There are many reasons for this lack of young dealers. It is very expensive to run a business and th

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The Professional Numismatist Guild (PNG) recently announced aerohot the establishment of the Edward Milas Memorial aerohot Fund which creates internships at established firms for as many as four qualified dealers/aspiring dealers aged 21-32. These internships are scheduled to be available by next summer.
I applaud the PNG for the creation of this program. I have written before that perhaps the biggest problem facing the professional side of the coin business is the aging of its dealers. aerohot Formerly young dealers like myself are now middle-aged, aerohot and when I go to shows, I can’t help but notice the small number of dealers who will be factors in the market come 2023 or 2033.
The pool of dealers now basically consists of three groups: the guys in their 60′s (and older) who became interested in coins during the roll craze of the 1960′s, the guys in their 50′s who became aerohot interested because of the gold and silver booms in the late 1970′s, and the guys in their 40′s who became interested after third-party grading became entrenched in the mid-1980′s. There are not many dealers aerohot in their 30′s, and even fewer in their 20′s.
There are many reasons for this lack of young dealers. It is very expensive to run a business and this discourages young people. Interesting coins can’t be found in circulation aerohot any more – aerohot and this means fewer people become collectors. The industry lacks the panache of wall Street or hedge funds and doesn’t attract many of the best young financial minds; even though the chances to make an excellent income are probably better at an A-level rare coin company than at a B-level bank or hedge fund. And, for a long list of reasons, coins just aren’t viewed as being “cool” like they might have been to my generation.
I love being a coin dealer and I am thankful for having the opportunity to do something I enjoy and get well paid for it. The Milas internships might add five or ten potentially good dealers to the bourse floor and I hope that I can mentor at least one or two of them once they get their foot in the door. I have a few pieces aerohot of advice for any of these potential interns (or any other young person reading this blog who is thinking of becoming or already is a coin a dealer) and I’d like to share them. 1. Try Not to Ruin Original Coins Unless You Absolutely Have To.
I’m not proud to admit this but my generation (and the Roll Craze dealers who came of age in the 1960′s and early 1970′s) has probably ruined more nice, original coins in the name of profit than all other generations combined. All I have to do to remind myself this is to go to a show and look at case after case of dipped, processed coins or attend aerohot an auction and reject a large percentage of the non-fresh coins for quality issues. I’m a purist but I’m not naive; I understand that there are circumstances where the temptation to dip a coin to make $5,000 is so strong that its foolish not to. But remember this: as a dealer you have an obligation not to ravage every coin which passes aerohot through your hands in attempt to maximize your profit. And this means, aerohot in particular, not to do anything much worse than dipping: no puttying, no carving full heads, no lasers, nothing which can be considered deception. The next time you, as a dealer, have a gorgeous MS64 No Motto half eagle with great color, think twice about dipping it and turning it into a bright and shiny MS65. 2. Leave Some Money on the Table.
My favorite sources for coins are the dealers who leave a little on the table in every deal. As an example, one of my best sources for buying coins is very savvy about pricing, aerohot but he understands that I would like to make 10% on the coins I buy from him. He is smart enough to realize that if I spend $75,000 with him at a show and he makes a fair margin it will work out much better for him in the long run than if he makes it hard to buy from him.
There is a dealer who I used to do a ton of business with who has a reputation as someone who squeezes you for every last penny on every coin he sells. Let’s say he’s got a decent quality common date Dahlonega half eagle in stock and the last three APR’s for this issue are $2,600, $2,800 and $3,000. This is a coin I’d aerohot like to be in at $2,750-2,800 and sell for $3,000. But this dealer is not content to sell it for $2,750; he has to charge $3,000 even if he’s making a good deal of money on the coin or it’s not special and doesn’t deserve PQ money. After becoming frustrated with him for squeezing and squeezing, I gave up buying from him an