July 17, 2025 • 27 mins
Summary
In this conversation, Ben the Coin Geek shares his journey in numismatics, detailing how he transitioned from a young collector to a successful coin shop owner and YouTube content creator. He discusses the unique aspects of running a coin shop, including the challenges posed by online competition and the importance of community engagement through events like bid boards. Ben emphasizes the significance of authenticity in content creation, which has helped him grow his YouTube channel despite algorithm challenges. He also reflects on the diverse audience his channel attracts, from beginners to seasoned collectors, and shares his aspirations for future content.
Takeaways
Ben started collecting coins at the age of 10.
He bought Old Pueblo Coin in 1997 after working there.
Bid boards serve as a silent auction for coin collectors.
Running a coin shop involves dealing with various government regulations.
The shop has a friendly vibe and engages the local community.
Authenticity in content creation is key to attracting viewers.
Ben's YouTube channel grew during the COVID pandemic.
He aims to provide educational content about coins and history.
The channel attracts both beginners and advanced collectors.
Ben plans to create more interview-style and historical content.
Titles
The CoinGeek Journey: From Collector to Content Creator
Exploring the World of Coin Collecting with Ben
Sound bites
"Authenticity always wins the day."
"I want the hobby to succeed."
"I do get recognized at coin shows."
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Ben the CoinGeek
01:02 Ben's Journey in Numismatics
03:02 Understanding Bid Boards in Coin Collecting
05:54 Challenges of Running a Coin Shop
09:05 The Vibe of the Coin Shop
09:46 Growing a Successful YouTube Channel
13:56 Content Creation and Authenticity
17:47 The Impact of YouTube on Business
21:50 Connecting with the Coin Community
24:46 Future Plans for Content Creation
Where you can find Ben:
https://www.instagram.com/thecoingeek/
https://www.instagram.com/oldpueblocoin/
https://oldpueblocoin.com/
Where you can find Cabbage:
https://www.instagram.com/cabbage_coins/
https://cabbagecoins.com/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Alright, folks. We have today Ben the Coin Geek
(00:03):
from the Ben the Coin GeekYouTube channel. Is that the
actual name of your YouTubechannel, or did I get it wrong?
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Channel's actually just the Coin Geek. Although, I
was trying to get on to there'sanother platform called Rumble
that someone I think I had toput Ben the Coin Geek. I'm not
actually uploaded any videosthere yet, but anyway, long
story. The Coin Geek is the nameof the YouTube channel, but
usually all my intros say Benthe Coin Geek, and that's also,
I think, okay.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Okay. We can talk a little bit about how you came up
with that name, but so just alittle bit of intro. So Ben runs
a very, very successful YouTubechannel. Of those of my channel
that know I'm just kind ofgetting into this and just
getting started. I'm trying todo a little bit of a podcast
format, trying to createcontent, add value to all my
collectors and the viewers outthere, teach people about the
coin market specifically.
It's one of the major topics Ireally enjoy is coin the the
(00:52):
coin market specifically. AndBen also runs a shop in Tucson,
Arizona. So, Ben, just give us ashort little summary of, of, you
know, your background innumismatics, how you got into
coin collecting and this, inthis coin business and what you
do today in terms of, you know,content as well as your
business.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Coin collecting started when I was 10, and I was
at a there's a little swap shopnext to our house. So that's
like on weekends, the guy wouldopen these barn doors, and he
had just, like, stuff. Right?Think antiques roadshow kind of
thing. And he had a littlewooden chest, and it had a bunch
of foreign coins in it, and Iwas hooked.
I was hooked. And then I startedyou know, my dad was nice enough
to take me to several coin shopsaround town when he had time.
(01:33):
And then, you know, in high no.In college, I actually started
working at Old Pueblo Coin thatI own now in 1997. Founder, Rob
Mr.
Coinman, he had said, you know,it's time for for him to retire,
and I ended up buying thebusiness from him. And that's
that's like the the shortversion.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Yeah. I've been in old Pebble Coin because I used
to live in Phoenix actually.Lived there for two years and I
drove down to Tucson. I'vestopped into old Pebble Coin
exchange, pretty neat littlecoin shop. I will say a lot of
traffic through there.
Remember, I came there one time.Do you guys do, like, monthly
raffle? Not raffles?
Speaker 2 (02:10):
No. We have the board every we have the bid boards
every weekend. Every Yeah. Imean, there's obviously we're
we're close between Christmasand New Year's. There's
Thanksgiving weekend, but forthe most part, probably 49
Saturdays out of the month,there's a out of the year,
there's a there's a bid boardgoing on.
So we got coffee and donuts onSaturdays.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Oh, coffee and donuts. Okay. Might make it
worth it.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
And a board up there.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
And it's worth it. Yeah. So for people that don't
know what a bid board is, canyou explain just a little bit
about how this operates, whatwhat it does? Are there deals,
opportunities? What exactly is abid board?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
So a bid board is basically a silent auction. It
is like the coin dealer'suniverse version of pre eBay,
where we take a little card andyou put a coin on you know,
staple it in flip. You put thedescription and the grade and
the catalog value and what theopening bid is, and people are
(03:04):
assigned a bidder's number, andso they can bid on it. You know,
it's as far as what it does, youknow, for me, it gets people
engaged interested in the hobby.It has we'll have a variety of
things from tokens and metals topaper money, US world coins,
just a wide array of things.
And so it's it's really a funway to introduce people to the
(03:25):
hobby. And of course, like Isaid, on Saturdays when the
boards come down, we put all newboards up. We have coffee and
donuts. It's a little bit like achurch fellowship, the
sacrilegious way to put that.But it's a great way to meet
other collectors.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Do you guys sing any hymns together or no?
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Well, I'd probably be mostly singing Irish drinking
songs, but I just I don't I'mtrying to think you know, trust
me. I've I've had plenty oftimes when I wanted to very much
so do Weird Al coin relatedstuff, but, like, I just don't
have that talent. I'm good atsome things, and that's just
that's not there. But it's ait's a good time, and it's
(04:01):
actually great for the collectorcommunity. Most of the local
shops have some version of thateven if it's only one or two
boards.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
What's been the most interesting or most valuable
coin that you've seen on a bidboard? So the
Speaker 2 (04:12):
bid boards oh, man. So we we don't put real
expensive coins up there,generally speaking. You know,
you'll see lots of stuff that'sgonna be in that kind of, you
know, $5 to $75 range.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Makes sense. That makes sense.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Yeah. And and so just for exposure because it's just
kinda opening out there kindathing. Yeah. But but definitely,
I've seen guys cherry pickboards with some good stuff. If
the guys who are looking forvarieties like micro s's or
micro o's and things like that,I don't think I've ever seen
anyone, like, cherry pick a 55double die or something, but
I've definitely seen some guysget some fines on bid boards.
(04:46):
So it could probably stillhappen. Just depends on who
you've got running your bidboard and how much experience
they have with coins.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Yeah. It's a it's a it's an interesting aspect. You
don't think of, you know, asilent auction taking place or
that there'd be that muchinterest, but there is. I mean,
the reality is a lot of businessthat happens online nowadays,
and, you know, they havesomething like that. It's
obviously probably, obviouslyharkening back to kind of an
older era, but people I'm surestill love it.
(05:14):
They're still walking in to takea look and see if they can
possibly, you know, cherry picksomething, you know, on the bid
board. And it obviously createsa lot of traffic within the
store, which is great. What arewhat are some of the day to day
challenges of running a a coinshop, a physical coin shop, you
know, with so much happeningonline?
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Yeah. What is it like? It's difficult. I mean,
it's stressful. And of course,at the same time, it's fun.
I I relate it to, like,parenting. You know, there is
there are things about it thatare very difficult. You get to
you get the opportunity to dealwith the federal government, the
state government, the citygovernment, the county
(05:51):
government, and all of theirtendrils, and that's just such a
glorious opportunity. And thenyou've got your employees and
stuff, so which is you know, wehave awesome people here, which
is what makes the place great.It's always what's made the
place great.
You know? And at the same time,though, there's just so many
moving parts. And to the end ofyour statement talking about the
the new the new market, that'sbeen one of the hardest
(06:14):
transitions as we've gone from,you know, a shop that was very
much just local to a shop thatis selling a lot of stuff on our
website and trying to figure outhow to do this, you know, social
media stuff and and be engagedin an entirely new way,
basically.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Yeah. Yeah. What is the general vibe like within the
shop? Who typically, you know,walks in the door? Do you guys
specialize in anything, or youjust kind of do a little bit of
everything?
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Well, yeah, we're kinda old school, you know, what
you'd call a general generalistkinda shop.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Mhmm.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
So if people come in, of course, we're gonna have a
little bullion area because, youknow, people are still doing
bullion. And then Yeah. But wehave trays of Ross stuff out,
you know, in US and world andpaper money. And so it's a very
traditional vibe. It will have,like, some supplies in the
corner kind of thing.
You can still buy the old oldschool, you know, folders that
you can push coins into if you,you know Oh, wow. Beginner. We
(07:13):
have a quarter box. In the so inthe middle of the store, we've
got this big, you know, wood boxthat people can dig through, and
it's mostly for full of worldcoins, and they can buy coins
for for a quarter. And that'sjust kind of a fun fun thing.
And hopefully, the vibe is justfriendly and an enjoyable thing.
(07:33):
It's like we have people thatcome in and they just say, This
is my favorite place to come.You know? And it's just, you
know, offering people water.Sometimes we have some extra
food laying around.
Besides donuts on Saturdays,maybe food is partially a theme.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Yeah. And just for folks out there, when we say raw
coins versus not raw, what rawmeans is coins that have not
been encapsulated by one of thegrading services. So there Ben's
pull pulling up some capsulatedcoins. So a raw coin would be
something that's not in a in anencapsulated holder. Typically,
I don't know.
(08:07):
I'd have to say, I mean, somepeople really like their coins
to still be I know specificallyworld coin collectors prefer raw
coins.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Well, especially ancient Ancient. They're they're
fastidious about having coinsnot in holders, and they'll
break them out of the holdersand stuff. Yeah. I've had some
of them not happy with me that Ihave slabbed ancients and let
go. I think it's good for thehobby.
I just think, you know, for thatmarket anyways. It's just it's
so inviting for people to beable to have, you know, to have
(08:37):
a coin in a holder that theydon't they love the coin, but
they don't know what it is. Thenhere's everything you need to
need to know is right here, andyou can do more research beyond
that. I find that to be thebenefit of certified ancients.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. One of the things that
was surprising to me when I wentover to Europe was going through
coin shows.
Everything were was was raw.Everything were were not in
holders. It kinda gave me alittle bit of an advantage, I
think, in buying coins that Iwanted them to be in holders. I
was looking for slapped coinsbecause there weren't many of
them and there wasn't a lot ofdemand for the ones that there
(09:11):
that there were. So I was ableto find some some good coins
that, you know, purchased wellbecause they weren't the way
that the typical person wantedthem to to be, which was to be
free or raw, from the holder.
But anyway, we'll talk a littlebit about your YouTube channel
because you have a verysuccessful YouTube channel. I
think it's something around40,000 subscribers.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Is that right? Thirty thirty one thousand, I think, as
of 31,000. Like 1,000. Butthat's okay. I mean, I I've
always inflated my height by alittle bit too, so it's okay.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
We'll round up. I mean, you you can round thirty
one up to forty. That's that's Ithink that's doable. How did you
do it? So that's the key.
I would love to know, and I'msure people would be interested.
You know, how did you grow toover, you know, 31,000 followers
on YouTube? Was there anyparticular strategies, key
moments, particular videos thatreally kind of set you off, you
(10:05):
know, on the that trajectory?
Speaker 2 (10:07):
You know, I wish there was something glamorous
about it, but it's like, youknow, it would be kind of silly
of me to say just dumb luckbecause that's not true either.
There's something in betweenthose two things of, like, just
hard work and dumb luck. But, Ijoke about the algorithm because
actually we've always fanciedourself the anti YouTube YouTube
(10:28):
channel. I actually think it'dbe very easy for us to get to
100,000 or more viewers if wewere going to play by YouTube's
rules, and so we've kind of doneit despite the fact that the
algorithm has not been in ourfavor. We've really had great
loyal followers that are niceenough to always kind of leave a
comment and help out with thealgorithm as best they can.
(10:50):
The I think what attracts peopleto our channel is that we are
not clickbait and that we areauthentic. I think authenticity
always wins the day. If you wantto sell out just to make money,
you can. It's that I find thatto be pretty easy. Know lots of
(11:11):
guys that have you know, they'llhave 300,000 followers, but
they'll post videos and they'llthree or 4,000, 5,000 views
because they did somethinggimmicky to start their channel
or something like that.
But for us so what happened iswe started during COVID, and we
had a little bit extra time onour hands and started making
content. And the feedback wasextremely positive. So and we
(11:35):
just had lots of guys saying, ofcourse, at that time, listen.
I'm bored out of my mind. Thankyou.
Like, we need some more contentlike this.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
So it's the combination of authenticity, and
then it's, it's I thinkapproachability, and I think
it's experience, right? So forme, I've been trained in this in
a way already because I've beenworking the front counter of a
coin shop for two and a halfdecades, and so it's very
natural for me to just talkabout coins explain things to
(12:02):
people and educate. And I thinkthat's a lot of what you get. So
even when we're looking atcoins, I'm generally not just
like, wow. We got a 65.
