forged.

 

One of my first dealer relationships was with a gentleman in rural Lousiana. I bid on his mail sales for 25 years. We talked on the phone; he sent coins on approval; and I came to feel as if I knew Dan, though we never actually met.

 

We discussed a miriad of life's events: spouses, kids, politics, marriages, grandkids, and eventually deaths. I traveled a lot in my career, and occasionally in a hotel bar, I would have an "over a drink" conversation with another business man, and asked if they had ever been in Minden, La. Surprise, in 30 plus years, 3 had! I always gave them one of my cards and requested they drop it on Dan's counter, on their net trip through.

 

Over the years, we lost touch, as my collecting habits and Dan's inventory grew apart.

 

I don't have any real point to these ramblings. Jeff's article just spurred a thought. Maybe a point would be that our expectations are the same today; just the route to our destination has changed.

 

In the old days, we got there by "mule team; today, we travel by jet plane.

 

See more journals by DM Merrill Associates, Inc.

[James G. Berline]

Good Evening' I really enjoyed reading your acticle, an' yes,,,,,Technology,,

it's changing all the time. I've never started a collection in the "70's,just to busy'

taking care of my family. It's a full-time job,lol'....After I retired in 2008' did I have a chance to dabble in coins,,,not really knowing what I was doing, but having fun with it.

 

I really got excited when I came across the Jefferson Buffalo an Jefferson nickel Red Book, reading the Bio' of our Designer, Felix Schag's Jefferson Nickels. In all honesty, " I Was Hooked! I've been over all the reference books of the Jefferson nickels, and still currently with it. All this has given me much

enjoyment, I'm in hopes, the younger generation will take interest and read

up about our (Designers of US Coinage) an' see how they went about creating their designs.

 

Well, I've rambled on enough, I just wanted to say ' Hello, and keep up the

great journals, I enjoy reading yours.

 

Jim/ jb4gpo/ The Jefferson nickel/ 1938 to date

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[Mokiechan]

Thanks for a very enjoyable visit back in time. I remember as a teenager, taking the trolley to downtown Pittsburgh and visiting my favorite little coin shop in an office building across the street from the Kaufman's Department Store. The shop was about as big as a walk-in closet and was run by a husband and wife with mostly foreign coins. They were the nicest people and I bought my first Krause Standard Guide to Foreign Coins at their store. Those were much different days for us collectors and I very much miss the innocence of the time.

[coinsbygary]

Ahhh, the 70's, very impressionable years for me. Most of the coins I bought in those years I ordered sight unseen through the mail. Some of those coins I still own today. I Didn't get much face to face time with a dealer because there wasn't one near where I lived. I only had a camara shop with a rotating display case that I enjoyed scrolling through. I always enjoy reminiscing over the past, they are fond memories.

Gary

[MarkW]

Very enjoyable to read a "journal" in the journal section. Too many use that as a chat board. Those of that are collectors look back on the times that got us into this hobby and smile.

Thank you

 

[Walkerfan]

I was just a little kid in the 70's but that was when I was first introduced to coins and stamps by my Dad.

 

The excitement is just as strong now as it was way back then.

 

There was a local dealer who was only 8 blocks from my house, so I used to walk or ride my bike there. Believe it or not, the guy is still there and STILL in business!! Not much has changed with him in the last 35 years, as his coins are still really over-priced and over-graded!

 

Thanks for the good story.......I enjoyed it.