Remembering Coin Shows from the early 90s.

braddick

I used to so love attending the Long Beach coin show, mostly back in the 1990s. I have fond memories of the various dealers there. For example, one dealer specialized in nothing but early copper and each raw copper coin was placed gently on top of the little manilla envelope with a detail description of it. There was another dealer who specialized in really nothing but Standing Liberty quarters. He wore a large top hat and I believe he had a mischievous mustache! So many lustrous silver quarters in his cases.
There was also a dealer who had tons of PCGS slabbed and graded proof Kennedy half dollars. It was through him I learned how difficult it was to locate a 1971-S Kennedy with deep frost- worthy of the DCAM notation. He offered a sort of club membership you could purchase and this allowed you to purchase PR67DCAM or PR68DCAM modern Kennedy clad PCGS proof half dollars. It was an interesting concept.
Does anyone wish to share their memories of coins shows from the past? I'm feeling a bit nostalgic today.

1630Boston

I don't go to shows but
I remember my mother taking me as a child to the BayState Show at the Statler Hotel in Boston around 1970 or so.

MFeld

The dealer in Standing Liberty Quarters was Jay Cline and I’m guessing that Jim McGuigan is the (early) copper dealer you spoke of.

braddick

Sadly I don't believe Mr. Cline is with us anymore. Such a tremendous loss.

BillJones

I was going to coin shows in New York City in the 1970s when all of the coins were raw. You lived by your wits and your knowledge. I’d gotten ripped a few times and learned the ropes pretty well. When it came time to have the coins graded that I had bought then, everything graded the way I thought it would, except for my early copper.

In those cases, I got more than my share of body bags. I never thought that I was wrong, and years later I saw the most important of those coins in straight graded holders. They were condition census coins when I owned them, and they were easy to spot when they re-appeared on the market.

As for the dealers, there was the Robert Bachler and Kathrine Bullowa. Paramount, which was run by David Acres, was the auction house. All of those dealers have passed on now. They had prime material, and while they didn’t sell things at the lowest prices, they were honest.

In the 1980s, I bought a lot of coins off the Worthy Coin Bid Wall in Boston run by the late Don Romano. His father was a legend in Boston numismatic circles. Those purchases included the Chain Cent is my avatar, a 1796 Quarter in VF and some rare early half dimes among many others. Once more everything was raw. A lot of the competition in the bidding came from representatives of New England Rare Coin Galleries, which was run by one of the current owners of Heritage Auctions.

braddick

It wasn't often, but when JJTeaparty set up at a show it was always five collectors deep.

CaptHenway

@braddick said:
I used to so love attending the Long Beach coin show, mostly back in the 1990s. I have fond memories of the various dealers there. For example, one dealer specialized in nothing but early copper and each raw copper coin was placed gently on top of the little manilla envelope with a detail description of it. There was another dealer who specialized in really nothing but Standing Liberty quarters. He wore a large top hat and I believe he had a mischievous mustache! So many lustrous silver quarters in his cases.
There was also a dealer who had tons of PCGS slabbed and graded proof Kennedy half dollars. It was through him I learned how difficult it was to locate a 1971-S Kennedy with deep frost- worthy of the DCAM notation. He offered a sort of club membership you could purchase and this allowed you to purchase PR67DCAM or PR68DCAM modern Kennedy clad PCGS proof half dollars. It was an interesting concept.
Does anyone wish to share their memories of coins shows from the past? I'm feeling a bit nostalgic today.

The early copper man might have been Tom Reynolds.

1775

Three times a year and ANA Helen and Don Carmody were the most pleasant people to both deal with and just talk with.
the Commem market was truly a collectors area.

cladking

I headed out to a Long Beach show once and made it only half way before having to fly back home. I went to a lot of the Milwaukee shows in those days.

DRUNNER

You hit a nerve . . . . . . .

Naw . . .I wasn't bigtime . . . I never went to a large show during those years. That was like deigning to date Kate Upton at my level. BUT . . the local shows. Now we are TALKING!

I would carry 2-3 Danscos . . . my 7070, and usually the Lincoln set. I arrived early at every show in a veritable froth . . . . . usually with only a couple C-notes to spend, but a discriminating palate that made me look like I was rating Peter Luger's Steakhouse! Have loupe . . . . . . . will travel!

I'd buy a couple early Lincolns in AU from Bob White (Portland) . . . cruise looking for anything toned form the Dansco, and in general just be a shark hoping to use limited knowledge to pounce on a good coin or two. In these times . . .you could satiate the palate with a few bullseye Jeffs for .50c each . . . . now of course if you can find them they are $30. I was able to get a few coins in that 7070 that were appealing, and in time the 7070 became a dealer observation point. Everyone wanted to know how the book was going. In time . .that 7070 became one of the all-time albums in the West.

