Even cowgirls have to take time to do their Spring Cleaning and Southgate Coins is no exception. Dressed in cowboy hats and boots, we grab our feather dusters and brooms and clean to the beat of county music's finest tunes........
Spring Cleaning in the Summer
Last week the 4th issue of Curry’s Chronicle was sent to all the C4OA members. It is full of interesting articles and observations from the members. Once the members start talking, the conversations heat up fast. Carson City coins are a subject that is something to be excited about. Someone reads an article that reminds them of an experience or a special coin they have owned and we’ve got another story. We begin preparing for the next issue even before the last one is sent out, so all you members with a great story; get them to us, so all of us can read your story in the next issue.
Rusty will be going to the Denver ANA in August. He will be holding the 2nd Annual C4OA meeting on Thursday, August 17, at 1:00. The club is almost 250 members strong and growing! We have members from all over the United States. If you members are coming to the Denver ANA , make sure you set aside time and join us.
We are having a great summer so far. This week we are all dressed up for our annual Rodeo Dress-up days. It is so much fun; we even grabbed our mailman, put a hat on him and snapped his picture. No one is safe from us here at Southgate Coins. Customers come in and love the feel of the western atmosphere and the wide array of coins, especially CC's.
We will also be planning a Coming Back Party for Amy in early August. We look forward to having her back. And of course, anyone who knows much about us here at Southgate Coins, will not be surprised that we use any excuse for food and fun, especially a great excuse like this one.
We have been involved in all kinds of "Spring Cleaning in Summer" projects, since the girls have a few months off from their college classes. It involves all the jobs we just don’t have time for during the busy fall and winter months. We try to tackle them in the summer before another holiday season begins. It helps us to feel that we aren’t completely losing the war on clutter.
Stacie and Kelsey have been organizing proof and mint sets, modern commemoratives and all kinds of coin albums. Just when they think they have made some progress we bring in another box of sets. The shelves go from floor to ceiling, chock full of every kind of set imaginable. They know now, why we call some of this inventory "bulk items." Heather devised a clever spread sheet to keep track of them; otherwise it would be impossible to keep an accurate count of them.
Kelsey has taken on the challenge of organizing Rusty's office. This has to be done with great care as everything in the office is of great importance. On one side of the office, research papers and references are stacked high, some on the floor and some on the desk. Everywhere else, bins of coins lay waiting to be graded or processed, covering every inch of space on his desk and visitor's chair. Always placed before him on his desk are the familiar yellow lined legal pads that he uses to write his latest book, which right now is "James Crawford, the Master of the Mint on Carson Street." We are looking forward to the book's completion. We have been allowed a few sneak peeks and Kelsey lets us in on some of the really exciting parts. For now, Kelsey has to be content to dust around the piles of papers, but when the book is completed she has plans for real organization in his office.
The biggest challenge by far, that we are undertaking this summer, is categorizing the silver dollars. Silver dollars require much more processing than 90% silver or silver bullion, so they have a tendency to accumulate. We have a couple of places set aside just for silver dollars. They have really stacked up and are piled pretty high. Finally, the day of reckoning came last week. We knew it was time when we couldn’t add one more dollar to the pile, the last straw so to speak.
Heather began this project by making velveteen covered work pads, Big Ones, so that she would have an area to work on. These pads covered one large work table that we process on and another table that is just for categorizing Pre-21 Morgans. She made signs for each categoy of dollar, Pre-21Morgan, 1921 Morgan and Peace dollars. First, she separated the Peace dollars from the Morgan dollars, it sounds easy, but it was a big job. These were the first steps of our journey to organization.
Once that is done, the dollars need to be looked at for dates and mints. Then each coin will be examined for a condition rating. Condition ratings for coins range from damaged, polished , cull to good, very good, fine, extra fine, almost uncirculated, uncirculated to brilliant uncirculated. Every coin has had different handling and treatment so each one needs to be judged individually. There can be so many different conditions, by the time Rusty does the final inspections, there may be 20-30 different categories a coin could be graded in (that’s just for circulated ones!!) There are so many things to look for and it takes a lot of concentration and thought. We are hopeful that by the time school starts again we will have an organized system.
Another big organizational job, which is ongoing, is taking inventory. We regularly take inventory in all the areas of the store, like website coins, display cases and back areas, to name a few. We have systems for each one of the areas and are constantly playing catch up. The only thing constant about our inventory is that it is constantly changing. But rest assured; we won't give up. We have a great crew here at Southgate Coins. All of us have the same goal; to make Southgate Coins a cut above. We visualize our store as the Hallmark of coin stores rather than the Wal-Mart of coin shops. So we keep processing, one bucketful at a time.
So long till next time Pardners,
Marie