FUN Show Report with a Few NEWPs - caution - Contains some Darkside
Walkerguy21D
Posts: 11,484 ✭✭✭✭✭
As others have, and will be, providing some very in-depth reports, I'll just provide a few observations and insights.
I had a very busy Thur at work and could only make it Friday this year.
After a quick and uneventful 1 hour drive from my garage to the parking lot, I was there.
Glad I arrived early, as it was every bit the half mile walk from the lot to the hall. The entrance area
was packed with the public waiting to get in a few minutes before 10am.
The doors opened and we stampeded in. Good thing they weren't checking bags this year, as it would have taken forever!
One of my first stops was at Stacks-Bowers, where I had pre-arranged to meet a rep about an unusual British-Canada note I had. He had researched it via my photos, and at the show declared it genuine and possibly unique. I agreed to have them perform some conservation and get it graded and it will appear in an auction later this year, so that was exciting for me.
On to the coins! I had a short want list for a friend, and my own personal list of items to search for, some stuff to sell, and dealer acquaintances to talk to.
Everyone seemed happy with the show, and the biggest 'complaint' was everyone was so busy they didn't have time to eat or shop the floor on Thur and Friday. When I further inquired, is it mostly tire kickers, or are people buying, I was told they were buying, and 'a little bit of everything' was selling. I heard large cents were slow, particularly for rare non-Redbook varieties. My own observations are that nice - date and major variety examples are still bringing strong money at auction, and no one at the show was discounting their chain or 1799 cents. I saw quite a few of both, though most were really poor, and raw, and still priced at moon+ money, so I didn't acquire either of these for my set.
I saw two different dealers with relatively extensive (meaning a dozen or so pre-1933) inventories of early walkers in AU/Unc - very unusual. One had the elusive 20D in AU58, but it was priced sky high and he barely discounted it when I inquired. With an average look and no CAC, I passed. But he sold two other walkers while I was there, and empty spaces indicated others had sold previously. So I feel this market is still pretty strong as well, and virtually no one else had much of anything in nice early walkers other than some of the common dates.
Random observations/comments - There seemed to be a plethora of bust halves available, honestly I think I saw more of these than Morgan dollars. David Kahn is as popular as ever; they were two-deep at his tables every time I walked by. Liz Coggin is doing quite well on her own. It took quite a while to get to see her to offer her the remnants of my Barber quarter collection (most of the set went to a forum member, these were dupes I had). Note - I quoted her the same prices that I had priced them at on the BST, and she bought nearly all of them, and only haggled on one that I priced strong as I really like it. I didn't notice much 'generic classic' gold coins being offered at around spot. One dealer I talked to said there is a pretty strong market for this, and he himself has been putting some away when he can find it, and showed me some he had picked up. Saw a dealer sell a bag of 100 mixed date shield nickels to another dealer at $2 each - little love for these I guess! Saw an old Capital display of half cents 1800-1857 that was very cool. Overhead two dealers talking about an extremely rare Colonial someone had cherrypicked for $100 at the show, one of the dealers verified the variety and declared it second finest of 5 known. Tried to find a generic raw choice XF Barber half at the show for my friend's type set, and didn't see one. Now of course a lot of dealers only bring their high powered stuff, but believe me there were lots of raw Barber halves available, but most were lower grade, and just about anything above VF was a 'problem coin'. I guess most of these are now in slabs?
Forum members - saw quite a few! KKathyL was everywhere, chatted with Charmy, had Rick Snow give me an opinion on an IHC, said hello to Andy Lustig, and had a great time at "BE2" set up by spacehayduke at the hotel lobby bar. When Insider2 showed up, I declared we officially had a quorum. As he and PhysicsFan were both well behaved, no one was bammed from the event LOL! Seriously though, great meeting and talking with all you guys!
Purchases: not much. Found this 1904 IHC for my friend's set very late in the show at Wayne Herndon's table.
It was the last upgrade he needed for his AU/BU late date run, only made difficult as he likes to see some red, but doesn't want to pay choice Unc prices. This was perfect
Spontaneous purchase - a dealer friend from FL was breaking up a very old Mexican type album he bought decades ago. A few were slabbed, most were raw, these two caught my eye and were priced very favorably. As many have noted, compared to US, you can get a lot of coin for your money on the Darkside!
Comments
Friday morning after show open:
Terrific report.
Would liked to have met you.
