COINAGE CONFIDENTIAL
Kathleen Duncan: Pinnacle Rarities, Inc.
Kathleen Duncan is a professional numismatist and co-owner with her husband, Dan, of Pinnacle Rarities in Olympia, Washington. She began her numismatic career in 1988 affer graduating from University of Florida with a B.A. in Economics. She co-founded Pinnacle in 1992 and has bought and sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of rare coins. She is a life member of the American Numismatic Association (ANA), as well as a member of the Industry Council for Tangible Assets (ICTA), Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS), Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC), Florida United Numismatists (FUN), Certified Acceptance Corporation (CAC), and Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG), where she was a former board member. She is also a proud mother of three teenagers.
How did you get involved with numismatics?
My father began investing in rare coins shortly affer PCGS and NGC began third-party grading. Affer graduating college, I took a job with a Chicago dealer, Larry Whitlow, and began learning all I could about rare coins and the industry. I worked for Larry for four years before co-founding Pinnacle Rarities.
What is your favorite area of numismatics?
I really can’t pick just one. If I had to limit myself to three: classic commemoratives, Standing Liberty quarters, and Walking Liberty halves.
Do you consider coin collecting and investing to be mutually exclusive?
Not at all. Rare coins can be great investments. fie keys are knowledge and time. First, you need to make sure you’re buying the right coins, and you need to know how to value them. If you haven’t been collecting for a very long time, this means you will need to find someone to advise you. And you usually need to hold your collection for many years to see substantial profits. I don’t see very many pure investors any
more. Most of my clients are collectors foremost. Of course they’re also focused on the investment side to some degree.
What do you define as a U.S. “type” coin?
A type coin is any representative of a particular series. Typically, it is a common date, but it doesn’t have to be. So a collector may want to collect a set of Lincoln cents and buy one example of each date and mintmark, or maybe just buy one example as a type coin.
What do you like best about working with collectors of U.S. type coins?
If a collector is building a type set, which is one example of each design type of every denomination, typically he or she is looking for coins that are special in some way. That collector might want coins that are brilliant or, conversely, have a lot of color; or that collector might just be looking for the finest graded material that can be found. My job is to find the perfect coin for each collector. When a client is really excited about a coin I sell, it makes my day.
What is the best way for someone to get started as a Type coin collector?
I advise starting with lesser expensive items and building up to more costly purchases as your confidence as a collector grows. But, really, the key to collecting is finding the types of coin designs or series that you love. If you really love classic commemoratives, then don’t pursue a type set. Buy what you enjoy.
What could cause a resurgence of type coin collecting?
Most people have no idea about the coinage from the early U.S. history. Promoting these cool, historic design types to the general public would generate interest and develop new collectors.
Please cite your top three type coin picks.
The two main sleeper categories right now are Barber and Seated coinage, both business strikes and proofs. There is great potential for appreciation in these areas, as populations have remained relatively stable while prices have notably declined. I can’t think of a third area that has the same degree of upside.
How do you explain the precipitous decline in value of many high-grade type coins?
The market lost quite a few collectors between 2008 and today due to the weakened economy. There are still many buyers for the less expensive coins, and there continues to be plenty of demand for the ultra rarities, but coins in the $1,500-$7,500 range have suffered.
The hobby and science of numismatics has a graying population, and very few young people are entering the field. What needs to be done to expand and grow the hobby?
The April 2018 Great American Coin Hunt is a perfect example of a way to get younger generations excited about coins. Hundreds of dealers, my own firm, Pinnacle, included, across the country put more than a million classic American coins from the 18th to 20th centuries into circulation. So along with Easter egg hunting last
April, children and adults alike could hunt for coins.
When the 50 State Quarter Program was issued (19992008), it was estimated that up to half the population, or almost 150 million people, were collecting them. The Mint’s release of five 2019-W America the Beautiful quarters into circulation is another great new promotion. Each coin is only available in circulation and has a mintage limited to 2 million coins, or about 1% of the total mintage of 2019-dated quarters. They will be mixed in with other quarters before leaving the Mint. We have to get the general public thinking and talking about coins again.
What is the future of coin shows and conventions? What makes the FUN show so perennially successful, while other shows are on the verge of obsolescence?
Coin shows will never disappear. Collectors will always want the opportunity to see thousands of coins in person, both on the bourse floor and at auction lot viewing. The January FUN show is in a great location: sunny Florida in the winter. It’s a great place for collectors to vacation, and they can bring their families since there is plenty to do outside of the show. When a show is held in a boring suburb, it’s obvious why it’s not going to draw nearly the same crowd. Show promoters should find appealing locations that offer more than just a convention center.