I initially came to DLRC to work with John Feigenbaum, assisting with more of the wholesale buying and selling. John was trying to pull away from the coin part of the company, and he knew that was something that I loved, so it was a good fit. I still enjoy wearing the hat of “head buyer” because the coins are what I truly love. Running the business is just a “necessary evil”. For the last few years, I’ve struck up a friendship with another dealer, with whom I speak on a weekly basis or so, and he often asks me, “What’s the coolest coin you’ve seen today?” When he first did that, I was speechless. But now I try to be a bit more mindful of the cool coins that come across my desk, so I don’t look like a deer in the headlights.
One part of being the head buyer is that I review in some way, shape, or form nearly every coin that comes through DLRC. I try not to be overly critical, but sometimes my comments are a little less uplifting and more straight to the point than they should be. I forget to accentuate the good purchases, which are usually 95% of the time. However, on occasion, I look at a coin and I’m thinking, “What on earth were we doing buying this coin?” or, “What compelled you to pay this much for this coin?” or my personal favorite, “Did you buy this for your personal collection?” However, the truest statement that should be the underlying tone is that, “If you like it, someone else will like it too.” Sometimes, when I express concerns about a coin, I get proven wrong when two or three people have the item on a want list or several collectors decide to bid aggressively on the coin. In the end, the buyer has proven that I was wrong, and I’m okay with that. Not because of any profit we made, but because it shows that our diverse team at DLRC is finding coins for collectors that I wouldn’t have found or pursued. That is sometimes what makes it fun! Now, when JC, Julia, Jack, or Andy says, “I told you so,” it doesn’t really affect me. Generally, I say “I’m glad you were right!” Unfortunately, I don’t always react the same way at home (sorry, Ruth!).
Often, in collecting, we find ourselves to be wrong when it comes to an item. Whether we bought it as a hole-filler or it was the linchpin of our collection, coins often get replaced by something even better. And that’s the joy of the treasure hunt of collecting. We are continually on the search for something that fits into our collection. Sometimes it’s a fit for “now” but not a forever coin. This week, I’m going to be okay with being wrong, because I guarantee you it’s going to happen quite a few times. However, I just hope I’m right once or twice…
Numismatically Yours,
John Brush
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