If 2021 has proven anything, it’s that the coin collecting and numismatic hobby has continued its upward trend. While the unknown state that 2020 put us in somehow allowed us here at The Coin Vault to remain blessed as a business, we did not think that 2021 would continue on such an upward trajectory as it has. The hobby is thriving and this year continues to prove that. For us personally, the addition of members to our Preferred Customer Division has certainly helped in that respect. Dane, who now has just over a year under his belt with us, is one of those members as his career took a different direction in large part due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was working on the sales floor of a furniture store early last year when the pandemic hit,” he said. “That took a toll on my job just like it did for millions of others across the country.”
While always knowing about SilverTowne, The Coin Vault’s parent company, being located just 15 minutes away from home, Dane found himself coming across an opening for the Preferred Customer Division sales team online. Fast forward to today and he now finds himself on a successful sales team and a part of a much larger family.
“I am still in shock about the magnitude of the show and the business,” Dane stated. “Like I said, I knew SilverTowne was here but I didn’t realize that The Coin Vault and the studio were also here. The show is literally everywhere in the country. It’s surreal.”
With a degree in Business Administration and a handful of sales jobs in the past, it did not take long for Dane to catch on. However, he admits that the amount of information learned and that of which is still to learn is exponential.
“The vast amount of learning there is to do, it’s incredible,” he said. “There are always stories to be told and learning to be done in this business. The sharing of knowledge is huge in what I do personally day-to-day.”
With hundreds of customers to tend to as a representative, Dane finds himself one of the more laid back on the team.
“My approach to my customers is laid back and fun,” he expressed, “but listening to my clients and catering to their needs when it comes to their collections is also my approach. Marrying the two is really what I’ve tried to do and I think I’ve been successful. I’m also pretty competitive so there’s that passion as well.”
Competitiveness lingers on the sales floor with most of our representatives, but the environment remains friendly.
“We learn from each other and I think that everyone in there is just different enough that we work well together,” Dane articulated. “I think we all have a passion for what we do and at the end of the day, that’s what matters most as a unit.”
As a collector himself, Dane also finds that his strong interest in numismatics personally also encourages his success.
“I buy coins for my kids all the time and usually those lean toward more foreign options because of the themes,” he said. “For example, the first coin I bought for my son was a South African Lion coin because he likes lions. I usually go more towards United States coinage myself. I have some American Silver Eagles and Barber dimes.”
Much like the collection he has started for himself, Dane’s advice for a collector starting out would be very similar.
“It all depends on their budget really,” he explained. “If you don’t have a ton of room to work with, I definitely wouldn’t start with something that would be hard to complete like maybe the Morgan Silver Dollar collection because those can start to be really expensive when you get down to those key dates. Perhaps starting out in albums and filling those with maybe Franklin Half Dollars or Walking Liberty Half Dollars---that’s where I would tell them to start. It’s also a good place to start learning with raw coins. That way you know what you have and it gets easier over time.”
When Dane is not busy here at The Coin Vault, he finds himself doing anything outdoors (fishing to be specific) or spending time with his wife and three kids.
“It isn’t lost on me that I’m able to spend time with my family and do things I love outside of work because of the place I’m at now in my career,” Dane said. “I definitely feel at home here and it’s the most comfortable I’ve been in a long time. The hours and the flexibility are good for my family, which is good for me.”