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{{Infobox company 
  |name     = Coins 'N Things
  |logo     =  
  |type     = [[Private company|Private]] 
  |caption   = 
  |foundation       = 1973
  |location_city    = [[Bridgewater, Massachusetts]]
  |location_country = United States of America
  |key_people       = Mark L. Oliari
  |num_employees    = 50
  |industry         = [[Wholesale|Wholesale trade]]
  |products         = [[Precious metals]]
  |revenue          = $6.5 billion
  |location = 
  |locations = 
  |area served =
  |services =
  |parent =
  |divisions =
  |subsid =
  |dissolved =
  |footnotes =
  |intl             = 
  |homepage         = {{URL|www.cnt.us}}
}}
'''Coins 'N Things''', also known as '''CNT Inc.''',<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/10/business/10gold.html |title=A 24-Karat Safety Net for Investors |newspaper=New York Times |date=November 9, 2010 |author=Nelson D. Schwartz and Graham Bowley}}</ref> is a [[privately held company|privately held]], family-controlled business in [[Bridgewater, Massachusetts]], that was established as a retail shop for [[coin collector]]s and is now the largest [[wholesale]] vendor of [[gold]] in the United States.

Coins 'N Things was started in 1973 by Louis Oliari, an engineer and coin collector. His teenaged son Mark had also become deeply engaged in coin collecting, and the father thought that if he indulged his son's hobby interest by operating a small storefront coin trading shop, Mark would eventually "get bored" with the hobby and "get [it] out of [his] system.” However, after high school, Mark Oliari went to work in the business full-time and later his father left his corporate job to join him.<ref name=Bloomberg2011>{{citation |url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/the-family-that-sells-gold-to-the-government-11032011.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111106134847/http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/the-family-that-sells-gold-to-the-government-11032011.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 6, 2011 |title=The Family That Sells Gold to the Government |work=Bloomberg Business Week |author=Kathleen Miller |date=November 3, 2011}}</ref>

Some time after both Oliaris had started working in the business full-time, Coins ’N Things entered the wholesale metals market. While Louis Oliari preferred the retail coin business, Mark Oliari enjoyed trading gold with [[investor]]s, [[jeweler]]s, and businesses that needed gold as a raw material.<ref name=Bloomberg2011/> As the wholesale business grew, it began to attain the reputation and financial stature needed to be a leader in that industry. In 2002, the [[United States Mint]] approved Coins 'N Things to become one of 11 businesses worldwide authorized to buy [[American Silver Eagle|American Eagle silver bullion coin]]s for distribution; at that time, qualifications for that authorization included a substantial retail customer base and [[net worth]] of at least $5 million.

After his father's death in 2008, Mark Oliari closed the retail shop to focus exclusively on metals trading. A [[line of credit]] from [[Wells Fargo]] provided the financial resources needed to pursue U.S. government business on a large scale. In 2010 the business obtained approval to sell gold to the [[U.S. federal government]].<ref name=Bloomberg2011/>

In [[fiscal year]] 2011, the company became the U.S. federal government's largest supplier of [[precious metals]], with government gold sales that accounted for about half of the $3.8 billion in contracts to supply [[silver]] and gold to the [[United States Mint]] during the year.<ref name=Bloomberg2011/><ref name=Donnelly2011>{{citation|url=http://www.masslive.com/business-news/index.ssf/2011/12/2_massachusetts_companies_tout_gold_stan.html |title=2 Massachusetts companies tout gold standard |author=Julie M. Donnelly |work=Boston Business Journal |publisher=masslive.com (republished December 13, 2011) |date=November 18, 2011}}</ref> Coins 'N Things ranked number 39 on the list of the [[top 100 contractors of the U.S. federal government]] for that same fiscal year, with $1.89 billion in obligations from the government, all from the [[United States Department of the Treasury|Treasury Department]]. It was the single largest contractor to the Treasury Department<ref>Top 100 Contractors Report for Fiscal Year 2011, retrieved April 13, 2012 from [https://www.fpds.gov/fpdsng_cms/index.php/reports Federal Procurement Data System - Next Generation] (U.S. General Services Administration)</ref> and the largest gold vendor in the U.S.<ref name=Donnelly2011/>

The business has about 50 employees, including Mark Oliari, his wife Patty, and three children. There are no outside investors. As of 2011, estimated annual [[revenue]] was $6.5 billion. The company does not report its net revenues or [[profit (accounting)|profit]]s, but Mark Oliari told news media that it retains about 0.25% of the value of transactions involving private customers and a bit less from sales to the government. Gold is obtained from producers in the United States and Canada, with about 40% coming from a [[Gold extraction|refinery]] owned by the Canadian government.<ref name=Bloomberg2011/><ref name=Donnelly2011/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{official website|http://www.cnt.us}}

[[Category:Privately held companies based in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Retail companies established in 1973]]
[[Category:Bridgewater, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Financial services companies established in 1973]]
[[Category:Retail companies disestablished in 2008]]
[[Category:1973 establishments in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Commodity markets in the United States]]
[[Category:Metal companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Bullion dealers]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1973]]