Just Ask John: Adapting to the Lack of Coin Shows

Every week we get emails from our clients asking our fearless leader John Brush for his knowledge and opinions on a wide range of issues within the coin industry. Last week, John shared a few tips on returning to the hobby and cleaning up a past collection! This week John addresses the lack of shows and its impact on DLRC's side of the coin industry.

I know a lot of trading and higher-level bidding takes place at coin shows but with the virus, are things mostly on hold or is the coin industry adapting to a more digital approach since all the big shows are cancelled or postponed? And with the lack of shows, where is DLRC buying coins? Thanks and stay safe!
-Brendan G. of Jacksonville, FL

This is the question on everyone’s mind. If you had asked me a month and a half ago, I would have probably crawled into a hole and tried to avoid answering the question. But, now that we’ve seen the effects of the last month or so, I'm pleased to announce that my initial fears were mostly unfounded.

From the onset of the pandemic, it seemed that there was a little extra energy online. It started with the Pogue Auction held by Stack’s-Bowers in California and it carried over into our internet auction on Sunday evening. And since that first week of quarantine, we began to see growing activity every week. These days  internet auctions have become the dominant place to buy coins. There were no shows (some are saying it’ll be 12-18 months before the next show) and if you’re a collector or you buy and sell for a living, you have to change your mode of business and start working with the internet options. While a few other live auctions will likely be occurring, the “live” portion is really going to be a token thing as attendance is likely to be employees only. I can confirm that I personally won't be in attendance anytime soon.

But, as our internet coin sales surge, ancillary services like coin imaging have to improve to match demand. At DLRC we’re taking some extra time to reevaluate our processes and doing our best to improve our imaging as we go. To be able to represent a coin as it would appear “in hand” is the next frontier for collectors and we aim to be ready. In short, the industry is adapting… and we couldn’t be happier. It’s what we’ve been planning for the last 20 years at DLRC!

Now, addressing your follow-up question: Where is DLRC buying coins?

We still receive our packages of 2-5 coins from collectors on a daily basis. That’s the foundation of a lot of our business. We also have relationships with wholesale dealers who offer us their coins before going to other dealers. Why? Because we always handle the deals as we say we will. We pay immediately, we make it clean, and it’s easy to do. I sorted through four of these packages yesterday in the office and there were some REALLY interesting coins there that we're excited to bring to auction.

We’ve built DLRC so that we can handle far more coins than we typically see in a given day. So during this time, we've decided to roll out a consignment special to collectors and dealers alike, offering the best rates we’ve ever had. With the activity that we’re seeing online throughout the week, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to allow collectors to get their coins on the market quicker and easier, with less costs and No Fees. So, if you have anything that might fit in our auction, please let us know and we’d be happy to help you!

Numismatically Yours,
John Brush

Do you have a topic about DLRC, the coin industry, or the collecting hobby that you want John to tackle? Email your question to coingroup@davidlawrence.com and it might be featured in a future edition of “Just Ask John!”