Show report - Denver Coin Expo September 25-28

claychaser

OK Ricko - a show report fer ya! No pics though.

Wednesday: I drove to the Denver Airport and picked up my EAC and copper guru Buck. He got confused with all of the airport construction and bad signage but he finally got to the right level and I found him. We hightailed it to the expo venue. The show venue is the National Western Complex, a facility build to facilitate rodeo and stock events. It's located near the intersection of I-70 and I-25. The neighborhood is railyard, industrial and stockyards - so it's not really touristy friendly.

We pull into the parking lot around 11:15 am, and their is a line of dealer cars waiting to get in. I now many of the area delaers, so there was a lot of good natured bantering while we waited. Most ofm the dealers know that I buy literally tons of Lincoln cents, so one of them offers me a home depot 5 gallon pail with over 80 pounds worth of mint and proof set cutouts and some circ wheaties tossed in, plus 48 PCGS boxes for $150 cash. Being the sucker that I am, I took the deal and we hoisted the thing into the back of my pickup. First deal in the bag and I have not even entered the building.

Buck and I both went inside while waiting and got our badges - quick and efficient.

The parking lot had Denver PD there, and the entry was directed by a uniformed officer. We drove out vehicles inside in groups, and once inside, there were multiple people there to load,out stuff onto flatbed cards and wisked it off to our assigned tables.

I had my "yellow sheet" buy list for the routine proof and mint sets, modern commems, Lincolns, etc and it did not take long for it to come to the table. I bought several loads of the stuff each day throughout the show.

Wednesday was a early bird and dealer day, so In held back on putting out the better type coins. I did sell a few items, but the focus for me was on buying. For Wednesday through Friday I usually 2 to 3 batches of stuff behind my table to figure a deal on, and all of my cash offers were accepted.

Thursday morning was more of the same, but I did put the nice type coins. Lots of interest, and a few buyers paid up for the "good stuff". The only grief that day was a real jerk who walked up wanting to sell me 2 BU rolls in plastic tubes of 45-P LIncolns. I put out my felt tray and proceeded to look at the coins. I only got through the first dozen in less than 20 to 30 seconds or so, and those were very low quality with large its, carbon spots, etc. , and then he starts to berate me for apparantly taking too much time. I must be to weird, but I really wanted to make sure that they were all the same date and I would like to evaluate the overall quality of the rolls before I committed to buy them. His language got worse, so I had to say SIR! We are DONE! Other than that, the day went great and I did get more deals of some older rolls of circ Lincolns and another big batch of proof sets that were on my buy list.

Friday things started a little slow for me, but activity picked up in the afternoon with some pretty good retail, including a sale of a Fine 09-SVDB and several other mid to high grade Lincolns. Many of the customers were looking to build matched sets in grades from Fine to XF. Real collectors - and many enjoyable conversations. I also sold a really nice proof half dime and a couple of type coins to real collectors. I also filled up a large rolling tool bin, a big rolling tool bag and two boxes of more of the modern stuff on my buy list.

Saturday morning a few of the dealer buyers came back and bought coins - 1877 Indian, plus some better raw coins. I also sold a few $100 ish deals of Lincolns to collectors.

The highlight of the day was a visit by our own Captain Henway who is researching 1922 Lincoln Cents. I had a couple dozen of them, so he checked them out and pointed out that I missed a 22-D "weak D" in the batch. We had a very good talk about the goings on in the Denver Mint that year, and I really look forward to learning a lot more about these 1922 issues.

The activity picked up around 11 am and continued until around 3 in the afternoon. It was strong enough to convince Buck to take Uber to the airport instead of starting to tear down at 1:30 which we would have to do if I were to drive him there. He was able to do quite a few transactions with his Hard Times and Civil War token selection and he personal catalogue books.

Pack out was very efficient and well organized. Security was also "all there" for the dealers. I did hear some public complaints about parking on Saturday, as this venue is large and hosts other events concurrently.

All in all, I think it was good for my first set up at this show.

Right on the heals of this show is the Front Range Coin Club at the Boulder County Fairgrounds, October 5-6. If you can, stop by!

edwardjulio

Planning to attend, Early Bird and later.

RockyMtnProspector

First Denver show I'll miss since 2013. Bummer--hope it's a great show, looking forward to show reports!

ricko

Show reports please... and let us know how bullion is moving... the economy and trade talks are impacting PM's... Cheers, RickO

claychaser

Show report posted in first post.

Hemispherical

Great detailed show report @claychaser! Even without pics, I enjoyed the read.

The “jerk” was trying to hide the defects in the rolls and did not expect you to actually check each coin. Good of you to send him in his way.

mannie gray

The show was a blast except when I tried to sell a couple of unc rolls of 1945 Lincolns and the guy yelled at me....

tychojoe

Very enjoyable and informative read. Reminded me of how I love those Lincolns!

Walkerguy21D

Thanks, nice report!
**several other mid to high grade Lincolns. Many of the customers were looking to build matched sets in grades from Fine to XF. **

Yes, this is surprising - I posted a nice run of better Fine - AU early Lincolns on the BST a few months back, and sold them all out very quickly.

ricko

@claychaser....Great report... many thanks.... I did not see any comments about bullion though.... I assume it was not on your business horizon and that is fine..... Some very interesting points though... Seems Lincoln cent collectors are a larger market than most think.....Cheers, RickO

alohagary

thanks for a great report

edwardjulio

Attended the show Early Bird and Thursday. Located two Seated half dollars for the die crack odyssey. Purchased some "Dark Side" examples from one of my favorite dealers. Tried to sell some "Rattler" Commemoratives with CAC, one dealer said two people ahead of me, come back in two days. I did not return to that table.

Show had a "buzz" on Thursday morning, but seemed slower in the afternoon. Not sure about bullion as I do not track. My old college buddy was buying AU Morgan dollars, good to see him. A few new dealers attended this show, some routine dealers did not attend, probably because the show was early this year, usually the first part of October.

Enjoyed the 1 1/2 days there, good to get away.

blitzdude

Can you report ratio of millennials vs. blue hairs? Thanks!

edwardjulio

It would be best not to SWAG a ratio, but I was surprised at the number of "younger" dealers/collectors participating. There were plenty "older" folks there as well. I fit into the gray hair category, not blue yet.

bigtime36

I live in Denver area and have never been to a show, is this something as a collector I need to try?

coinbuf

@bigtime36 said:
I live in Denver area and have never been to a show, is this something as a collector I need to try?

Going to a show, small or big, is a great experience for any collector. The best advice I can give you on your first show is buy nothing, just look and learn as much as you can.

bigtime36

Thanks for the info!

rln_14

Nice report, thanks for posting