We made money and it's morelike, okay. Can I distinguish
for the audience, for theviewers, why this is a five
versus a four or this got a fourversus a five? And, of course,
(12:24):
with the grading companies, it'sits own thing. But outside of
grading also, I I try to behistorical.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Mhmm.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
I mean, when we're looking at stuff, for me, I'm
always just bringing in thethings that I find curious. And,
you know, anytime you look at acoin, it's an opportunity to
look at history, to holdhistory, to think about how does
this connect with somethingelse. And I think there's a lot
of people that connect collectcoins for different reasons. But
(12:52):
the historical aspect, I findone that's pretty compelling for
most people. It's why peopleenjoy the Roadshow or Pawn Stars
or things like And so that'ssomething that I think
resonates.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Yeah. Yeah. Makes a lot of sense. And when I've
gotten started, specificallywith Instagram, which is what
really took off for me, Istarted thinking about, well,
how do I start creating somevalue for these folks? Because
it wasn't just going to youknow, I could post coins.
I could say, here's somepictures, and it's gonna you
know, coin is a thousand bucksor something. But if I started
(13:26):
creating some content where I'mactually offering something of
value, a lesson, something thatthey would be interested in,
like, why did this coin not geta CAC sticker? Let's take a look
at it and analyze it a little Ifound that content does really,
really well. And it wassurprising because, you know,
what you hear when you lookinto, well, how do you grow your
(13:48):
channels? Is you hear aboutthese kind of clickbaity things
about an engaging title and a,you know, a title card or a
thumbnail that that makes itlook like, you know, like you're
just like you just discovered,you know, you're gonna discover
something amazing here duringthis during this podcast.
And that things need to be shortand they need to be punchy and
there needs to be quick quickclips. But when I created long
(14:13):
form content that actually wassubstantial, there was substance
to it. We were gonna go over aparticular coin and we were
gonna talk about what made thisa 65 or, or why this coin did
not sticker or some other aspectabout it or about the history of
it or why these two coins are,they were made on the same dies,
but this one's more proof likethan what this one is. These,
these particular videos ended updoing really, really well
(14:35):
because people actually gainedsome value, you know, from it.
And I think there's a lot ofother point to that.
Makes that makes a lot of sense.But so when you're growing your
channel, was there a point, thatit kind of really blew up? Or
did it kinda stay level for awhile?
Speaker 2 (14:53):
It's been just like a constant A steady. It's like
we're just putting enoughcontent out there to Chinese
torture people to death, right,with coin content. It's because
we actually put out videosbasically every day,
Speaker 1 (15:05):
which Yeah. I've noticed that.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Mean, we've got videos going up six days a week,
and then we actually have amember area where I put out
extra content once in a while. Iusually put a little like, I
call it the weekend roundup.I'll put just a video out weekly
for for that group. And thenwhen I'm on the road, usually,
I'll make some extra videocontent for the people who are
members of the of, you know, theenvironmental. I have two
different levels.
I need to work on this. This isstuff that you start and then
(15:28):
you don't tend to like a garden,but but one's called the
environmental damage gang, andso that's kind of out of a fun
play on thing. So but, anyways,as far as the growth of the
channel goes, that's that's beenjust a long, slow, steady
process. And I think to whatyou're talking about with
creating content andunderstanding marketplaces, if
(15:54):
someone just wants to write abook to be famous or wants to be
famous, Instagram famous, that'sall. If that's your goal, you're
already, I think, off base withdoing something that's valuable.
And if you if you focus on theactual content that's gonna be
relative relevant, then it'sgonna reward you in other ways.
(16:14):
Right? And so Mhmm. For me, Ihad no ideas or plan going into
this. It was like, I'm justgonna keep creating content.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Mhmm.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
You know? And then one day you get a call from,
like, a John Albany's aboutsomething, and I'm like, what
you know, so if you wanna talkabout, like, blow up moments, I
didn't have any blow up momentson the channel, but for me
personally, John Albany's hasnever I've never met John
Albany's. Right? And then justthis is probably a couple years
ago when there was somethingthat I had posted and, like, he
called the shop, and I was like,oh, this is strange for me.
(16:49):
Right?
And for those who don't know,he's he's kind of big into the
grating world. He's created thiscrazy stippering.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
That's an understatement. That's an
understatement.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Big deal. But, anyways but you also like, if
you've ever talked to him, yourealize that I think that he has
a perspective much like I do orlike you do, which is, like,
he's not trying to be famous atanything that he's doing. Yeah.
He's just he has he's verymission driven. Yeah.
So and and so for me, I've triedto keep in mind that the goal
isn't to get views. The goal isto to you know, I'm I'm a I'm a
(17:21):
coin ambassador. I want thehobby succeed. I don't need it
to, like, grow by leaps andbounds. So but at the same time,
I wanted to, at a minimum,maintain, but I wanna leave it
better than I found it likethat.
Sure. I think that's
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Yeah. Go ahead. I was super curious. What did John
call you about a couple yearsago? What was the topic?
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Oh, man.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
So for those that don't know, I think it's safe to
say he started CAC.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Right. Right. So and here's here's one of his this is
actually a sample slab. And nowTucson Coin Show.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
CAC started its own grading company.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
They were known for the stickering, but before that,
he was involved with PCGS and Ithink NGC. I think at the time
he was calling about something Ihad commented on in a video
about how they do things, and itwas I think he was calling to
clarify a couple things. Okay.And it's just kind of
interesting, some of thedifferent things that have
(18:14):
happened over the years sincethen. Because for me, even
though you can find people thathave X, the viewership that we
have, we're in the marketplaceand have our pulse on the
market.
People who watch our content areactual coin collectors. Right?
So whereas someone who'swatching clickbait stuff, they
may be doom scrolling and justlike, oh, this is what what is
(18:36):
this guy talking about? Whereaspeople who watch our content
generally are people whoactually are the type of people
that you'll run into at the funshow or Baltimore or the Central
State show or your local club.And I think that that has a lot
more value to it than havinghundreds of thousands of
subscribers does.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Yeah. I wanted to ask you a little bit about the tie
between YouTube and thebusiness. Have you found any you
know, have you found at all thatyour YouTube is actually driving
real business for you, like newcustomers or for the shop or
online sales or anything fromthe YouTube?
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Yeah, very much so. I mean, the end of the day, that's
been a real great benefit. Wedid very little actual internet
sales. I mean, we used eBay,which is different, But before
COVID and before YouTube, ourour Internet sales were very
small, and now we have a veryregular stream of stuff selling
off our website. And so itdefinitely has had that effect.
(19:31):
It's it's like lots of things inlife. You know? If you were only
aiming for that result, you maynot have gotten it. But because
you're aiming for somethingdifferent, it has side effects
that are greater. Right?
And there's accumulation effectto all that. But, yeah, we've
definitely seen it's it's much,much easier for us to sell stuff
off our website than it wasbefore the channel became more
(19:52):
popular.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Yeah. As you find a lot of these folks that are
reaching out or that are youknow, I don't know how much you
connect with your customers, butare they just are they advanced
collectors or a lot of totalbeginners? Do you think your
channel is kind of gettingpeople into the hobby?
