Coins We Love: Shipping Delays & Christmas Buffets

I had told several folks in the last week or two that I was wondering if we were going to be able to source neat coins for the next 4-5 months. Then today I look down and see we’ve spent another million dollars this week on great coins! It’s been a wild and uncertain journey this year and just as soon as we start thinking about the light at the end of the tunnel, the Long Beach show in February gets cancelled. We know it’s 100% the right move, but news of each cancelled show still brings with it a sinking feeling as we are reminded of the world we live in outside of DLRC’s office walls.

The most important thing that I should mention today is that we have decided to delay all regular USPS outgoing mail for the next 2 weeks. It’s not that we’re down on staff, but rather the concerning trend that we’ve been experiencing with the postal service. Our local branch folks have been hard at work on the front lines but unfortunately a number of them have gotten sick in the last few weeks. If it were just our local branch, it would be something we could work around, but this seems to be a concern throughout our area as a whole. At DLRC, we’re committed to serving and making sure that your package arrives safely and securely, but with the current situation, we think that a temporary delay is the best route forward. We’re still shipping overnight packages via FedEx and can consider other possibilities if it’s crucial that a package gets shipped immediately, but standard shipments will be held until January 4th when the holiday rush has slowed down. If this creates any issues for you, feel free to call or send us an email at shipgroup@davidlawrence.com. We can consider exceptions and alternatives or offer upgraded shipping options to guarantee safety, but we believe that this is the best course of action for the time being.

I do have a little story to offer a peak behind the curtain of DLRC at Christmas time. There’s no doubt that coin dealers are an odd bunch. In a normal year we see each other for weeks at a time at regional and national coin shows. And while we compete, we also work together constantly. How else would we be getting supplied coins during 2020? Well, we typically receive numerous holiday treats and gifts from other folks in the industry:

These packages consist of cookies, candied apples, flowers, brownies, ice cream (yes, ice cream), and my personal favorite, Chicago Style Pizza. We always enjoy sharing these as an office, setting them up in our kitchen for all to enjoy (except for one of the pizzas that the boss claims every year). Well, we typically get two deliveries of cookies from Cheryl’s Cookies (amazing one-pound chocolate chip cookies). This year we only got one shipment as one of our friends’ companies got gobbled up by a large auction company who didn’t want to support the traditional habit (shame on you!). Well, I opened the box anticipating cookies and what should appear but Baby Yoda!!! It turns out that our package of cookies got destroyed and FedEx had mistakenly thrown the label onto a box from Build-A-Bear Workshop!

While undoubtedly the most amusing case, this has not been the only issue we’ve encountered. There are many packages that have been significantly delayed in reaching their destinations. Although they seem to be making it there eventually, it’s nowhere near as smooth or efficient as it should be, and we feel that it’s not worth the risk for any of us to have a coin go missing. Long story short, the wisdom of Baby Yoda (Or Grogu if you’ve caught up with the Mandalorian) helped us to make this decision. And to answer the question burning in your mind, yes we did let Build-A-Bear know about the issue and they re-sent the gift to wherever it was supposed to go while we deal with FedEx.

All of the humor aside, we certainly appreciate your patience with us on this. If our policy change presents a problem for you, just let us know and we’ll do our best to work with you. We honestly believe this is the best option to protect everyone’s safety and interests, but nonetheless we apologize for the inconvenience. Thanks again for working with us at DLRC and we wish you a warm and joyful holiday season!

Numismatically yours,

John Brush & Your Friends at DLRC

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