Coin Show report - Pawcatuck Valley Coin Club annual show - Norwich, CT
roadrunner
Posts: 28,313 ✭✭✭✭✭
Not exactly a detailed coin market coin show report. But, I did check out most of the tables and offerings. Hadn't been to this particular show in about 9 years. The location changed and it's definitely a brighter atmosphere than the old, dimly-lit location in Pawcatuck, CT. My intent in going was to sell my sister-in-laws "inheritance" of her Dad's coin collection, not seen by anyone else since he passed away decades ago. With her Mom passing recently at 94, Dad's stuff came out. And me being the resident "coin guru," was asked to check them all out. Which I dutifully did a few weeks ago. What I took with me to the show were the things I told them they shouldn't bother keeping. More bulk than value. The majority of 1920's to 1940's foreign coins were picked up when he was in Europe during WW2.
My first stop at a table was from a dealer I've known for 20 yrs. Thought I'd do him a "favor" and let him have them reasonable. Unfortunately he didn't want them for any price.....suggesting they all sell now by the pound. Ok, that was "great news." So off I went looking for someone buying/selling piles of lower grade foreign and US Whitman album of coins. I had a complete Jeff Nickel set with a choice BU 5 step 1950-d in a nice condition 1960's Whitman slide album. And the 2 books of Lincoln cents in similar slide albums, book 2 complete and book 1 only 1/2 complete with no key dates, some better ones though.
I could tell this was going to be gruesome. The 2nd dealer I checked in with did have an interest though at a level they could make 30% or more on....fair enough. After being told the same basic thing that dealer #1 told me, I didn't show them to anyone else. One can only take so much frustration on lower end material....regardless of the family connections to the coins. After perusing all the tables I left the room for a while to ponder my fate. Did I really want to drag these books and wheat cent rolls around with me any longer? Just the 60 miles round trip drive probably cost me $15. I then decided to come back to dealer #2 and offer him the coins for around the numbers he suggested. $20 for the complete Jeff nickel book and $10 for the 2 Lincoln books. I tossed in a fresh wheat cent roll with plenty of teens, 20's and 30's for a $1. Same $1 for a nice BU roll of 1969-s Cents. I wanted the bulk stuff gone....got $33 for it. But the peace of mind was worth another $30....lol. The mental anguish of continuing to be the "caretaker" of this stuff takes its toll. I had already invested hours of research on Ebay and PCGS/NGC on all the coins (foreign included) and there was going to be almost a zero return for anyone. The sheet retail on the Jeff Nickel book was supposedly $28. At least this set was completed in the 1960's and presented in a nice album. No one cares.
I kept back a group of group of 30 coins brought back from the War and put away ever since. No one even wanted these at any price. So those I plopped into a sell ad on the CU World Coin Forum. No more coin shows for these guys....they've been through enough already....lol. I like the French coinage of the 1920's through 1940's. Classic designs. The Commerce Industry tokens are just cool.
My biggest "thrill" of the show was seeing the "huge" expanse of tables as soon as I entered the lobby area and could see the set up through the glass windows. I didn't remember this show being so big. Tables in a back room as well? How cool is that? This was going to be fun. I didn't see much in the way of material that normally interests me in type, Barber, Seated. And the few offerings in MS and PF were priced out to lunch. If there was a gem silver 19th century type coin at the show I didn't see it. There was quite a bit of gold at the show. So gold type collectors from the 1880's and on had plenty to choose from. Plenty of Saints and $10 Indian and Libs. One gold wholesaler I know was roaming the floor for slider $20's at $1240 or so each...and couldn't find any. Lots of sparkly coins and medals in silver and gold. I didn't see much in the way of better date type or just better dates. And no doubt the overhanging cloud of having to sell stuff I didn't own was weighing of my perceptions.
I got around the show a lot quicker than I figured. I was at the "side wall' where the "other room" began. Must have been 10-12 tables in there when I first looked. And then it hit me.....I was looking at a mirror of the rest of the show. No back room. No extra tables. That joke was on me. My show was over prematurely. Great presentation and first impression when walking in....truly smoke and "mirrors" did me in.....lol.
I had been there about an hour.....30-40 tables. My 2nd coin show this year. And I'm probably done until next March until the 2020 Willimantic Show.
Comments
Sounds like you still had a good time. If you recover perhaps next month on June 9th take a trip to Westchester County NY for the Coin and Collectibles Fair. 60 tables so it should keep you busy all day!
www.CoinAndCollectiblesFair.com
@roadrunner...Good to see you posting again...your inputs have been missed. Sorry about the tough time with disbursing the family coins.... they can be tough. Cheers, RickO
Thanks for taking the time to type and post your show report @roadrunner.
One thing that was "found" in this group was a small, pebble-like, oval "ancient" that I figured was fake. A dealer friend of mine who has seen his share of these felt it was real. So I looked all around the internet and concluded it was possibly a 600's Carthage coin with 2 Kings on the obverse and a cross on the reverse. Sort of cool....though probably only worth $20. It was sort of fun trying to figure out just what it was. When I let my SIL know, she wanted that one back....it has a good story.
Another "coin" in the group turned out to be a St. Christopher medal...in uniface. Incuse "creed" stamped on the lower reverse. I found wear pattern on the non-struck side to be interesting. It had that look of old 19th century worn silver on Fair/AG coinage. In any case, it's "family" and is going back with the Carthaginian as a "keep sake."
The BU 5+ stepper 1950-d nickel in the Jeff set was kept in a separate, and old looking hand-annotated envelope. It said "this one is valuable." An no doubt it was up to around 1964. I suspect that it was obtained just before prices crashed. It was a good story to tell my SIL.....similar to the Dutch Tulip Mania of the mid-1630's.
Glad to see you back @roadrunner, I always enjoy your posts.
Now, If I can find a nice vintage drum set or cymbal group available at about that same time in the NYC area....I just might make it. Vintage drums and cymbals have taken up a lot of my time the past year. Bulky as heck....can't fit in a safe deposit box. But I like the idea of vintage 1940's or 1950's Zildjian 18" and 20" cymbals for about the price of a common MS65 Morgan dollar. While they haven't began slabbing cymbals yet (perish the thought)....many are returning to the market the past few years as boomers retire and pass on....with many more to common. And they keep on making new ones as well. It affects all collectibles. I can't even remember my last Westchester Show....maybe around 2009.
SIL ?
Sister In Law.
I'm 65, don't tweet, don't Facebook or Instagram, and rarely ever TEXT....and even I use SIL to save my fingers wasted time and energy. I must be electronically illiterate by 2019 standards. I frequently see FIL, BIL, SIL, MIL, on the various blogs out there....a bad habit I have apparently picked up.
In hindsight, this thread is my therapy and penance after today's show experience. Oddly, a friend I know through the drum collecting asked me why I went to a coin show. In the process he said he'd been looking for a "Morgan dollar" and didn't want to be ripped off. So I told him I could set him up with non-cull Morgan or Peace dollar for a great price. Was sort of surprised he was considering a Morgan. I wonder if the demand for them perks up after each showing of "Tombstone" on TV?
Glad to see you posting. I have missed your input.
Welcome back my friend.....family coins are a tough sell, too many emotions involved.
bob
Thanks for posting, Roadrunner - I'm glad to see you back as well.
Also thanks for your candidate comments on trying to sell 'common stuff' - and good for you to
do this for a family member.
My brother's family has rolled out the hospitality mat for us many times over the years at summer picnics and Thanksgiving dinners. Doing this was really nothing. Happy to do it. Wish I could do more.
One thing this show made very obvious to me (as did the one in March) is that it's now very hard to pull cash out of the pocket to buy anything.....and I mean anything in coins. I guess given the right coin and price I'd do it. But for the first time in my 57 yr coin career, I went a complete year without buying anything. At least last I year I bought a few cheap Morgans at GC and a nice fresh BU roll of 1964 JFK's for $125. I did however buy quite a few drums and cymbals. Funny how your hobby time ebbs and flows from different areas. The coin time will come back....though only when or IF the PM market returns. The coin market needs a lot of help to lift itself out of this 10 yr hole.
Great to have Roadrunner back!!!
Nice to hear from you!
Thanks for the show report
Good to hear from you Brian. Numismatics is undergoing transformation in big wsys as you know. Or better put, society is. Lets talk soon when you have the time
J
siliconvalleycoins.com
Sorry for your frustration with the low end stuff. I was in a similar situation - selling some Jefferson and Lincoln folders for my girlfriend - threw them on Ebay and did surprisingly well - but I was selling my own stuff anyway so the extra time was marginal.
Great to see you posting
Latin American Collection