Speaker 2 (20:05):
We get everything. One of my favorite stories is
when a guy called up and he wasasking about when the spot price
of silver changes, does itchange the price of a denarius?
Now think about that. So what itwas was this guy came from he
was only a stacker. So, like, ifyou go on YouTube and you search
for silver, you're gonna getpromoted all the silver stackers
(20:27):
channels.
Every video is gonna have 30,000to 75,000 views. You were a good
coin channel is gonna get 3,000to 5,000 views, you know, and if
it's really good, it'll getmore. Right? But Yeah. Here's a
guy who was a soldier.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Like a 100 views.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Yeah. Here's a guy who's got a he was a silver
stacker. He found our channel,and he got interested in ancient
coins. And to me, that's like ahappy day. Right?
So he was asking to him what wasan obvious question like, well,
how does this work? I don't knowhow this works. And so that's to
me is just really cool. So butwe get very beginner collectors.
We get the awesome crossoverfrom guys who are stackers that
(21:05):
are finding the coin industrycool, and we have advanced
collectors.
Did a live stream once with aguy out of Colorado from his
place, and the funniest thing isthe next day, he was like he was
shocked at the people that hehas as clients that reached out
to him and said, you were onBen's show. It was a it's really
(21:26):
another little moment of, okay.Type of people that are watching
the content, not only are theythe beginners, but it's also
guys that are buying, you know,4 figure, 5 figure type coins.
Yeah. So we have a really nicebroad reach.
What I found also is that appealto coin collecting is not just
(21:47):
mathematical or economicallybased. Right? So in other words,
guys that collect $10,000 coins,they'll look at a cool $100 coin
still just as much as a guy whocan't afford a $100 coin wants
to look at a $10,000 coin. Yeah.Yeah.
It's not just like, oh, youknow, I'm not gonna I'm not
gonna look at that stuff. It'sthere's a whole lot of crossover
there that people enjoy a broadspectrum of stuff.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
Yeah. Yeah. I can see that. Just to clarify, when we
say stackers, so the stackercommunity is gonna be mainly
people who like to buy bullion,and they like to stack or put
away American Eagles or MapleLeafs or whatever their, you
know, coin du jour is. And theyput it away in yeah.
They we call it stacking. Often,just like even how I got into
(22:32):
coins, Boolean, stacking Booleanis a gateway into numismatics.
Was going to ask Yeah. You ifyou've Go ahead. Go ahead.
I was just going to ask you backon the topic of of, you know,
you being, famous or orwhatever. Do you get recognized
at shows?
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Yes. Yes. And it well, it's funny, though,
because I like to tell peopleit's you know, they're like,
you're YouTube famous. I say,well, no. I'm coin YouTube
famous, which is very differentthan, like, normal YouTube
famous.
Yeah. It's it's very flatteringand humbling. Right? Like, to go
someplace and people wanna takea picture with you. And I was
like, I mean, hi.
(23:10):
I'm Ben. Nice to meet you. Sure.Like, that's
Speaker 1 (23:12):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Sure. For me, that's easy because that's just I think
the biggest compliment we get isthat, you know, when I meet
people in person and theirresponse is that you're the same
guy that we see. Yeah. So I've Ido get recognized when I don't
know that I've really been,like, just recognized out in
public, but at coin shows,certainly, you know, I went to
Utah a few weeks ago. Any andthis is the hard thing about
(23:33):
social media and communication.
Right? So I send it out on myInstagram, on my YouTube, and we
have an email. And still, you'llgo somewhere and people who know
you and you think are like likea customer or a fan or follower
or whatever, they'll be like,oh, I didn't know you're gonna
be here. How else can I unless Ishould I just call everybody on?
Like, I'm gonna call youspecifically and say, hey.
(23:55):
I'm coming to your town.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Well, you got my number now, you could text me.
Let me know.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
That's right. You know?
Speaker 1 (24:00):
That's right. Be somewhere. That's funny.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Yeah. I know. But it so that is it is a real thing.
It is a different it's a it'svery unusual, and my family
laughs about it, which is good.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Nice. Where do you we'll we'll wrap up here in a
couple in just a couple minutes.Yeah. Sweet. So where do you see
your channel going over the nextfew years?
Is there anything any newformats, content, ideas you have
that you're thinking aboutexploring?
Speaker 2 (24:21):
So your lead in question was about, you know,
running a coin shop. And so oneof the things that's been harder
for me is we've had a lot oftransitions and just trying to
get things hammered down becausethere's, like, however you wanna
divide a coin shop up, whatever,10 or 20 areas of of different
work and stuff, you know, all ofthose areas got a little bit
busier at the same time, andpretty soon you're, like,
(24:42):
holding more than you can. Andand that has, I think, probably
slowed me down from being ableto concentrate on the content
creation that I would like todo. Mhmm. But I I also have more
ideas than I have than there'stime in the day.
Right? So, like, ideation's athing. I'm just like, oh, what
about this? What about this?Thankfully, the engineer is here
to stop me from just going offthe deep end when I wanna post
(25:04):
stuff.
He's like, tap the brakes. But Ireally enjoy interviews. I wanna
try to create a little bit morehistorical content, and I do
have plans to have a separateYouTube channel that's not coin
related just because there's somuch out there that's so
interesting, and it would justbe a variety channel. Like, I
(25:24):
would be tagline was gonna belike, we talk about everything
but coins here. You know?
It's like so everything else.But coin content creation, I I
hope to be able to do moreinterview style stuff and
something a little bithistorical style stuff. That's
kind of a goal of mine.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Yeah. Well, I'd love to have you on again in the
future, you know, just to getyour take from a as a coin shop
owner, your take on the market,your take on what you're seeing
kinda taking place, what kind ofcoins are walking into your
shop, you know, at different atdifferent times of the year, at
different periods, so we canhave you back again and talk
more about your perspective onthings. I'm excited to see
(26:01):
where, where else your channelgoes. And, you know, for viewers
out there, if you've watchedthis far and you have,
particular, you know, subjectsand things that you'd love to
hear from Ben again about, youknow, them in the comments
below. It really helps out thechannel, and it gives us some
ideas as well as well of whatkind of interesting things you
might wanna, you know, hearabout.
So, anyways, Ben, thank you somuch for doing this. Really
(26:24):
appreciate it. And just forguest folks who don't know where
where can they find you? I'massuming everybody knows.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
But Yeah. I mean, obviously, on YouTube, it's, you
know, the coin geek. I have anInstagram that is the coin geek.
The shop itself is called OldPueblo Coin that might be
getting cut off here. It's notPueblo, Colorado.
We're in Tucson, Arizona. OldPueblo Coin. We have
oldpueblocoin.com. Also,tucsoncoinshow.com. So we have
an annual show in Tucson, whichI think is gonna grow into
(26:52):
something that's kind ofdifferent and nice.
