Billion dollars of wisdom

Building a billion dollar business from a base in coin collecting can’t be easy.

Such success entails business acumen, hard work and perhaps a bit of luck.

But the outcome for Heritage Auctions is unquestionable dominance among auction firms in numismatics and other fields in which it participates.

Perhaps founders Steve Ivy and Jim Halperin will share their secret when they host “An Intimate Evening with Steve Ivy and Jim Halperin March 3 during the American Numismatic Association’s National Money Show in Dallas, Texas.

It is a fund-raising event for the ANA.

Tickets are $110 each.

The gathering will sit down to a three-course dinner that includes tenderloin filet and Maryland crab cake.

An interview of this dynamic duo of the auction business will be conducted by Barbara Gregory, who is editor-in-chief of The Numismatist, the official publication of the ANA.

Hearing what the two have to say undoubtedly will be interesting.

Some might hesitate over the admission price.

If raising money for the ANA is not a sufficient motivation, try this. Simply write the number for the cost – $110 – on a piece of paper.

Next to it, write one billion dollars as $1,000,000,000.

That alone should persuade you to make the transaction.

Besides, you might gain an insight that will help some of those zeroes find their way to the value of your collection or business.

Buy a ticket now.

As an aside this morniing, the Mint sent out a notice yesterday that news that it is killing off mail orders is premature.

On Tuesday it said the end date for mail orders was fixed as Sept. 30, 2016.

Now the Mint says it is only analyzing a policy change to discontinue the distribution of mail order forms in 2016.

Once again, if the Mint tries to be all things to all people instead of running a business, mail orders will be accepted until the year 2099.

I wonder what Steve Ivy and Jim Halperin think of that.

Buzz blogger Dave Harper has twice won the Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog and is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."

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