Discovering the Value of Marketing
12/7/2021
This is a success story about B. Max Mehl, an immigrant, who during the Great Depression started the coin collecting craze that transformed social culture, making him wealthy and famous.
Benjamin Maximillian Mehl (November 5, 1884 – September 28, 1957) was born in Congress Poland, which was part of the Russian Empire. His family brought him to what is now Lithuania, and then to the United States, settling in Fort Worth, Texas.While still a teenager, he began to sell coins, which he had previously collected. Joining the American Numismatic Association (ANA) in 1903 at age 18, he quickly became a full-time coin dealer, and by 1910 was one of the best known in the country. During his half-century of coin dealing, his customer list included Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and King Farouk of Egypt. Mehl was the first dealer to advertise in non-numismatic publications, helping to broaden the appeal of the hobby. He claimed to have spent over a million dollars on advertisements offering to buy a 1913 Liberty Head nickel for $50, though he knew there were none in circulation to be found. This got the public to search through their pocket for rare coins.
He carried on a year-long newspaper advertising campaign (which he later admitted had cost him over a million 1930s dollars!), offering to buy for $50 apiece any 1913 Liberty head nickels offered. This was not bona-fide, being merely a come-on to promote sales of his Star Rare Coin Encyclopedia, which went through over 30 editions despite being of no numismatic value. The major effect of Mehl's publicity was fourfold:
1. He was the most famous rare coin dealer of the first half of the 20th century, more than anyone before or since that time popularized this hobby.
2. It made Mehl very wealthy through peddling his book
3. It made the 1913 Liberty head nickel one of the most famous of American coins.
4. This proved successful as an advertising strategy, helping to transform coin collecting, once a niche hobby for the wealthy, into a pastime that was enjoyed by many.
During the commemorative coin boom of the 1930s, rare coins went up in value even as stocks sank during the Depression.
Max Mehl made his fortune by identifying something ordinary and transforming it into something precious. Like Rumpelstiltskin turning straw into gold, he created a game that anyone can play.
Your business is valuable but do people see that value? Perhaps it’s time to take another look at your brand and see if it can bring you more.
Creating a Market
The American public, who at that time were receptive, liked the idea of finding a rare coin in their pocket change in those difficult times, since it might have solved one's financial worries. People like my father, a product of the depression, got passionate about this hobby and became an avid coin collector. He diligently combed through his pockets and my mother’s handbag examining the dates of his coins and then assembling his many collections into neat books.Benjamin Maximillian Mehl (November 5, 1884 – September 28, 1957) was born in Congress Poland, which was part of the Russian Empire. His family brought him to what is now Lithuania, and then to the United States, settling in Fort Worth, Texas.While still a teenager, he began to sell coins, which he had previously collected. Joining the American Numismatic Association (ANA) in 1903 at age 18, he quickly became a full-time coin dealer, and by 1910 was one of the best known in the country. During his half-century of coin dealing, his customer list included Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and King Farouk of Egypt. Mehl was the first dealer to advertise in non-numismatic publications, helping to broaden the appeal of the hobby. He claimed to have spent over a million dollars on advertisements offering to buy a 1913 Liberty Head nickel for $50, though he knew there were none in circulation to be found. This got the public to search through their pocket for rare coins.
Advertising Pays Off
He carried on a year-long newspaper advertising campaign (which he later admitted had cost him over a million 1930s dollars!), offering to buy for $50 apiece any 1913 Liberty head nickels offered. This was not bona-fide, being merely a come-on to promote sales of his Star Rare Coin Encyclopedia, which went through over 30 editions despite being of no numismatic value. The major effect of Mehl's publicity was fourfold:1. He was the most famous rare coin dealer of the first half of the 20th century, more than anyone before or since that time popularized this hobby.
2. It made Mehl very wealthy through peddling his book
3. It made the 1913 Liberty head nickel one of the most famous of American coins.
4. This proved successful as an advertising strategy, helping to transform coin collecting, once a niche hobby for the wealthy, into a pastime that was enjoyed by many.
During the commemorative coin boom of the 1930s, rare coins went up in value even as stocks sank during the Depression.
Max Mehl made his fortune by identifying something ordinary and transforming it into something precious. Like Rumpelstiltskin turning straw into gold, he created a game that anyone can play.
Your business is valuable but do people see that value? Perhaps it’s time to take another look at your brand and see if it can bring you more.