I like to tell people it isScottsdale nice at a Tucson
price. And for any of you whoare Arizonans, you'll understand
the reference. Everyone else,you just have to imagine it. An
old Pueblo coin and we also haveold Pueblo coin on on Instagram.
So, you know, it's hard becausethere's, like, 10,000 social
media things.
I feel basically like a NASCARdriver. I should be like, you
(27:13):
know, I like to thank my youknow, and you name all this
stuff, and then you get to Sure.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Say what
Speaker 2 (27:17):
you wanna say. So Yeah. That's good. No. I
appreciate you having me on herefor sure.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Yeah. I'll definitely try to list as many of your your
socials in the description ofthis of this episode so people
know where to find you. And,yeah. Alright, man. Well, thank
you so much.
It's been thirty minutes. Loveto do this again and it's been
wonderful. Appreciate it somuch. Thanks, Kevin. Alright.
I'll see
Speaker 2 (27:39):
you. Thank you.
Alright, folks. We have today Ben the Coin Geek
(00:03):
from the Ben the Coin GeekYouTube channel. Is that the
actual name of your YouTubechannel, or did I get it wrong?
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Channel's actually just the Coin Geek. Although, I
was trying to get on to there'sanother platform called Rumble
that someone I think I had toput Ben the Coin Geek. I'm not
actually uploaded any videosthere yet, but anyway, long
story. The Coin Geek is the nameof the YouTube channel, but
usually all my intros say Benthe Coin Geek, and that's also,
I think, okay.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Okay. We can talk a little bit about how you came up
with that name, but so just alittle bit of intro. So Ben runs
a very, very successful YouTubechannel. Of those of my channel
that know I'm just kind ofgetting into this and just
getting started. I'm trying todo a little bit of a podcast
format, trying to createcontent, add value to all my
collectors and the viewers outthere, teach people about the
coin market specifically.
It's one of the major topics Ireally enjoy is coin the the
(00:52):
coin market specifically. AndBen also runs a shop in Tucson,
Arizona. So, Ben, just give us ashort little summary of, of, you
know, your background innumismatics, how you got into
coin collecting and this, inthis coin business and what you
do today in terms of, you know,content as well as your
business.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Coin collecting started when I was 10, and I was
at a there's a little swap shopnext to our house. So that's
like on weekends, the guy wouldopen these barn doors, and he
had just, like, stuff. Right?Think antiques roadshow kind of
thing. And he had a littlewooden chest, and it had a bunch
of foreign coins in it, and Iwas hooked.
I was hooked. And then I startedyou know, my dad was nice enough
to take me to several coin shopsaround town when he had time.
(01:33):
And then, you know, in high no.In college, I actually started
working at Old Pueblo Coin thatI own now in 1997. Founder, Rob
Mr.
Coinman, he had said, you know,it's time for for him to retire,
and I ended up buying thebusiness from him. And that's
that's like the the shortversion.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Yeah. I've been in old Pebble Coin because I used
to live in Phoenix actually.Lived there for two years and I
drove down to Tucson. I'vestopped into old Pebble Coin
exchange, pretty neat littlecoin shop. I will say a lot of
traffic through there.
Remember, I came there one time.Do you guys do, like, monthly
raffle? Not raffles?
Speaker 2 (02:10):
No. We have the board every we have the bid boards
every weekend. Every Yeah. Imean, there's obviously we're
we're close between Christmasand New Year's. There's
Thanksgiving weekend, but forthe most part, probably 49
Saturdays out of the month,there's a out of the year,
there's a there's a bid boardgoing on.
So we got coffee and donuts onSaturdays.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Oh, coffee and donuts. Okay. Might make it
worth it.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
And a board up there.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
And it's worth it. Yeah. So for people that don't
know what a bid board is, canyou explain just a little bit
about how this operates, whatwhat it does? Are there deals,
opportunities? What exactly is abid board?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
So a bid board is basically a silent auction. It
is like the coin dealer'suniverse version of pre eBay,
where we take a little card andyou put a coin on you know,
staple it in flip. You put thedescription and the grade and
the catalog value and what theopening bid is, and people are
(03:04):
assigned a bidder's number, andso they can bid on it. You know,
it's as far as what it does, youknow, for me, it gets people
engaged interested in the hobby.It has we'll have a variety of
things from tokens and metals topaper money, US world coins,
just a wide array of things.
And so it's it's really a funway to introduce people to the
(03:25):
hobby. And of course, like Isaid, on Saturdays when the
boards come down, we put all newboards up. We have coffee and
donuts. It's a little bit like achurch fellowship, the
sacrilegious way to put that.But it's a great way to meet
other collectors.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Do you guys sing any hymns together or no?
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Well, I'd probably be mostly singing Irish drinking
songs, but I just I don't I'mtrying to think you know, trust
me. I've I've had plenty oftimes when I wanted to very much
so do Weird Al coin relatedstuff, but, like, I just don't
have that talent. I'm good atsome things, and that's just
that's not there. But it's ait's a good time, and it's
(04:01):
actually great for the collectorcommunity. Most of the local
shops have some version of thateven if it's only one or two
boards.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
What's been the most interesting or most valuable
coin that you've seen on a bidboard? So the
Speaker 2 (04:12):
bid boards oh, man. So we we don't put real
expensive coins up there,generally speaking. You know,
you'll see lots of stuff that'sgonna be in that kind of, you
know, $5 to $75 range.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Makes sense. That makes sense.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Yeah. And and so just for exposure because it's just
kinda opening out there kindathing. Yeah. But but definitely,
I've seen guys cherry pickboards with some good stuff. If
the guys who are looking forvarieties like micro s's or
micro o's and things like that,I don't think I've ever seen
anyone, like, cherry pick a 55double die or something, but
I've definitely seen some guysget some fines on bid boards.
(04:46):
So it could probably stillhappen. Just depends on who
you've got running your bidboard and how much experience
they have with coins.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Yeah. It's a it's a it's an interesting aspect. You
don't think of, you know, asilent auction taking place or
that there'd be that muchinterest, but there is. I mean,
the reality is a lot of businessthat happens online nowadays,
and, you know, they havesomething like that. It's
obviously probably, obviouslyharkening back to kind of an
older era, but people I'm surestill love it.
(05:14):
They're still walking in to takea look and see if they can
possibly, you know, cherry picksomething, you know, on the bid
board. And it obviously createsa lot of traffic within the
store, which is great. What arewhat are some of the day to day
challenges of running a a coinshop, a physical coin shop, you
know, with so much happeningonline?
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Yeah. What is it like? It's difficult. I mean,
it's stressful. And of course,at the same time, it's fun.
I I relate it to, like,parenting. You know, there is
there are things about it thatare very difficult. You get to
you get the opportunity to dealwith the federal government, the
state government, the citygovernment, the county
(05:51):
government, and all of theirtendrils, and that's just such a
glorious opportunity. And thenyou've got your employees and
stuff, so which is you know, wehave awesome people here, which
is what makes the place great.It's always what's made the
place great.
