4 Takeaways from receiving the ANA’s Harry J. Forman Dealer of the Year Award

Jeff Garrett of the ANA presents Littleton Coin Company President David Sundman with the 2016 Dealer of the Year Award.

Littleton Coin Company president shares his 4 takeaways

Recently the American Numismatic Association honored me with the 2016 Dealer of the Year Award. This prestigious award goes to a dealer who has shown exceptional dedication to strengthening the hobby and the ANA and displays exemplary ethical standards as a dealer. While I was surprised and honored to receive the award, I couldn’t help but reflect on the way Littleton does business and what drives our success.

1. Have passion

   Passion is contagious – my dad, Maynard Sundman, taught me that. He loved collecting stamps, which eventually sparked his curiosity about stamp ads and the mail-order companies that sold them. His passion led him to found our company and he passed the “collecting bug” on to me. As a youngster, I helped him sort Indian Head cents. I loved putting together date runs and hearing the stories and history behind various coins.

   And that’s where sharing knowledge comes in for us at Littleton. If you don’t share the why or how something is done and the romance behind the product, you can’t ignite passion. Today, it pleases me to see my dad’s dream carried on. Littleton employees are passionate! They willingly share their knowledge with the people they work with and customers. That makes the hobby more vibrant and interesting.

2. Listen to your customers

   By listening to customers, we developed complementary products, and expanded our product line. Our entire album and folder line (over 85 titles) is the result of listening to our customers. Prior to early 1990s, we often heard from customers who wondered how best to store their collection of older, odd denomination coins, so we created albums to hold them. When the Statehood quarter series began in 1999, we were ready, and launched our own album and folder series.

   In the late 1990s, customers began to ask about colorized coins. This led us to create our own – with the Statehood quarters being among the first. Today, we offer many types of colorized coins that, with their historic images, rich colors and details, add interest to any collection.

   About the same time our albums, folders and colorized coins appeared, we produced Showpaks. Over the years, collectors had told us that many times they cut out a catalog offer for the story and placed it with the coin. Showpaks gave them a way to really “hold history in their hands…”

3. Support your hobby group

   As an ANA (American Numismatic Association) member since 1979, I’ve gained many valuable benefits from it, and it’s benefited Littleton employees too. We’ve attended educational seminars covering such topics as counterfeit detection, coin photography, coin grading, ancient coins and paper money – and these are just the beginning of the courses offered. Plus, hobby or industry groups like the ANA and ANS (American Numismatic Society) offer camaraderie – you’ll meet people with similar interests and passions. And, some of those people may become a resource, sharing their expertise with you. That’s how I was able to meet experts that helped solve the mystery of the lightly canceled 1870-CC half dollar die.

4. Be honest in your dealings

   My dad built Littleton Coin Company on the time-honored values of treating people right, trust and providing quality products – those values still stand today. Many customers have written to let us know how much they appreciate the trust we extend to them when we send coins to approve before they purchase them. Others have commented on the quality – that we deliver what we promise.

“What I like most is the prompt and courteous service and business ethics of quality, honesty and service, more like old school, when a handshake was as good as a man’s word.” – R.A., Van Nuys, CA

Honest, ethical dealings go back to treating others the way you want to be treated and that flows over into the workplace. Thanks to these long-standing values, we received the ANA’s Dealer of the Year Award – yet none of this would have been possible without Littleton’s dedicated employees or you, our loyal customers – who are our reason for being.

Thank you!

Did you know?

In June the Better Business Bureau of NH presented Littleton Coin Company with the 2016 BBB Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics!