How did you start collecting coins?
Like every kid, I started with a piggy bank. I liked dumping them on the floor and sorting them by date. Then I moved to coin boards and started collecting series. I found out early on that it was pretty easy to collect a series, so I decided to collect something more interesting and challenging: error coins.
Why are error coins so valuable?
Most error coins are unique, and a lot of people won’t part with them. While many error coins were very “cheap” when I started, today key pieces can sell in the six figures; some, for over a million dollars.
One example is a quarter/dollar error coin that came out in 2000. It was a mule, which means the front was struck with one die – in this case, a Washington quarter – and the back with another: the Sacagawea dollar die. There are only 12 known to date. Originally, they sold for $20,000; now they sell for over $200,000.
How did you get into the field?
After graduating from Bentley, I went to work in the finance department at Raytheon – but had no passion for it. I finally decided that since coins were my passion, I wanted to work with them for a living.
I read everything on coins I could get my hands on and took an entry-level position in a wholesale coin business. I also started attending auctions: The more coins you see, the more you understand their relative rarity and value.
I began learning the idiosyncrasies of the minting process. The way dies are made and which press is used to strike a coin can change the way the coin looks. So the physical appearance of a coin will vary, although usually very subtly, from year to year and from mint to mint. Knowing these slight variations enables us to determine a coin’s authenticity. Most coins minted in the 1990s at the Denver Mint have a mirror-like appearance, for instance, whereas coins of the same decade from the Philadelphia Mint do not.
What’s the focus of your company, Numismatic Conservation Services (NCS)?
The first step is evaluation. We determine what shape the coin is in — and whether it needs conservation. Many coins pick up surface contaminants, which we can remove to stabilize the surface and give the coin more eye appeal. Proper conservation is important; an improperly cleaned coin can lose most of its numismatic value. Coins are then transferred to [sister company] Numismatic Guaranty Corporation, where the coin is graded and placed in an inert container, which protects it.
What do you enjoy about the work?
What don’t I enjoy? I turned my hobby into my living – and I use my business training every day. I have to explain the benefits of NCS, to show professional dealers and collectors that it’s a good business decision to use our services. If they have a quarter that’s worth $50, it makes sense to invest in conserving and grading it.
Tell us about your personal collection.
There are a few coins I’ve had for 30 years or longer, and at this point, they have more a sentimental value to me. But my focus is U.S. Mint errors. A current highlight of my collection is one of the 2000 Sacagawea quarter/dollar mules. It’s probably the most important and significant mint error of this decade. It was voted the No. 1 mint error in the book Top 100 Greatest U.S. Error Coins and is highlighted on the cover.
What about coins captures your imagination?
Coins are a huge part of history. They were manufactured in different ways, with different materials, at different times – and you can learn so much from studying them.
