BEST OF JIM COOK

February 5, 2007

SURVIVING

Thirty years ago, to the month, I took my small coin collection to the bank and sat waiting quietly outside the bank president’s office. I needed money to keep Investment Rarities going. I’d started the company in 1972 with a partner. We’d had a few good months in 1974 when silver ran up to $6.40 an ounce. However, 1975 was tough sledding and our money ran out in the fall. My partner left the company and sold his stock back to us for pennies. I was alone with two secretaries and the bills were piling up. The secretaries had to be paid and the rent was overdue. I was worried about the phones getting cut off and I hadn’t taken a salary in months.

Finally, Cecil the bank Prez waived me into his office. I spread the coins out on his desk. "What are they worth?" he asked. "About $7,000," I replied. He looked at me wearily and sighed. "OK, I’ll give you $6,000 on them, but they better be worth that much, Cook."

That was a great day for me and the company. I could make payroll and pay the rent. Now, however, I had no reserves. I had to do something fast to survive. Gold and silver were dead, but I managed to take on a line of wood-burning stoves and began to sell them. The first energy crisis was in the news and wood burning made a mild comeback as a heating source. In the next few months we sold enough of these heavy steel stoves to keep the doors open. Eventually, gold and silver revived.