Numismatic Hub: How did you first get involved with numismatics?
John Dale Beety: Most collectors have an “origin story.” The funny thing is that I don’t. Neither of my parents collected coins, so I didn’t get “the bug” there. All I remember is that in third grade I was sort of interested in coins, by fifth grade I was definitely interested in coins, and in middle school I was hooked and hopeless.
NH: You were quite an active young numismatist. How did your experiences as a young numismatist prepare you for your current career?
JDB: Being part of the coin-collecting community was really important for me growing up, and as I matured I seriously thought about numismatics as a career. I got so much encouragement and advice as a Young Numismatist, and from so many people, that it’d be impossible to name them all. It’s pretty much a case of “If you think you should be thanked, you’re right, and thank you.”
The names that come to mind, though, in rough timeline order: R.W. Julian, who was my hometown mentor, and all the rest of the Logansport Coin Club; Gail Baker, who got me my first YN scholarship to the Summer Seminar in Colorado Springs; Stuart Levine, who bought me my first coin book past the Guide Book (Pollock’s pattern reference) and told me to take numismatics as far as I wanted to take it; Julian Leidman, who gave me a great education and acted as my agent at the second Pittman Auction for less than the price of a steak dinner; Polly Edwards “Ms. Polly” Pittman and the rest of the Pittman family for two Buffalo nickels and all the encouragement a teenager could want; David W. Akers, for inspiring me to be a cataloger; and Paul Minshull, who gave me a chance to be an intern for Heritage and then a cataloger.
NH: Many college students hope to graduate and enter the “real world” with a secured job, but unfortunately that’s virtually never the case. You had the luxury of being hired right out of college. What was that experience like?
JDB: An exercise in persistence. I’d interned at Heritage two summers before I was hired, working with the Wholesale and Coin Consignment departments. I sent an e-mail response to a “help wanted” posting on the Heritage site looking for a coin cataloger. Paul Minshull was understandably skeptical—everyone else in the cataloging department is old enough to be my dad, after all—but he gave me a copy of the super-secret cataloging test, and he liked what he saw. The chief cataloger agreed, and I was in. I graduated from college in Indiana in May, and two weeks later I walked into the Heritage office in Dallas for my first day on the job. It was my 21st birthday. Best present ever? It’s close.NH: You work as a numismatic cataloger for Heritage Auction Galleries. What is your favorite aspect of your job?
JDB: Besides the coins, obviously? (laughs) The cataloging department has some great people. I’m one of four full-timers in the Dallas office. The chief cataloger, Mark van Winkle, is seriously underrated. He’s the ultimate Mr. Inside—a great coin mind who has been so loyal to Heritage and kept such a low profile overall that nobody really appreciates how much knowledge he has in his head. Our senior cataloger, Mark Borckardt, is more Mr. Outside. He has the books, the articles, the prominence, and he has so much talent and skill that he can back up all the hype he gets and then some. I used to be the new guy, but I’m not anymore, actually. We have another full-time cataloger, Dave Stone. He isn’t well-known outside of Heritage, but he has an amazing numismatic library and he knows how to use it. Great guy, too. Co-workers and bosses make any desk job, as cataloging is, and I’m lucky to have the ones I do.
NH: Your job permits you to view and handle some of the rarest coins in existence. Is it possible to choose your favorite piece?
JDB: I’m a U.S. coin cataloger, but I’m going to go outside the U.S. and to Canada. I helped the World Coins department catalog the Canadiana Collection, and one of the coins I wrote was a 1936 Dot cent. The 1936 Dot cent is the most iconic rarity of Canadian coinage, almost like Canada’s answer to the U.S. 1804 dollar. David W. Akers spent several years in the 1990s cataloging and selling the Pittman Collection, and that 1936 Dot cent had been part of the collection. I’ve already said that Mr. Akers was my inspiration to become a cataloger, so being able to follow in his footsteps on that coin was a thrill.
NH: What has been your most momentous experience in your numismatic career?
