Hallco's BRNA Dalton,Ga Show Report!
Hallco
Posts: 3,671 ✭✭✭✭✭
The day started out kind of off and without going into details...I found myself getting to the show about 45 minutes later than planned. I wanted to see the VAM Peace Dollar program at 11am and was about 15 minutes early. I decided to go to the bourse floor just to get re-acquainted with coin shows since it has been 10 years since my last. At that point I wasn't even looking at coins, just mainly the crowd and the overall floor. A couple of minutes later, they made an announcement that the program would start in 5 minutes. so I headed toward the room. There was another program that was just letting out and several people were exiting. That one was about coins of the bible. I was told by several folks later in the day that it was very good. As I waited for the program to start I noticed that no one was coming in the room other than the speaker. After a few minutes, he introduced himself as did I. His name is David Close and he is a Peace Dollar & Die Variety specialist. More time goes by and still no one comes in the room, so I was given an individual 1 on 1 lesson! It was very informative and I learned a lot. I really enjoyed my time with David. If you ever have a chance to meet him, take the opportunity. He knows his stuff! After that,I made my way back to the floor. I had mapped out my day and highlighted several tables that I wanted to visit. I had communicated with a couple of forum members for the last several weeks who had tables and was really looking forward to meeting them. One was @Yorkshireman, I spent some time looking at some of his inventory and asked him to show me some Peace Dollars with great eye appeal and a strong strike. I looked at several and was happy to come away from his table with this:
(I apologize in advance for the not so great photos, I'm not great in that area!)
Thanks Lee!
I mentioned in another thread that I saw a list of dealers for this show, one of which was from the small town where I grew up as a child(nowhere near Dalton,Ga)! I emailed him and told him of the coincidence and thought it would be interesting to see if we have mutual acquaintances. I found his table and we spoke for several minutes. We couldn't match anyone we knew other than a gentleman that owned a coin/jewelry antique shop that amazingly is still in business in that town. Of course, when I lived there I was young and only knew him by his nickname "Frenchy" and had no interest in coins at the time. I enjoyed meeting him, but could not find anything I just have to have at his table unfortunately. One of the forum members I was also looking forward to meeting was @giorgio11. It was a special treat! When I first arrived at his table he was talking to a customer. I was extremely happy for him before we had even spoken a word. The gentlemen bought several really "NICE" coins and I could tell this made him pretty happy as well! We were able to spend a while together talking about coins, family and life in general. He is a fantastic person and in my opinion, has his priorities in the correct order when it comes to living. I consider it an honor and a blessing to have spent this time with him and look forward to future interaction. He has some fantastic looking 8 Reales coins. I had never seen these in person and am not familiar with them. They will be wonderful examples for whoever owns them next. I found one coin from him. Very happy to add this one to my new collection at a great price:
All good things come to an end and it was time for me to part ways from my new friend. We shook hands and I continued on my journey to look for some other things from my wantlist. Specifically, I was looking for some early Walking Liberty Half Dollars certified in F to VF. I was able to find 2 example of one of the dates I wanted in PCGS VG 10. One had probably been altered at some point and I had no interest and the other looked pretty good. To be fair I should also point out that I like circulated Walkers in these grades to be "dirty". The 2nd one met this criteria looked pretty good even though it was a little less of a grade that I want. Since I had not found any F/VF I could at least consider it and maybe even save some money. I asked the price and was expecting a number slightly higher than what I had in mind. I have been following what these have been selling for at auctions and online. Shockingly, he was more than double my expectations!! WOW! I politely told him thank you and handed it back to him. I had intentionally not bid on this particular date as well as a couple of others before the show because I had expected to be able to find them there. So my search continues. Happy with my day so far, but still wanting more, I sat down and looked at my list.
A nice strongly struck Peace Dollar...check
A nice Mercury Dime with Full Bands...check
Early Walkers.....none today
Currency/Paper money......hmmm
I have been considering collecting some paper notes, but honestly I think that I need to do a lot more learning before jumping into that area. There are lots of dealers offering it and I just didn't feel comfortable with the little that I have learned in the last few months. Tabling that area of interest for now. The only other things I had on my list were some Morgan Dollars and some bullion if I could find something unique that I liked. For those of you who regularly go to shows, you know that there are no shortage of Morgans in cases. I think that has always been and will always be. As the day went on, the more I saw, the more I decided I wasn't interested in adding any on this day. If I had more time (and patience) to sit down at many tables and go through cases and boxes there were probably deals to be had on some nice Morgans, it just wasn't going to happen today. That just left one area to explore. Bullion. I don't get involved with silver stacking or buying the dip or preparing for some potential catastrophic event that may never happen in my lifetime...so for me, I'm more than willing to pay for something "Cool". I found a table that had several different types of silver bars. The directory showed that this was table 601 which had 2 different dealers listed....Silver Dollar Associates and Larry Tekamp. I believe that Larry was the person who came up with this when I asked for something related to horse racing. Not that it matters, but he also gave me a great deal on this:
It has some nice purple-ish toning on the back but it is hard to see on this picture. My first .999 silver bar! And with that, the show was over. I found a Johnny's NY Style Pizza on the way back home for my evening meal. A giant slice of pepperoni and some mini garlic knots. Sorry, no pics of the food. 