Nothing like having $250 only . . . and having to judiciously fill holes with coins you are proud to own . . . . . best way to develop an "eye".

Oh . . . . . those days . . . . . .simply the highlight of my life.

Drunner

Oldhoopster

Almost 40 years ago, when I was a senior in HS, a buddy and I skipped school on a Friday and drove over the mountain ridge to a PAN show in my 1969 Triumph Spitfire (It had a heck of a time pulling the hills). I remember meeting Art Kagin, who took time to talk and give us advice on how to get into the coin business. I knew he was a big time dealer after seeing his ads in Coin World and NN and was impressed that he took the time to talk to a couple kids.

The coin dealer dream died when I went to college, but I still remember the great time we had.

Dave99B

I miss the local shows the most. It wasn’t uncommon to have a good sized show quarterly in the Seattle area. I’m talking 25-40 dealers. I picked up a lot of nice material in those days...nothing beats holding a coin in your hand while deciding on a potential purchase. Of course, the Internet changed all of this. No going back. While the Internet greatly changed the landscape, it also vastly improved the available of great coins. Pros and cons on both sides I suppose.

Dave

thebeav

@braddick said:
It wasn't often, but when JJTeaparty set up at a show it was always five collectors deep.

Went to a show in Dearborn, probably the mid 80's. The late Leon Hendrickson's SilverTowne table was like that. I never saw such a cluster of activity.

Kliao

I don’t remember shows from the early 90’s..........I’m a teen!

rainbowroosie

I remember these shows as amazing buying opportunities. With raw coins everywhere, and stacks of double row boxes....yes, the good old days if you knew how to trade.

BillDugan1959

Art Kagin, Leon Hendrickson and Leon's brother (the National banker) were always super friendly and fine gentlemen, even when busy. Not fake friendly, the real deal. And I was just a wet behind the ears kiddo.

oldabeintx

The copper dealer might have been Jack Beymer (sp?).

CommemDude

I have fond memories of re-entering collecting then when I finally had some disposable income.....the Westchester WESPNEX shows were held either upstairs or downstairs in the White Plains county center.

There were lots of really nice coins but even then there was a premium for super nice slabbed coins....I recall some amazing bust quarters and 1795 halves in OGH slabs.....all way over "sheet". But early type prices in general had been stagnant for years.

Many of the raw coins were overgraded or AT and underpriced for the grade, making you feel there were "bargains" to be had if you were not an informed buyer.

I always enjoyed buying color commems and type at no premium from the late Chip Gambino who was a true gentleman and also had a coin shop in Croton NY

After hours of pouring over coins, I once came away with a rose-colored Cleveland in PCGS65, and it was a treasure to be added to my growing set of commems. Much of the novelty and excitement of that time is hard to reproduce today

thebeav

Someone may remember this one.....The FUN show,about 1985.....Possibly '84.....
I was near the entrance when I just happened to notice two guys entering. One had a brown shopping bag, the other had a fat attache case. They walked up to a table near the door and the attache guy started pointing at rolls of twenties in an Allstate. He's nodding, Allstate opens and he's loading the twenty rolls into the attache. Mr. shopping bag is pulling out bundles of C notes and handing them over. "Isn't that something ?" I remember thinking.
Later that day, I'm at the hospitality tent out in the parking lot. I think it was a chicken barbecue. Sitting at a community table,a guy at the table asks, "Did any of you guys get any of that drug money that came through the show ? It looked like it spent some time in the water." Everybody starts going through their pockets and looking at their money. Sure enough, almost everyone at the table had some of these ratty looking hundreds. One of the guys had 18 or 19 of them. "Do you want these for 90 bucks apiece?", he asks me. I look at a few,they were genuine all right. "Of course !".....I bought them.
So, remember, if you have any hundreds for 90 bucks, I'm your man......

Cougar1978

The first show I setup at was Greater Houston in 1990 at the Adams Mark Hotel a high end place for a show. This was slightly after the 89 crash.

Many of the dealers present then I still see at shows and others have passed. There is no retirement from the coin business. Sometimes I will be ticked after a bad show / high table fee but I recover and get back in the fray.

That would have been the era to load up on gold close to melt and quality large size currency. US coins with few exceptions constant downside trend during that decade (and beyond - PCGS 3000). I acquired a taste for world gold, Irish, and Vatican Coinage and made friends with players in those areas.

Lately I have been amazed at the scarcity of Mexico silver 19th century 50 centavos due to a phone call from a friend who has one he wants to slab. A fellow on another forum had a complete slabbed collection of Mexico Gold 50 Pesos, something I had always dreamed about. Do you know how tough quality ones are to find?

My 2 purchases off the bay this week an n scale 60’ New Haven passenger combine car for my layout $45 and a PCGS 70 2019 Mexico silver Onza 1 oz for $44. A 1941 PCGS 65 WLH sold for $95 this week from my online store so that leaves me $6 for a burger.

koynekwest

Cherrypicking for doubled dies and other varieties was easy.

SanctionII

I collected as a YN in the 1960's and 1970's. Never went to a coin show. Shopped at LCS and collected from circulation.

Got back into the hobby as an adult in 1998 when I stopped by a coin show on a Saturday just to check it out. The collecting bug that had been dormant woke up and bit me hard that day. Since then I go to shows 2-3 times per year. Always a fun way to spend some leisure time and hobby money.

Elcontador

In the early 1990s, Long Beach had much more energy than it does today. People were selling stuff in the aisles, not just behind the tables. I met Bill Noyes, and bought two of his books on Large Cents, both of which he signed.

I also met Walter Breen, and personally bought his Coin Encyclopedia. He looked like a Berkeley hippie circa 1969. He was very enthusiastic about coins, any and all of them, and if he wasn't with a customer, was happy to speak with you about them. I didn't know the rest of the story at the time.

astrorat

@CaptHenway said:

@braddick said:
I used to so love attending the Long Beach coin show, mostly back in the 1990s. I have fond memories of the various dealers there. For example, one dealer specialized in nothing but early copper and each raw copper coin was placed gently on top of the little manilla envelope with a detail description of it. There was another dealer who specialized in really nothing but Standing Liberty quarters. He wore a large top hat and I believe he had a mischievous mustache! So many lustrous silver quarters in his cases.
There was also a dealer who had tons of PCGS slabbed and graded proof Kennedy half dollars. It was through him I learned how difficult it was to locate a 1971-S Kennedy with deep frost- worthy of the DCAM notation. He offered a sort of club membership you could purchase and this allowed you to purchase PR67DCAM or PR68DCAM modern Kennedy clad PCGS proof half dollars. It was an interesting concept.
Does anyone wish to share their memories of coins shows from the past? I'm feeling a bit nostalgic today.

The early copper man might have been Tom Reynolds.

Or perhaps Doug Bird?

ricko

I only went to small, local coin shows in Phoenix, Houston, West Palm Beach in the late 70's and 80's...in the early 90's I went to shows in the Seattle and Renton area....I liked the small shows...wish they had some here...Cheers, RickO

mannie gray

@koynekwest said:
Cherrypicking for doubled dies and other varieties was easy.

Wasn't it though?
I think I was one of the very few in my area who was even looking for them.
Every coin show was waiting to be pillaged.
Fun times.
I had a ready buyer of any proof Jefferson Nickel that had any kind if doubling, however minor.
Buy 1964 Jeff for 25c, sell for $5.
I could find literally rolls of them at a decent show.
Not to mention all the other stuff.
The bigger stuff.

jughead1893

@Cougar1978 said:

The first show I setup at was Greater Houston in 1990 at the Adams Mark Hotel a high end place for a show. This was slightly after the 89 crash.

Many of the dealers present then I still see at shows and others have passed. There is no retirement from the coin business. Sometimes I will be ticked after a bad show / high table fee but I recover and get back in the fray.

That would have been the era to load up on gold close to melt and quality large size currency. US coins with few exceptions constant downside trend during that decade (and beyond - PCGS 3000). I acquired a taste for world gold, Irish, and Vatican Coinage and made friends with players in those areas.

Lately I have been amazed at the scarcity of Mexico silver 19th century 50 centavos due to a phone call from a friend who has one he wants to slab. A fellow on another forum had a complete slabbed collection of Mexico Gold 50 Pesos, something I had always dreamed about. Do you know how tough quality ones are to find?

My 2 purchases off the bay this week an n scale 60’ New Haven passenger combine car for my layout $45 and a PCGS 70 2019 Mexico silver Onza 1 oz for $44. A 1941 PCGS 65 WLH sold for $95 this week from my online store so that leaves me $6 for a burger.

I remember going to the money show at the adams mark.One dealer was trying to sell a group of 100 64 morgans graded by our host. If memory serves the price was 12k.

DoubleEagle59

A quick respective from North of the border................

All I remember from coin shows in the 1970's is you couldn't find a toned coin in the whole place as every dealer had a jar of coin dip at the ready.