You know? And at the same time,though, there's just so many
moving parts. And to the end ofyour statement talking about the
the new the new market, that'sbeen one of the hardest
(06:14):
transitions as we've gone from,you know, a shop that was very
much just local to a shop thatis selling a lot of stuff on our
website and trying to figure outhow to do this, you know, social
media stuff and and be engagedin an entirely new way,
basically.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Yeah. Yeah. What is the general vibe like within the
shop? Who typically, you know,walks in the door? Do you guys
specialize in anything, or youjust kind of do a little bit of
everything?
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Well, yeah, we're kinda old school, you know, what
you'd call a general generalistkinda shop.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Mhmm.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
So if people come in, of course, we're gonna have a
little bullion area because, youknow, people are still doing
bullion. And then Yeah. But wehave trays of Ross stuff out,
you know, in US and world andpaper money. And so it's a very
traditional vibe. It will have,like, some supplies in the
corner kind of thing.
You can still buy the old oldschool, you know, folders that
you can push coins into if you,you know Oh, wow. Beginner. We
(07:13):
have a quarter box. In the so inthe middle of the store, we've
got this big, you know, wood boxthat people can dig through, and
it's mostly for full of worldcoins, and they can buy coins
for for a quarter. And that'sjust kind of a fun fun thing.
And hopefully, the vibe is justfriendly and an enjoyable thing.
(07:33):
It's like we have people thatcome in and they just say, This
is my favorite place to come.You know? And it's just, you
know, offering people water.Sometimes we have some extra
food laying around.
Besides donuts on Saturdays,maybe food is partially a theme.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Yeah. And just for folks out there, when we say raw
coins versus not raw, what rawmeans is coins that have not
been encapsulated by one of thegrading services. So there Ben's
pull pulling up some capsulatedcoins. So a raw coin would be
something that's not in a in anencapsulated holder. Typically,
I don't know.
(08:07):
I'd have to say, I mean, somepeople really like their coins
to still be I know specificallyworld coin collectors prefer raw
coins.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Well, especially ancient Ancient. They're they're
fastidious about having coinsnot in holders, and they'll
break them out of the holdersand stuff. Yeah. I've had some
of them not happy with me that Ihave slabbed ancients and let
go. I think it's good for thehobby.
I just think, you know, for thatmarket anyways. It's just it's
so inviting for people to beable to have, you know, to have
(08:37):
a coin in a holder that theydon't they love the coin, but
they don't know what it is. Thenhere's everything you need to
need to know is right here, andyou can do more research beyond
that. I find that to be thebenefit of certified ancients.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. One of the things that
was surprising to me when I wentover to Europe was going through
coin shows.
Everything were was was raw.Everything were were not in
holders. It kinda gave me alittle bit of an advantage, I
think, in buying coins that Iwanted them to be in holders. I
was looking for slapped coinsbecause there weren't many of
them and there wasn't a lot ofdemand for the ones that there
(09:11):
that there were. So I was ableto find some some good coins
that, you know, purchased wellbecause they weren't the way
that the typical person wantedthem to to be, which was to be
free or raw, from the holder.
But anyway, we'll talk a littlebit about your YouTube channel
because you have a verysuccessful YouTube channel. I
think it's something around40,000 subscribers.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Is that right? Thirty thirty one thousand, I think, as
of 31,000. Like 1,000. Butthat's okay. I mean, I I've
always inflated my height by alittle bit too, so it's okay.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
We'll round up. I mean, you you can round thirty
one up to forty. That's that's Ithink that's doable. How did you
do it? So that's the key.
I would love to know, and I'msure people would be interested.
You know, how did you grow toover, you know, 31,000 followers
on YouTube? Was there anyparticular strategies, key
moments, particular videos thatreally kind of set you off, you
(10:05):
know, on the that trajectory?
Speaker 2 (10:07):
You know, I wish there was something glamorous
about it, but it's like, youknow, it would be kind of silly
of me to say just dumb luckbecause that's not true either.
There's something in betweenthose two things of, like, just
hard work and dumb luck. But, Ijoke about the algorithm because
actually we've always fanciedourself the anti YouTube YouTube
(10:28):
channel. I actually think it'dbe very easy for us to get to
100,000 or more viewers if wewere going to play by YouTube's
rules, and so we've kind of doneit despite the fact that the
algorithm has not been in ourfavor. We've really had great
loyal followers that are niceenough to always kind of leave a
comment and help out with thealgorithm as best they can.
(10:50):
The I think what attracts peopleto our channel is that we are
not clickbait and that we areauthentic. I think authenticity
always wins the day. If you wantto sell out just to make money,
you can. It's that I find thatto be pretty easy. Know lots of
(11:11):
guys that have you know, they'llhave 300,000 followers, but
they'll post videos and they'llthree or 4,000, 5,000 views
because they did somethinggimmicky to start their channel
or something like that.
But for us so what happened iswe started during COVID, and we
had a little bit extra time onour hands and started making
content. And the feedback wasextremely positive. So and we
(11:35):
just had lots of guys saying, ofcourse, at that time, listen.
I'm bored out of my mind. Thankyou.
Like, we need some more contentlike this.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
So it's the combination of authenticity, and
then it's, it's I thinkapproachability, and I think
it's experience, right? So forme, I've been trained in this in
a way already because I've beenworking the front counter of a
coin shop for two and a halfdecades, and so it's very
natural for me to just talkabout coins explain things to
(12:02):
people and educate. And I thinkthat's a lot of what you get. So
even when we're looking atcoins, I'm generally not just
like, wow. We got a 65.
We made money and it's morelike, okay. Can I distinguish
for the audience, for theviewers, why this is a five
versus a four or this got a fourversus a five? And, of course,
(12:24):
with the grading companies, it'sits own thing. But outside of
grading also, I I try to behistorical.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Mhmm.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
I mean, when we're looking at stuff, for me, I'm
always just bringing in thethings that I find curious. And,
you know, anytime you look at acoin, it's an opportunity to
look at history, to holdhistory, to think about how does
this connect with somethingelse. And I think there's a lot
of people that connect collectcoins for different reasons. But
(12:52):
the historical aspect, I findone that's pretty compelling for
most people. It's why peopleenjoy the Roadshow or Pawn Stars
or things like And so that'ssomething that I think
resonates.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Yeah. Yeah. Makes a lot of sense. And when I've
gotten started, specificallywith Instagram, which is what
really took off for me, Istarted thinking about, well,
how do I start creating somevalue for these folks? Because
it wasn't just going to youknow, I could post coins.
