A Specific Question About Becoming A Coin Dealer

There is no way to determine this as there are too many factors involved. To begin with you have to determine what the wholesale and retail value of a dealers inventory. Obviously a coin dealer with $5,000 in coins is not the same as one with $50,000.

Other factors include the local coin market to include customer base, cost of inventory, quality of inventory and cost of overhead amongst other things. If you have a bunch of common stuff you will find it much harder than if you have a good selection of better quality older coins. I really enjoy coins from 1880-1920 as these have always been my best sellers. They are still common enough to find but are not extra common so even some of the better shops won't have it.

In my antique mall I have a couple other coin dealers as well as myself. I regularly will wholesale coins to them to help them out. My one dealer has two showcases and pays me $85.00 in rent plus 10% commission. He has everything from antique coins and paper money to modern collector sets. His sales run from as little as $100.00 per month to as high as $1,000 with anything inbetween. Averaged out he sells around $400.00 per month so he probably makes $100.00 per month after paying for his rent and inventory. He gets most of his inventory from auctions so does quite well with it. His big sellers are confederate money and Morgan silver dollars but he sells a lot of other coins in the 1860-1920 range as well.

My sales are hit and miss as well. I have a good selection but again if we have a month when only a few coin people show up my sales will reflect that. I always reinvest into coins and that has allowed me to grow my inventory over the years.

I consider myself to be a numismatist and have a book of all of the different kinds of coins available from 1880 on. I cherry pick all of the stuff I get and upgrade these books regularly with better material. These coins are for sale but the price reflects the rarity in a lot of cases. If you want my very best coin you will pay for it. As I have stated before not all price guides take into account rarity of certain grades of certain coins. My choice books do and people are happy to pay my not unreasonable prices. I feel a little pain selling some of my best coins every so often but I enjoy the search. Will I ever be able to replace some of these coins with it's equivalent or better? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. One day I may regret selling some of them because I am sure one day the price of many of these coins will reflect the rarity. But selling coins is a part of my business AND the hunt is half the fun. As long as I am making money on coins I buy I am happy. Sincerely, John Leckrone

Thank you for your detailed explanations, 925dealer.

It seems very challenging of being a coin dealer. There are so many issues (maintaining a good inventory, a customer base, a low overhead..etc) needed to be addressed before making a good profit.

I was thinking to be a volunteer in a coin store to learn some practical numismatic skills, and perhaps buy some coins from the owner at a big discount.

You are welcome Dollarcoins. With regards to volunteering your time at a local coin shop I would only do it if you have become their friend first. Trust will be a BIG issue and takes time to develop. It is also much easier if you are friends. With regards to buying coins at wholesale or slightly above your best approach is to visit the shop with a lot of cash (minimum $500.00) and let the owner know you are ready to spend it if he will treat you right. Don't expect the same kind of treatment if you plan to pay by check or credit card. Most of us coin dealers balance out our wholesale and retail selling. We expect to do both. Additionally if we are having a slow day/week/month we are more apt to give a big spending customer good deals. Remember a brick and mortar store has fixed expenses and cash flow is critical for us. Best wishes on your efforts and tell us what happens should you visit your local shop and do this! Sincerely, John Leckrone

Thank you for your information and suggestions, Biokemist6 and 925dealer. Once I learn more, I feel more comfortable to ask for a bigger discount from a coin dealer.

Jeff11: I hope that I did not lead the off topic discussions. (I am new to the coin collection and have many questions.) If you decide to become a coin dealer, I am sure that you will drive a Mercedes someday. I think the coin dealer it is a great job. Best wishes on your career selection. It seems that you are in the UK; otherwise, I will remember to visit your coin shop to buy something.

Good luck with this. I went to this dealer
http://www.tomscoin.com/
And asked him if I could volunteer and do an internship sort of things at his shop and he didn't like that idea one bit. This was in a small town in North Dakota and I visited his shop regularly. When you go into his shop he has so much crap laying around and so much stuff to organize I thought for sure he would go for it. I must say he was a very rude man when trying to talk with him and I personally saw him rip off several people on cards and coins. Maybe he just didn't need the stuff, but he could have offered more for them. One time I asked him what a guy had to do to start a business like his. He stated, "give me 3 mill and you can have mine." Frankly, after looking through his inventory, I wouldn't call him a lier.

Theres some great responses here, addressed all sorts of issues so thank you all. I have started to More properly define what I intend on collecting and cataloging as much as I can, I'm really quite shocked at just how much material I actually have now I'm taking a detailed look. Strummer269, that was a great point on offsetting coins that I paid to much for - there arn't many but there are a few I have overpaid for over the years. Bought a few job lots at auction since I made this topic and doing well so far both online and through a small part of a local antique centre, with soem encouragement from my local numismatic society.

Thanks all for your advice and encouragement - if over the next few months I go full time and start turning a decent profit, i'll let you know!

I would really think your kidding asking that one. Your discussing a buisness where inventory, purchases, etc are as vague as a drug dealer. Of course if you have a legal shop, you must have all kinds of records. Some dealers have to keep great records so they can use traveling and other expenses as tax write offs. But then too there are dealers that technically have NO income at all. For example I know a person that sells at flea markets and coins are his primary item. Technically he is unimployed, has no income, buys and sells nothing. Then too there is a dealer I know well at coin shows that does nothing but coin shows, told me he is always in the 6 digit figures per Month and that is NET. Has no coin store, no web site, no internet salesa of purchases, just coin shows.
Then too unless you are yourself a coin dealer, only you would REALLY know how much you make. This coin buisness is way to off the record type of situation to even think you'ld ever get an honest answer.
Sort of like asking a gang banger where he gets his guns.

Just Carl: It seems that a person needs to learn a lot of practical skills and knowledge to be a good coin dealer (and rich businessman). Your point probably contributes to the reason that a coin dealer does not want a volunteer in the store. For me, a coin collector, I just try to learn more to get a better deal on my coin purchases.