How to Track Coins on Memo with Dealers and Customers

To track coins on memo, write a memo for each recipient that lists every coin, its memo price, the due date, and your terms, and have the recipient sign it. Keep the coins in your inventory marked as on memo. Then check due dates every week, record each coin that comes back, and invoice the coins the recipient keeps. A memo is closed only when every coin is either back or paid for.

Memo is how dealers lend trust. A dealer takes a few coins to a show for a client, a collector wants a week to decide, a wholesaler shows your coins to their customers. It works well until nobody remembers who has the 1907 High Relief. The method below keeps that from happening.

What a coin memo is

A memo (also called sending coins "on approval") is a written record that you handed coins to someone who does not own them yet. They either:

• return the coins by the due date, or
• buy some or all of them at the memo price.

You still own the coins while they are out. That is why they stay in your inventory and why the memo matters: it is your proof of what left, at what price, and when it is due back.

Memo, consignment, or custody?

Three arrangements look alike and are easy to mix up:

Arrangement	Who has the coins	Who owns them	Price set
Memo	Another dealer or a customer	You	Memo price per coin
Consignment	You	The consignor	You sell for the consignor and take a commission
Custody	Your own staff	You	No sale involved

A memo is your coins in someone else's hands. A consignment is someone else's coins in yours. Custody is your coins with your own people, for a show or a photo session. Each needs its own record.

What to put on the memo

Field	Why it matters
Memo number	So both sides can refer to it
Your name and address	Who owns the coins
Recipient name, address, phone, email	Who has them
Each coin: description, grade, cert number, SKU	So there is no doubt which coin went out
Memo price for each coin	The price if they keep it
Date sent and due date	When it must come back
Terms	Loss, insurance, payment, what happens after the due date
Signature and printed name	That they received these coins

Terms are the part dealers most often skip. At minimum, say who is responsible for loss or damage while the coins are out, when payment is due on coins kept, and what happens if the coins are not back by the due date. Rules on memo and consignment differ by state and situation, so have a lawyer review your standard terms once.

Worked example

You send five coins to Robert Miller, a collector, for ten days:

Coin	Memo price
1907 $20 Saint-Gaudens High Relief, PCGS MS63	$36,500
1879-CC Morgan dollar, NGC AU58	$4,250
1916-D Mercury dime, PCGS VG10	$1,850
1909-S VDB cent, PCGS XF45	$1,600
1937-D Buffalo nickel, three-legged, NGC VF35	$950
Total out	$45,150

On day four he returns the Buffalo nickel. Value out drops to $44,200. On day ten he keeps the Mercury dime and the VDB cent and returns the rest. You:

1. Record the return of the High Relief and the Carson City Morgan. Check each against the memo: same coin, same holder, same condition.
2. Invoice the two coins he kept: $1,850 + $1,600 = $3,450.
3. Close the memo. Value out is now $0.

At every point you can answer three questions: what is out, what is it worth, and when is it due.

How to keep track while coins are out

Keep one list of open memos

A drawer of carbon copies does not tell you what is overdue. Keep one list of open memos with the recipient, value out, and due date, sorted by due date. Review it weekly.

Watch three groups

• Overdue. Call today.
• Due in the next few days. A friendly reminder now saves a chase later.
• Partly returned. Some coins back, some still out. These are easy to forget because the memo feels done.

Change the due date on purpose

When you give more time, change the due date on the memo and note it. A memo that is "kind of extended" is how coins go missing.

Keep the coins out of your other channels

A coin on memo is not available. If it is still listed online, you can sell it twice. When a coin goes out on memo, take it off your other sales channels until it comes back.

How to close a memo

1. Returns. Check each returned coin against the memo. Note the condition if it differs from when it left. Put the coin back in stock and in its storage place.
2. Sales. For coins the recipient keeps, write one invoice at the memo prices. The coins then leave your inventory as sold.
3. Close. When every coin is returned or sold, the memo is closed. File the signed copy.

Common mistakes

• No signature. Without it, you have a note, not a record of what they received.
• No due date. "Bring them back when you're done" is not a due date.
• Taking the coins out of inventory. You still own them. Mark them on memo instead.
• Leaving coins listed online. Double sales lead to refunds and unhappy buyers.
• Partial returns not recorded. If three of five come back and you write nothing, the memo still says five are out, and you lose track of which two.
• Selling from memo without an invoice. The coin leaves without a sale record, and your profit report is wrong.

How CoinManagerPro tracks memos

In CoinManagerPro memos, you pick the recipient (a customer, a contractor, or anyone else by name and address), add the coins with a memo price for each, and set the due date and terms. Each memo gets a number. A coin must be available to go on memo, and while it is out it shows "On memo" in your inventory. The stock on your sales channels updates when coins go out and come back.

The memo list shows open memos, overdue memos, and memos due in the next three days. Members with the "Manage memos" permission get reminders when a memo is due soon and when it is overdue. On the memo you can record a return for all or some coins, sell coins to the recipient on one invoice, change the due date, and print the memo with signature lines. Each event goes into the memo history and the history of each coin. The steps are in the memos help article. For coins that go out with your own staff instead, see custody.

The short version

Write a memo for each recipient, with every coin, its price, a due date, terms, and a signature. Keep the coins in inventory marked on memo and off your other channels. Review open memos weekly. Record every return, invoice every coin kept, and close the memo only when nothing is out.