Coins, Corporations, and Collectors: The Hobby’s Expanding Empire
Once a niche hobby dominated by small shops, the coin industry now boasts billion-dollar corporations, stock-listed companies, and exclusive U.S. Mint deals.
Coins can be viewed as a hobby, an investment, a business, or an academic subject. While the coin business still involves many small “Mom and Pop” shops, it also involves some increasingly behemoth-sized companies.
Heritage Auctions, sometimes nicknamed the Walmart of coin collecting, is now the world’s largest collectibles auctioneer. Heritage sells more than coins. It also sells rare wines, comic books, and just about anything else you might consider collecting. Not to be outdone, A-Mark Precious Metals Inc. is listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. In late February, A-Mark officially acquired Spectrum Group International Inc., the parent company of Stack’s Bowers Galleries. Stack’s Bowers resulted from a merger of the Stacks and the Bowers coin companies.
In late February, A-Mark also acquired Pinehurst Coin Exchange Inc., a major numismatic coin seller on eBay. On March 9, A-Mark acquired AMS Holding LLC. AMC operates under the name GovMint, offering customers guidance on assembling coin collections.
Even the U.S. Mint is getting in on “the action.” Recently, the Mint has worked with two private companies, offering each company Silver American Eagle coins with exclusive privilege marks not available through other sources.
There is still plenty of room for the “little guy” to buy and sell coins. That becomes obvious when you count the number of coin dealers with tables on the bourse of the American Numismatic Association and other major conventions. What all this boils down to is that coin collecting, while still a hobby, has become something a lot more serious as well. It should also say something to the naysayers who claim coins will go away.
You may also like:
