It's a race to see if we can keep our many display cases filled with fresh inventory for all of our great customers. Somer describes how it all comes about.
Southgate Coins Winning the Triple Crown of Inventory Processing?
By Somer Athari
As all of you in cyber-world know from previous Snippets articles, we here at Southgate Coins are huge fans of horseracing. One customer, who knows of our passion for interests other than "CC" coins, came in this week and dropped off the updated list of the potential horses that may be racing in the prestigious Kentucky Derby this year. With the derby only 5 weeks away, I have begun looking at some of the more curious names of horses that will be running. Names like Consolidator, Sun King, High Limit, Going Wild, and Sweet Catomine are some of the front-runners. I personally enjoy the underdogs, for example Spanish Chestnut. I bet you can guess why I enjoy this horse so much? (Hint; I studied in Alicante, Spain last semester.)
Even if you aren't a big fan of horseracing, you probably know some names like Secretariat, Smarty Jones, and Seabiscuit, who have all been immortalized in history as the best horses to have ever lived (and of course my favorite, the lesser known Birdstone).
So what kind of names will you be looking at this year, and who might be great enough to win the Triple Crown? I don't know, but if there were contests for coin dealers, I'm sure we would have our name at the top of the list, every year. You would see our name everywhere, for being the quickest, politest, most dependable, and most capable dealers you could find. Well, of course there are no such races, but imagine the possibilities if there were?
Even if there aren't races for coin dealers, we still race around here getting everything we can into our display cases, so we can have the best selection for our customers, who come from far and long to see us… and our coins too.
It's never an easy process to keep our cases full of rare and hard to find coins, but the challenge constantly keeps us busy at work. Whether it's the newest statehood quarter or a tray of rare buffalo nickels, we are always flipping, painting, and pricing more coins to keep up with our heavy customer demand.
I bet you would like to know exactly how our coins go from someone selling us their old collections (or suppliers shipping us the newest coins) to the amazing selection that we have here at Southgate Coins? Well, you asked for it, and I will attempt to provide you with all the answers, at least for our uncertified coins (slabbed coins, paper money, and casino memorabilia deserve their own depictions).
First and foremost we make "work orders." Whether it be a customer's request or a display case that has been happily picked over by customers. From there, those "work orders" get filed by priority and then they go straight to Rusty with a thank you and a smiley face at the bottom, letting Rusty know that we appreciate the time he takes on behalf of our great customers. After Rusty finds a few lucky winners, those fortunate coins get to be flipped into little cardboard holders by yours truly, or one of the other (eager-to-staple) girls. When the process is nearly done, we label each coin accordingly with its date and mintmark, like a brand on the rump of a horse, which makes each coin famous in its own respect. At this point we are about 3/4 of the way around the racetrack. Then they go straight to the pricing line. Rusty takes the coins again, and spends precious time, grading and pricing each individual coin. Long process, huh? Now to the last step! From there we put the coins out for display, making sure they are in the right chronological order. Well, I guess there is one more step, but it involves all of you. Someone has to buy all these amazing coins, right? Just like someone has to bet on the winning horse, or else no one wins.
Speaking of winning horses, just like in horseracing, some players get scratched from the racing program, and unfortunately Claire will not be racing with the Southgate Team any longer. May she be prosperous in her races at other courses. Yet, another player is at the running block; please welcome the best of the best, Bobbi. She will be our new full-time employee, who beat out all the other applicants by lengths. *Hooray for Bobbi!*
Well that does it for this week, sports fans. Tune in next time for the updated list of what's shaking at Southgate Coins.
Your Correspondent,
Somer