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Currently self-employed as a.....rare coin dealer! Odd path for a tech nerd hacker like me, but …

Currently self-employed as a.....rare coin dealer! Odd path for a tech nerd hacker like me, but certainly the most fun thing I've ever done with no plans to change this gig ever. My backstory: Collected coins as a kiddo, took a 35-year detour into startup land: Started a VC-backed Web 1.0 company from 1999-2002, ran a non-tech company for ~10 years, then 2014-2022 did very traditional early stage tech product management / utility infielder roles. All fun times with at least one legit acquisition/IPO so far, but it turns out I don't love long zoom meetings and politics and formal process all that much. In 2021 I started getting back into my old coin-collecting hobby and dabbled in buying and selling at a local coin show, and boy oh boy did that escalate quickly (it was one of the most fun and dopamine-filled weekends I can remember in a long time). Cut to 2023 and I'm running my own rare coin business full-time -- buying, selling, and trading. It's such a fascinating business and very quiet multi-billion dollar industry with enormous opportunity. …

Original discussionAsk HN: How many of you are self employed?438 source comments · at import
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AS

How many of you are self employed? What do you do? I won't count startups that are funded, but more the individual who started something for themselves. Curious to know what sustains people.

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LW

If you're comfortable answering, I'd be SUPER interested to know how the income compares to tech!

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JW

how specific is the hobby? are folks generalist collectors or do people go deep on a specific region/period?

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DO

To what extent did your past income (IPOs, executive…) provide the necessary capital to do this profitably? I wonder if there are some economies of scale required outside of numismatics know-how - ie get positive expected value/profit if you can front to buy $100k worth of coins for the 1 coin that is worth it at $101k.

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ET

I have been curious about using computer vision to bulk scan and identify valuable coins. Have systems like this been put into use already? If not do you think they might dilute the value of "rare" coins by creating many more "finds" then were typically possible without the technology?

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BI

Awhile back a friend of mine started talking about how he was getting into coin dealing as a full time job. I was never able to quite believe him, and then was just kinda baffled when he started buying houses and nice cars and boats and taking expensive vacations. Was he legit or was he dealing drugs? Is the coin game that lucrative?

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