Show Report and local news article - Cheyenne WY - February 16-17.

claychaser · February 15, 2019 9:57AM

Show Report:

Cold but clear weather on Friday, with some hard winds as I drove into Cheyenne. The locals refer to that as a good breeze, but Wyoming people are pretty hardy about the weather.

Friday dealer setup was done in a very relaxed fashion. I did sell a silver deal, Apollo and other miscellaneous coins to another dealer in an easy deal. Got everything done and made a list of what I forget to bring for the next day. The show chairman was kind enough to order in "Silver Mine" sub sandwiches for the dealers, and a few enjoyed adult beverages as well.

I think Wyoming people like to do coins early on the first day. I arrive Saturday at 7:00 am, and the dealers who came up just for Saturday and Sunday were mostly already setup and cruising for deals. I made my final arrangements, had a breakfast roll sugar bomb and coffee provided by the show, and business started in earnest. I was very busy with retail sales for the first 3 hours, and just when I thought this was going to be my best retail show ever, the traffic died. Actually, it was nice, as our show chairman again bought everyone lunch from the hotel. And, right after lunch, I did some nice retail sales to some entry level collectors. Funny that many still want to fill the holes in their Lincoln cent albums, and I sold many coins either graded by the services or clearly marked by me as DETAILS grades. That stuff will sell - its all about the price. I also met Adam from the Portland MInt, who bought a nice stack of a world coin deal that I guessed on values on. Fortunately, I was on the right side of the guess and a decent profit was to be had.

I also had a local dealer come over and shop and buy coins with his "look". Small deal, but a repeat customer.

Dan Carr came buy and bought some 1969-D Kennedys for me for another project. It's always a pleasure to talk about the minting process with Dan.

I also sold another 5 ounce and a gold proof Apollo, and a few of the 2-coin half dollar sets. It was actually busy right up to 5:00 when the public access closed.

Sunday was a bright and clear morning in northern Colorado, but it got much colder as I drove north to Cheyenne. Stooped at the local Burger King for a breakfast gut bomber, and had snow flurries with bright sunshine. Well, that's Wyoming for you.

There was a nice article in the local paper that I copied below, and many of the dealers were bantering about who got in the pictures. The traffic started out very slow, but I bought 2 OK sized deals from the floor dealers. The public started in around noon or so - the dealers think they were people checking it out after church.

I did meet a local YN and his dad. He was starting out right - hunting rolls of Lincolns from the bank. This kid has potential - we discussed varieties, and I gave him a couple of used albums and some website info to look at.

I did do a deal with a collector that is coming back into the hobby. He showed me his Lincoln set, and it had a very nice 1909-SVDB, 31-S, etc. but coupled with some cullish common dates. I recommended that he remove those coins, and for a few dollars, replace them with nice circulated examples to make a nicer matched set. He agreed, and I was able to help him on several coins. So here's a collector that was looking for quality, even for circulated coins, to make a nice set.

The show was over before I knew it. The weather started closing in with hard wind and snow. There was a traffic pileup on I-25 southbound, so I had to take US-85 south. All the drivers played nice and kept it at 45-55 and everyone got through.

Here is a pic and article from the local paper:

CHEYENNE – A steady flow of visitors filed through the conference room at the Red Lion Hotel and Conference Center on Saturday morning, where the Cheyenne Coin Currency Collectibles & Philatelic Spring Expo was underway.

The expo, which continues from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, features coins from 17 vendors eager to meet people, sell coins and share their interest in numismatics. Some visitors brought coins to be graded and sealed in plastic cases.

Bill Arnold, president of the Cheyenne Coin Club and host of the event, has thousands of coins in his collection and specializes in world coins. He first got interested in the hobby as a child.

“My grandpa got me into collecting,” Arnold said. “I collected matchbooks and baseball cards and all kinds of crazy stuff.”

His grandfather cashed his paychecks in rolls of coins, and Arnold would sit under a lamp inspecting the coins for rare dates. He once found a 1909 S VDB Penny. Such a coin, released by the San Francisco Mint and designed and initialed by Victor D. Brenner, might be worth as much as $1,000 today, he said.

“It’s the thrill of the hunt,” Arnold said. “When you see something you haven’t ever seen before, it’s, ‘Woo-hoo!’ That’s what got me into the world coins.”

This year’s expo is smaller than past expos, which have reached as many as 38 vendors, Arnold said. But it’s bigger than last year’s event, which he called “a dismal flop” with only seven vendors, which Arnold attributed to a date that conflicted with other events and a lack of advertising.

“It’s had its ups and downs,” Arnold said of coin collecting. “I think the economy affects people’s ability to spend money on luxury items.”

Many coin collectors focus on gold and silver for the metal value, said Rick Russell, proprietor of Cheyenne Coins.

“One of the major reasons folks buy gold and silver is they’re worried about the future,” Russell said, noting that the value of metals changes inversely to that of the dollar.

Interest in coin collecting got a boost in 1999, when the United States Mint launched the 50 State Quarters Program, releasing quarters honoring the states over a 10-year period. The Wyoming quarter was released in 2007. The Mint’s America the Beautiful Quarter Program began in 2010 with 56 quarters representing national parks and sites, including a Yellowstone National Park quarter released in 2010. New coins will be released as part of that program through 2021.

“The United States manufactures many beautiful coins,” said Dave Klinck of Cheyenne, pointing to a 2019 Walking Liberty Silver Dollar, one of several raffle items to be given away at the event.

Klinck picked up his interest in coins from his father, who had a paper route as a child and started collecting one of each denomination of coin from each year from the money he earned on his route.

“My favorite coin is the Lincoln penny,” Klinck said, holding out a steel penny made during the war in the 1940s alongside a copper penny.

Along with a wide variety of coins, the event also included items such as stamps and tokens.

Terry Roker of Cheyenne showed off books he has compiled detailing Cheyenne trade tokens dating to before statehood.

He got into collecting trade tokens after his wife asked him to buy a silver dollar for a birthday gift. He found the coin online and the seller noticed his address and sent him a trade coin from an old Cheyenne bar.

Such connections keep interest in the hobby circulating.

Jenessa Watermann of Kremmling, Colorado, got involved in trading coins after her father fell and broke his back in 2013. Paralyzed, he started buying coins online and, in 2016, asked Watermann to sell some of them for him. She went to her first coin show and was hooked.

“There are shows all over the place,” Watermann said. “I’m still learning where they’re located and I’m still connecting with people.”

She met Rick Russell at a coin show, and that connection brought her to the Cheyenne Coin Show.

Russell started buying coins in 2002, after his kids were grown, and opened his shop in 2005. He said the connections he makes at shows can lead to sales later.

“Part of the reason dealers do shows is to make new connections,” said Russell, who goes to about 12 shows a year. “Every bit of this has value in some way.”

Jonna Lorenz is a freelance journalist living in Cheyenne who has more than 20 years of experience. She can be reached by email at jonnalorenz@gmail.com.

By Jonna Lorenz

For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle