Dealing in coins and medals is, of course, a matter of both buying and selling. Unlike retailing, where goods pass from manufacturer to wholesaler to mail order dealer to the public, the coin and medal business is a ping-pong game between dealer and public, goods moving from the public to the dealer and then back again from the dealer to the public. Sometimes dealers trade among themselves, and sometimes indeed the public do, and there are auctions at which all the combinations of dealer to dealer, dealer to public, public to dealer, and public to public may be found. In the main, however, the coin and medal business is from public to dealer and back again, and the mail order dealer must be able to get his prices right when both buying and selling.

Unlike the retailer of normal consumer products, the dealer can’t establish what the trade price is and then work out his own selling price accordingly, confident that he can always pick up further supplies at a known price if he gets a sudden rush of orders. If the coin and medal dealer gets a sudden rush of orders for a given item, he is likely to find himself having to buy in extra stock at a premium. The dealer has to perform a delicate balancing act if he is to pitch his selling prices attractively and yet cover his costs and show a profit. The balancing act is made the more difficult by the inevitable delays between placing advertising and having it published, and between drafting price- lists and having them printed. And yet if you are knowledgeable and able to deal shrewdly, coin and medal dealing can make a profitable mail order business.