I could say, here's somepictures, and it's gonna you
know, coin is a thousand bucksor something. But if I started
(13:26):
creating some content where I'mactually offering something of
value, a lesson, something thatthey would be interested in,
like, why did this coin not geta CAC sticker? Let's take a look
at it and analyze it a little Ifound that content does really,
really well. And it wassurprising because, you know,
what you hear when you lookinto, well, how do you grow your
(13:48):
channels? Is you hear aboutthese kind of clickbaity things
about an engaging title and a,you know, a title card or a
thumbnail that that makes itlook like, you know, like you're
just like you just discovered,you know, you're gonna discover
something amazing here duringthis during this podcast.
And that things need to be shortand they need to be punchy and
there needs to be quick quickclips. But when I created long
(14:13):
form content that actually wassubstantial, there was substance
to it. We were gonna go over aparticular coin and we were
gonna talk about what made thisa 65 or, or why this coin did
not sticker or some other aspectabout it or about the history of
it or why these two coins are,they were made on the same dies,
but this one's more proof likethan what this one is. These,
these particular videos ended updoing really, really well
(14:35):
because people actually gainedsome value, you know, from it.
And I think there's a lot ofother point to that.
Makes that makes a lot of sense.But so when you're growing your
channel, was there a point, thatit kind of really blew up? Or
did it kinda stay level for awhile?
Speaker 2 (14:53):
It's been just like a constant A steady. It's like
we're just putting enoughcontent out there to Chinese
torture people to death, right,with coin content. It's because
we actually put out videosbasically every day,
Speaker 1 (15:05):
which Yeah. I've noticed that.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Mean, we've got videos going up six days a week,
and then we actually have amember area where I put out
extra content once in a while. Iusually put a little like, I
call it the weekend roundup.I'll put just a video out weekly
for for that group. And thenwhen I'm on the road, usually,
I'll make some extra videocontent for the people who are
members of the of, you know, theenvironmental. I have two
different levels.
I need to work on this. This isstuff that you start and then
(15:28):
you don't tend to like a garden,but but one's called the
environmental damage gang, andso that's kind of out of a fun
play on thing. So but, anyways,as far as the growth of the
channel goes, that's that's beenjust a long, slow, steady
process. And I think to whatyou're talking about with
creating content andunderstanding marketplaces, if
(15:54):
someone just wants to write abook to be famous or wants to be
famous, Instagram famous, that'sall. If that's your goal, you're
already, I think, off base withdoing something that's valuable.
And if you if you focus on theactual content that's gonna be
relative relevant, then it'sgonna reward you in other ways.
(16:14):
Right? And so Mhmm. For me, Ihad no ideas or plan going into
this. It was like, I'm justgonna keep creating content.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Mhmm.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
You know? And then one day you get a call from,
like, a John Albany's aboutsomething, and I'm like, what
you know, so if you wanna talkabout, like, blow up moments, I
didn't have any blow up momentson the channel, but for me
personally, John Albany's hasnever I've never met John
Albany's. Right? And then justthis is probably a couple years
ago when there was somethingthat I had posted and, like, he
called the shop, and I was like,oh, this is strange for me.
(16:49):
Right?
And for those who don't know,he's he's kind of big into the
grating world. He's created thiscrazy stippering.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
That's an understatement. That's an
understatement.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Big deal. But, anyways but you also like, if
you've ever talked to him, yourealize that I think that he has
a perspective much like I do orlike you do, which is, like,
he's not trying to be famous atanything that he's doing. Yeah.
He's just he has he's verymission driven. Yeah.
So and and so for me, I've triedto keep in mind that the goal
isn't to get views. The goal isto to you know, I'm I'm a I'm a
(17:21):
coin ambassador. I want thehobby succeed. I don't need it
to, like, grow by leaps andbounds. So but at the same time,
I wanted to, at a minimum,maintain, but I wanna leave it
better than I found it likethat.
Sure. I think that's
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Yeah. Go ahead. I was super curious. What did John
call you about a couple yearsago? What was the topic?
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Oh, man.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
So for those that don't know, I think it's safe to
say he started CAC.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Right. Right. So and here's here's one of his this is
actually a sample slab. And nowTucson Coin Show.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
CAC started its own grading company.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
They were known for the stickering, but before that,
he was involved with PCGS and Ithink NGC. I think at the time
he was calling about something Ihad commented on in a video
about how they do things, and itwas I think he was calling to
clarify a couple things. Okay.And it's just kind of
interesting, some of thedifferent things that have
(18:14):
happened over the years sincethen. Because for me, even
though you can find people thathave X, the viewership that we
have, we're in the marketplaceand have our pulse on the
market.
People who watch our content areactual coin collectors. Right?
So whereas someone who'swatching clickbait stuff, they
may be doom scrolling and justlike, oh, this is what what is
(18:36):
this guy talking about? Whereaspeople who watch our content
generally are people whoactually are the type of people
that you'll run into at the funshow or Baltimore or the Central
State show or your local club.And I think that that has a lot
more value to it than havinghundreds of thousands of
subscribers does.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Yeah. I wanted to ask you a little bit about the tie
between YouTube and thebusiness. Have you found any you
know, have you found at all thatyour YouTube is actually driving
real business for you, like newcustomers or for the shop or
online sales or anything fromthe YouTube?
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Yeah, very much so. I mean, the end of the day, that's
been a real great benefit. Wedid very little actual internet
sales. I mean, we used eBay,which is different, But before
COVID and before YouTube, ourour Internet sales were very
small, and now we have a veryregular stream of stuff selling
off our website. And so itdefinitely has had that effect.
(19:31):
It's it's like lots of things inlife. You know? If you were only
aiming for that result, you maynot have gotten it. But because
you're aiming for somethingdifferent, it has side effects
that are greater. Right?
And there's accumulation effectto all that. But, yeah, we've
definitely seen it's it's much,much easier for us to sell stuff
off our website than it wasbefore the channel became more
(19:52):
popular.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Yeah. As you find a lot of these folks that are
reaching out or that are youknow, I don't know how much you
connect with your customers, butare they just are they advanced
collectors or a lot of totalbeginners? Do you think your
channel is kind of gettingpeople into the hobby?
Speaker 2 (20:05):
We get everything. One of my favorite stories is
when a guy called up and he wasasking about when the spot price
of silver changes, does itchange the price of a denarius?
Now think about that. So what itwas was this guy came from he
was only a stacker. So, like, ifyou go on YouTube and you search
for silver, you're gonna getpromoted all the silver stackers
(20:27):
channels.
Every video is gonna have 30,000to 75,000 views. You were a good
coin channel is gonna get 3,000to 5,000 views, you know, and if
it's really good, it'll getmore. Right? But Yeah. Here's a
guy who was a soldier.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Like a 100 views.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Yeah. Here's a guy who's got a he was a silver
stacker. He found our channel,and he got interested in ancient
coins. And to me, that's like ahappy day. Right?
So he was asking to him what wasan obvious question like, well,
how does this work? I don't knowhow this works. And so that's to
me is just really cool. So butwe get very beginner collectors.
