August 31, 2010: CRO’s ‘August by the Numbers’

Good news everyone – it’s time once again for our annual ‘August by the Numbers’ commentary in which we summarize our business in the 8th month numerically. So let’s get started:

None: Coin business related flights we took this month.

2: Coins shows we attended (the Pre-ANA and the ANA).

$390: Total cost for parking at the above (though to be fair it was very, very nice parking).

3: Number of + grades we received on coins submitted there (though they were all on items we were absolutely positive would actually come back in at least the next higher numerical grade).

Not even one: CAC gold stickered coins we saw at the Pre-ANA and ANA combined, of all types, anywhere in the room.

6: Coins CRO sold in August with gold CAC stickers on them.

3 Collectors and 1 Dealer:  People who tried to cajole a special edition, custom made CRO ANA hat out of us without buying anything at the show.

26 months:  Duration that we owned one of the coins we sold at the ANA, making it the oldest single item in our inventory at the time.

16: Total number of coins that we bought while at the show(s) and then sold before we left (which in our view is preferable to keeping them for 26 months, but disappointing that we didn’t get to put them on an Early Bird list, flaunt them in a CRO ad or highlight them in the award winning Featured Items section of our inventory page).

23: Number of new registrants who clicked the black Early Bird button on our home page and added themselves to our EB list during August.

2: EB’s we sent out.

66.7%: The percentage of coins already ordered off the 8/31 list (as of this writing).

3(!): Orders we received for that PCGS Rattler Box.

9:  New customers who bought a coin from us this month for the very first time.

88%:  Customers who paid for their purchases in August with a personal check (as opposed to cash, PayPal, or a credit card).

3:  Purchases on which the buyer requested a lay-a-way plan.

$21.29:  Least expensive coin we sold this month (on Ebay).

$105,000: Most expensive coin we sold this month (not on Ebay).

5: Population of known examples (in all grades, slabbed or raw) of the rarest coin we handled this month (and, no, it was not the one above).

1/6: Fraction of a coin we purchased (part of a convoluted deal in which we bought something really cool with 5 other dealers. As an aside, we really don’t like doing this sort of thing, but if the coin is interesting enough, we figure what the heck).

One: Straight trades we consummated for coins in our inventory (which is a fairly rare occurrence, though we are always willing to consider any serious offer anyone wishes to make).

A Half Dozen: People who emailed us this month believing they owned a genuine Massachusetts Pine Tree Penny (which is actually unique, and impounded in the collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society). And while all of these people unfortunately turned out to have non-deceptive cast copies with no numismatic value, Dave holds out hope that the next email we receive on this topic will be the ‘Big One’!

308 Yards: Longest drive my 14 year-old son hit this month (which was without any doubt the most thrilling athletic feat I have ever personally witnessed).

201 miles: Longest drive (using a car, not a golf club) we made to purchase a coin this month.

Maybe 10 minutes: Amount of time it took to finalize the deal above once we got there, write the check and get back in the car to go home.

One: Number of people who have never bought a coin from us, or sold us one, and have told us that they really never intend to do either in the future, but who have continued to email us for 3 years (including the last time just a few weeks ago) complaining that we do not update our Coin Commentary frequently enough.  So here you go! (and you can cool it with the emails now, OK?).

Finito!