It's been a fun show for me.
I'm heading back to watch the finale to the dealer migration.🥴
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso
@Walkerguy21D thanks for your show report/pics.
Thanks man really good report. How were cac coins doing if you know?
Nice write-up. Enjoyed reading.
BHNC #248 … 130 and counting.
There was definite demand for them, as I saw some NEWPs that folks had obtained and the majority were CACd. Also met a fellow walker collector who is doing the whole set in various circ grades, with the stipulation that all coins are PCGS/CAC - and apparently has most of them now. Also of note I guess, that CAC stickers in general were relatively scarce in most dealer's cases.
Great Report!!
Congrats on the authentication of your note. It sounds exciting and hope it does well at auction. It should.
Very sorry that you weren't able to pick up that 1920-D in 58. I know how long you've been searching for that piece, Yes, they are elusive.
Glad that you were able to help your friend out finding the IHC. It looks like an attractive example.
Interesting dealer observations, too. I need to start buying generic Saints.
The Bar meetup sounds great and would make the trip worthwhile, for me, just by itself.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
@Walkerguy21D thanks for the mention in your Fabulous report. Great meeting up. We will keep eye out for the 1920-D for you. DM your directive on that and I can do some inquiry if you like.
I like your dark side pick ups. I have a lot of the foreign myself. Mostly just a few for each country but makes for great read and learning.
Hope to see you again soon.
Kathy
Best place to buy !
Bronze Associate member
Great report WG21D! Great meeting you at BE2.
Best, SH
It was definitely the highlight of the show for me. I really wished it could have lasted longer than the ~3 hrs it did. I really wanted to spend more time talking one on one with Billjones and Insider (and everyone else!). Also lkeigwin (Lance) was only able to make a brief cameo appearance before having leave to help with the Sheridan Downey auction.
The fellows from Stacks-Bowers wound up picking up our tab, as spacehayduke reported - very nice of them, and really interesting to talk to also.
Nice looking and unusual new pick ups.
Great report thanks for sharing. I have been seeking Mexico Second Republic.
@Walkerguy21D....Very good report, I really like that IHC.....The BE2 sounds as if it was a great time... Cheers, RickO
Cool report!
My YouTube Channel
Very nice show report. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.
One day I hope to make the pilgrimage to a FUN show.
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)
The bar get-together was the highlight for me as well, mainly because I haven't had a conversation with avid coin collectors in literally decades. I've been collecting in self-imposed isolation off and on since the late 1980's. The local dealers where I live range from "meh" to complete "rectal sphincters" in my opinion, so I don't interact with them much. Admittedly, part of the problem was my lack of interaction and proper etiquette with dealers. For example, I'd get into heated arguments over grading without realizing that our differences in grading were irrelevant. All one needs to agree on is the price of the coin.
Almost my entire interaction with the coin community has been through this board, so it was a real thrill to relax and meet some of the "legends" here and talk coins and other stuff. Meeting spacehayduke, who has been a steadying influence for me recently on the boards regarding TPG, and finding out how our academic paths and careers had intersected was cool. To receive support for my purchases at the show at the party was just wonderful for me. Thank you, Walkerguy21D, for informing me of the gathering. Also, thanks to Stacks-Bowers for picking up the tab.
I'll have to post my experience at the show in a separate thread because it's quite different from the show strategies and experiences that others have reported so far. I'll call it "A Big Rube goes to the Big Show".
Edited for clarity
Looks like FUN.
Thanks.
Thanks for a great report!
Really informative report Walkerguy. I LOVE show reports from a collector's perspective as I can relate to your travels over the bourse floor, being successful not only buying, but selling as well. The last show I attended was in Ft. Collins, CO and there was nothing I was interested in buying (except trivia) and nobody was interested in buying high grade PCGS coins. I was told this was the wrong format for me. Perhaps I need to book a hotel and flight for FUN2021.
OINK
Nice report! It would have been nice to meet you there, since I also like to chase nice Walkers too. I looked all over the show for nice, graded VF-XF 1917-S halves (obverse and reverse) and came up empty. I causally looked for 20-D's too, think I saw that 58 too. I have a PCGS 30 and a 50, so I'm pretty well set there.
10-4,
My Instagram picturesErik
My registry sets
Yes I know you like nice walkers - I think my old '19D went to you - that was a NICE coin!
We'll have to make arrangements to meet up at some future show for sure.