JDB: Early 2008. The Queller Family Collection of Silver Dollars comes in, and the centerpiece is an 1804 dollar, a Class I or Original. We decided to do a multipart description—one person talks about the history, another about originals versus restrikes, and so on—so we’d all have a piece of the description. Then we parceled out different pieces to different catalogers. Our list of parts didn’t have a physical description of the coin, what it looked like, so I sent an e-mail around saying, asking about the physical description and who was doing that. The response: Good point, and I was.
So I’m 22, I have an 1804 dollar on my desk, I’m trying to write about it, and I have two thoughts buzzing in my head: “Does it get any better than this?” and “What the heck am I doing?” Just when I’m about to drive myself crazy with those thoughts, I get another: “It’s still a coin. Just write about the coin.” That’s how I got myself settled enough to just sit down, write, and get the job done.
NH: Where do you see the numismatic industry heading in the next five years?
JDB: Actually, I don’t think about that too much. Since I’m a cataloger who doesn’t go to shows often, I’m rather insulated from market trends and why collectors are selling. If I were a consignment director, always talking to customers, I’d probably have a better answer.
NH: Besides being a cataloger, you wrote for the Heritage blog. What was your favorite topic to blog about?
JDB: Coins, but talking about coins to a different audience. Writing for a catalog, there are specific things to mention about a coin, its appearance, history, and so on, and it all has to be presented formally, like the different catalogers are speaking with a single voice. The blog allowed me to exercise a different voice, more conversational, more like myself. I couldn’t get away with a pop music reference in the catalog, like name-checking a Bowling for Soup song. I could do it in the blog.
NH: As someone who was an involved young numismatist, why do you think that there aren’t more young kids involved with the hobby?
JDB: I look at it a different way. How do we have so many now? Compared to when I was an active Young Numismatist, I’ve seen many more YNs come through the ranks. I really credit things like the 50 States Quarters® program. It’s given kids a good place to start with collecting, which I think was missing through most of the 1990s.
NH: In regards to the previous question, what do you think can be done to get more kids to become involved with numismatics?
JDB: Numismatics will always be in competition with popular culture. I grew up in the 1990s, and for most of that time, if I had to choose between coin collecting and watching Nickelodeon, my first question would be, “Is Legends of the Hidden Temple on?” My best advice is to make coin collecting accessible and friendly, but also not to force the issue. I saw a lot of kids enthusiastic to be at coin shows, and more who were dragged there by parents and visibly annoyed. Some in the first group are still with the hobby. The second group? Almost none.
NH: Do you have any advice for young numismatists looking to prosper in the industry?
JDB: Step one is to figure out what you’d want to do if you weren’t a professional numismatist, and get a college degree that will let you pursue that other job. Being a professional numismatist isn’t for everyone, and you don’t want to be caught in a position where you hate your job and only have a high school diploma. Other successful numismatists have started after high school or dropped out of college to start work, but it’s not something I would recommend.
If you decide to become a professional numismatist, your relationship with the hobby is going to change, because it won’t be your hobby anymore, but your career. You have to be prepared for that. Having another hobby really helps, because after a hard day’s work, you’ll need a way to blow off some steam, and coin collecting won’t be able to fill that need for you. Myself, I’m a reader and gamer-geek.
Going out on your own and becoming a coin dealer is like any other entrepreneurial venture. It’s hard work and has a high chance of failure. Any longtime dealer who says there haven’t been any scary moments is a liar. Going to work for a large firm, like Heritage, offers more stability, but it comes with many of the same expectations as any other corporate career.
All that sounds like a big bucket of cold water, and that’s what it’s meant to be. Most people who think they want to be professional numismatists, YNs and adults alike, are better off keeping their hobby exactly that: a hobby. For others, though, being a professional numismatist is like a calling. If that’s where you are, I wish you the best, and I hope I get to congratulate you when you make it to the top.
All images courtesy of Heritage Auctions
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