We get the awesome crossoverfrom guys who are stackers that
(21:05):
are finding the coin industrycool, and we have advanced
collectors.
Did a live stream once with aguy out of Colorado from his
place, and the funniest thing isthe next day, he was like he was
shocked at the people that hehas as clients that reached out
to him and said, you were onBen's show. It was a it's really
(21:26):
another little moment of, okay.Type of people that are watching
the content, not only are theythe beginners, but it's also
guys that are buying, you know,4 figure, 5 figure type coins.
Yeah. So we have a really nicebroad reach.
What I found also is that appealto coin collecting is not just
(21:47):
mathematical or economicallybased. Right? So in other words,
guys that collect $10,000 coins,they'll look at a cool $100 coin
still just as much as a guy whocan't afford a $100 coin wants
to look at a $10,000 coin. Yeah.Yeah.
It's not just like, oh, youknow, I'm not gonna I'm not
gonna look at that stuff. It'sthere's a whole lot of crossover
there that people enjoy a broadspectrum of stuff.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
Yeah. Yeah. I can see that. Just to clarify, when we
say stackers, so the stackercommunity is gonna be mainly
people who like to buy bullion,and they like to stack or put
away American Eagles or MapleLeafs or whatever their, you
know, coin du jour is. And theyput it away in yeah.
They we call it stacking. Often,just like even how I got into
(22:32):
coins, Boolean, stacking Booleanis a gateway into numismatics.
Was going to ask Yeah. You ifyou've Go ahead. Go ahead.
I was just going to ask you backon the topic of of, you know,
you being, famous or orwhatever. Do you get recognized
at shows?
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Yes. Yes. And it well, it's funny, though,
because I like to tell peopleit's you know, they're like,
you're YouTube famous. I say,well, no. I'm coin YouTube
famous, which is very differentthan, like, normal YouTube
famous.
Yeah. It's it's very flatteringand humbling. Right? Like, to go
someplace and people wanna takea picture with you. And I was
like, I mean, hi.
(23:10):
I'm Ben. Nice to meet you. Sure.Like, that's
Speaker 1 (23:12):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Sure. For me, that's easy because that's just I think
the biggest compliment we get isthat, you know, when I meet
people in person and theirresponse is that you're the same
guy that we see. Yeah. So I've Ido get recognized when I don't
know that I've really been,like, just recognized out in
public, but at coin shows,certainly, you know, I went to
Utah a few weeks ago. Any andthis is the hard thing about
(23:33):
social media and communication.
Right? So I send it out on myInstagram, on my YouTube, and we
have an email. And still, you'llgo somewhere and people who know
you and you think are like likea customer or a fan or follower
or whatever, they'll be like,oh, I didn't know you're gonna
be here. How else can I unless Ishould I just call everybody on?
Like, I'm gonna call youspecifically and say, hey.
(23:55):
I'm coming to your town.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Well, you got my number now, you could text me.
Let me know.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
That's right. You know?
Speaker 1 (24:00):
That's right. Be somewhere. That's funny.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Yeah. I know. But it so that is it is a real thing.
It is a different it's a it'svery unusual, and my family
laughs about it, which is good.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Nice. Where do you we'll we'll wrap up here in a
couple in just a couple minutes.Yeah. Sweet. So where do you see
your channel going over the nextfew years?
Is there anything any newformats, content, ideas you have
that you're thinking aboutexploring?
Speaker 2 (24:21):
So your lead in question was about, you know,
running a coin shop. And so oneof the things that's been harder
for me is we've had a lot oftransitions and just trying to
get things hammered down becausethere's, like, however you wanna
divide a coin shop up, whatever,10 or 20 areas of of different
work and stuff, you know, all ofthose areas got a little bit
busier at the same time, andpretty soon you're, like,
(24:42):
holding more than you can. Andand that has, I think, probably
slowed me down from being ableto concentrate on the content
creation that I would like todo. Mhmm. But I I also have more
ideas than I have than there'stime in the day.
Right? So, like, ideation's athing. I'm just like, oh, what
about this? What about this?Thankfully, the engineer is here
to stop me from just going offthe deep end when I wanna post
(25:04):
stuff.
He's like, tap the brakes. But Ireally enjoy interviews. I wanna
try to create a little bit morehistorical content, and I do
have plans to have a separateYouTube channel that's not coin
related just because there's somuch out there that's so
interesting, and it would justbe a variety channel. Like, I
(25:24):
would be tagline was gonna belike, we talk about everything
but coins here. You know?
It's like so everything else.But coin content creation, I I
hope to be able to do moreinterview style stuff and
something a little bithistorical style stuff. That's
kind of a goal of mine.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Yeah. Well, I'd love to have you on again in the
future, you know, just to getyour take from a as a coin shop
owner, your take on the market,your take on what you're seeing
kinda taking place, what kind ofcoins are walking into your
shop, you know, at different atdifferent times of the year, at
different periods, so we canhave you back again and talk
more about your perspective onthings. I'm excited to see
(26:01):
where, where else your channelgoes. And, you know, for viewers
out there, if you've watchedthis far and you have,
particular, you know, subjectsand things that you'd love to
hear from Ben again about, youknow, them in the comments
below. It really helps out thechannel, and it gives us some
ideas as well as well of whatkind of interesting things you
might wanna, you know, hearabout.
So, anyways, Ben, thank you somuch for doing this. Really
(26:24):
appreciate it. And just forguest folks who don't know where
where can they find you? I'massuming everybody knows.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
But Yeah. I mean, obviously, on YouTube, it's, you
know, the coin geek. I have anInstagram that is the coin geek.
The shop itself is called OldPueblo Coin that might be
getting cut off here. It's notPueblo, Colorado.
We're in Tucson, Arizona. OldPueblo Coin. We have
oldpueblocoin.com. Also,tucsoncoinshow.com. So we have
an annual show in Tucson, whichI think is gonna grow into
(26:52):
something that's kind ofdifferent and nice.
I like to tell people it isScottsdale nice at a Tucson
price. And for any of you whoare Arizonans, you'll understand
the reference. Everyone else,you just have to imagine it. An
old Pueblo coin and we also haveold Pueblo coin on on Instagram.
So, you know, it's hard becausethere's, like, 10,000 social
media things.
I feel basically like a NASCARdriver. I should be like, you
(27:13):
know, I like to thank my youknow, and you name all this
stuff, and then you get to Sure.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Say what
Speaker 2 (27:17):
you wanna say. So Yeah. That's good. No. I
appreciate you having me on herefor sure.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Yeah. I'll definitely try to list as many of your your
socials in the description ofthis of this episode so people
know where to find you. And,yeah. Alright, man. Well, thank
you so much.
It's been thirty minutes. Loveto do this again and it's been
wonderful. Appreciate it somuch. Thanks, Kevin. Alright.
I'll see
Speaker 2 (27:39):
you. Thank you.
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