A few general observations:
1) Coin shows are still great. Regardless of whether the market is good or otherwise, whether you have a huge budget or not...there is still a lot of fun, fellowship and knowledge to be learned. I am going to try and commit to going to at least one a year as schedules allow,
2) Dealers are buying even if they have tons of inventory. I watched on several occasions where deals were made where both parties were happy. I only saw a couple where it didn't happen. I like seeing this. I didn't have anything I was interested in selling, but it is good to know that there are still options other than Ebay and auction houses.
3) Dahlonega and Charlotte Gold...@smudge asked me to report on these areas. I know nothing about gold, but I can report that there were several dealers that had some pretty high grade pieces available at this show!
4) Mustard was absent. Pot roast lunch with veggies was on the menu so a lot less spray and wash will be needed on next week's laundry.
5) Most interesting thing I heard all day..."I guess it's ok to be cleaned if it was conserved by PCGS or NGC". It immediately reminded me of the recent thread here on the forum. I don't think there will ever be a 100% agreed upon answer to the cleaned question. I was shown several coins by prominent dealers that had been graded cleaned that neither them or I could see...,and several that straight graded that were pretty obviously altered. If you are collecting, don't go crazy trying to figure it out. Learn the characteristics of coins that you like and make your own determination as to what is acceptable and what isn't to you! If you are buying with only the intention to sell, this probably isn't the best advice. Take my advice for what it is worth...my opinion! 
6)All of the dealers I interacted with were polite and I didn't hear anything around me the entire day that I would view as a negative communication.
And there you have it! Thanks to everyone mentioned and anyone taking to time to read this.
Comments
A great report, thanks for posting it.
Very nice report.Thanks for sharing.
Real nice report. Thanks.
Very interesting report and comments.
However your remarks, "His name is David Close and he is a Peace Dollar & Die Variety specialist. More time goes by and still no one comes in the room, so I was given an individual 1 on 1 lesson!" are very concerning. David is a top expert in Morgan and Peace varieties. To have him speak and only 1 person to show up is insulting to David and to the concept of numismatic education --- especially after a bunch of people attended some re-tread "Coins of the bible" drivel. (This subject has been spoken and written about for generations - nothing new or interesting in it.)
Show organizers and BLUE RIDGE NUMISMATIC ASSOCIATION (BRNA) should be thoroughly embarrassed.
While I can't speak for BRNA...I did find it odd that I was the only one who showed. We made lemonade out of the situation. It may have worked out the best it could though. He was having issues with his laptop and we spent most of the time talking in depth about things on his program notes and looking at coins he brought to the show. I also showed him the 2 Morgan Vams I brought. I definitely see your point though.
Great report!! @giorgio is one of the friendliest
and knowledgeable dealers I know. Maybe one
day he will give a presentation on the 1964 SMS
coins. He has studied them quite extensively and
has brokered several coins. That one on one chat
with David Close must have been fun.
Great report. Thanks, I figured there would be some nice Southern gold. Wish I could have been there. Sounds like a great time.
Excellent report. Thanks.
I like going to shows with a friend of mine and he is all about the silver rounds and bars.
There is more to the bullion side than I realized.
"If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"
My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress
The more I think about it the more impressed I am with you for being the only one to attend the David Close seminar.
@Hallco, thanks for your report. I wish I got to meet you and @golden and whoever else may have been there. For BRNA and GNA in Dalton we need to make a way for fellow forum members to hang out somewhere and meet. It's always nice to put a face on someone you only know on the forum.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
Agree with the above & enjoyed the show report
Nice report, thanks for posting, someone else here on the forum has one of those secretariat bars
Very complete report. Like the Mercury Dime.
@Hallco .... Great report, thank you for all the detail. That is a great silver Secretariat Bar... I have one just like it...
Years ago, I raised Arabians....a short venture... but I follow the Triple Crown races every year - and the year Secretariat won was incredible. Cheers, RickO
I appreciate that. Although I'm not sure that I did much with the info...I didn't "seriously" search for any Peace Vams! lol
Very nice report
Good report. Thanks for taking the time to write it.
Btw- I like that Peace dollar.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
The more I think about it, the more I'm impressed that you did not walk out in the middle of the presentation.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Very detailed report, loved it and look forward to your next report.
Too bad more people didn't take advantage of the VAM seminar. Knowledge is power.
Great report!
My YouTube Channel
Nice report. You are one lucky dude to get a one on one with David Close. He really knows his stuff.
Joseph J. Singleton - First Superintendent of the U.S. Branch Mint in Dahlonega Georgia
Findley Ridge Collection
About Findley Ridge
What you were exposed to last weekend, might well be useful a year from now - maybe longer. Learning is never wasted.
Shawn,
That was a great show report. One of the best I've read. Very detailed and concise. Sounds like you had a good time, met some great people, learned some stuff and made some nice pickups. Shows are lots of fun, even if you don't buy anything. I try to get to a show at least once a month, more if possible.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Donato
Donato's Complete US Type Set ---- Donato's Dansco 7070 Modified Type Set ---- Donato's Basic U.S. Coin Design Set
Successful transactions: Shrub68 (Jim), MWallace (Mike)
A one on one talking coins with David Close is absolutely awesome!
@Hallco
Your experience is exactly what I would like to have if and when I attend my 1st coin show
It must be fun meeting up with CU members as well as having found 2 new and cool coins.
Thank you for your detailed report and good luck with the early Walkers