Black Friday Coin Show Report

SurfinxHI

Hey all,

Since there aren’t too many of these around, I thought I’d do a quick report. I went and set up at the show for both days (Friday 12-5, Sat 9-4). If you’re not tracking, it is in Tulsa, Ok, and pulls a network of dealers from the Midwest. It is a smaller regional show (25-30 dealers). The show tables were spread out a bit more, which was nice (socially distanced). Tulsa recently put in a mask order, so I’d say it was about 80% successful. But the space was big, so that helps. Being from Hawaii, I got to do my COVID test on Friday as well, for my flight home. As of Friday, I’m negative. Hoping it stays that way. I’ve been really diligent about everything, masks, hand washing, hand sanitizer, etc, to include not visiting friends and relatives after the show....straight from hotel to hotel, then home. Kinda seriously sucks, that.

Friday was busy until 4, lots of retail and dealer to dealer action. The floor was never too crowded, and folks seemed to be giving each other space and time. Given the relatively small size, that meant if someone was busy, you could walk around and see other stuff, and still not be needing a break before getting back to the table in question. That was nice. I would say the attendance felt about 80% of normal. Not sure on the numbers.

With the drops in gold and silver prices that week, and Friday, premiums were spiked, if you could get a quote at all. I had several folks tell me flat out that their prices were too high and wouldn’t even quote one for generic gold. Others did quote, and they are still at the pricing expected when gold was above $1900-$1950 an ounce. I wasn’t surprised. Having it drop $200 in two weeks or so can do that. Silver was a bit easier. Dealer to dealer, even generic stuff was still $2 over spot, and $3-4 for the public. ASEs were about $5 over. I didn’t see much silver trade hands, and since I didn’t bring any, I wasn’t quoting prices. 90% was about 15.5x or less on the sell side, and 18x+ or so on the buy side. Did see much/hear much of that happening either. Generic VF morgans averaged $28 each, Peace about $24-25. Better stuff was $29-31 and up. I bought two nice rolls of sliders for $35 a coin for a client.

Numismatic coins were moving nicely for me and I believe others. Lots of CC morgans left my case, to include better date material. I was one of the few dealers to have GSA slabs, and those did reasonably well also. Better date/grade morgans were snatched up if available (65-67) at current bid pricing. Buyers were looking for quality in slabs as well, and were choosy (nice to see!). I didn’t see much CAC material on the bourse. One dealer seemed pretty quiet in the back, and he had two tables of copper. Impressive to see. No sure how his day was though. Paper seemed slow, but that just what folks were saying. I was offered three notes, but lacking the knowledge base, I passed. Not sure if the customer ever found a buyer.

I was hoping Saturday would repeat Friday in terms of volume, but it was not too be. It was quiet until about 1130 and really petered off at about 1. Not much happened so there was time to make last minute deals and chat up with some friends. Folks started disappearing at 2, and I stayed set up until 330 when 75% were done and gone. 4 stragglers showed up about then, were disappointed, and left. Don’t blame them, but they also seemed to be not prepared for a coin show...more like curious than anything else. The promoter was quite nice and gracious and explained that traffic died out so folks started leaving. Come back next year, earlier!

I sold 2.5:1 ratio of slabs to loose/sleeved stock, excluding bulk dollars and 90%. I moved stale inventory for materials that I have customers for, which is a good thing. I sold zero gold, other than one slabbed piece to a fellow dealer. I was offered very little to purchase from the public, except for one Instagram customer that told me he was coming by. He brought a bunch of 90% to sell to make a purchase from another guy. Worked out good for all.

Here’s a couple shots of the cases, and a not-ricko-approved dollar! I didn’t snap any of the floor, it seemed too sparsely attended by the time I remembered to do so.

Cheers,
Surf

BryceM

Thanks for sharing this. It's nice to know there's still a bit of activity around. Great photos too. There's something about seeing a bunch of slabs in a case that makes me smile.

Smudge

Thanks for the report.

golden

Thanks for your report.

Meltdown

Looks like fun, even if Saturday was a bust. I'm going to set up at a show this year when it's safe to do so!

SurfinxHI

@Meltdown said:
Looks like fun, even if Saturday was a bust. I'm going to set up at a show this year when it's safe to do so!

You’re running out of year.....

Meltdown

@SurfinxHI said:

@Meltdown said:
Looks like fun, even if Saturday was a bust. I'm going to set up at a show this year when it's safe to do so!

You’re running out of year.....

Oh yeah, I meant next...

kaz

Thanks for posting such a detailed report, and photos too! It also sounds like a well run show that people could feel comfortable attending, given current circumstances. I'm not much of a Morgan collector, but yours look really nice!

Walkerfan

Great report!

Thank You!!

SeattleSlammer

Nice report and pics — gives a good idea of what’s what — wish I could have been there.

Walkerguy21D

Thanks for posting, and glad that you had a decent show.

ShaunBC5

Glad the show was decent. I used to hit up Tulsa shows in college. I was supposed to be in OK for Thanksgiving, but it’s 2020 so I missed for the first time since my son was being born.

ricko

@SurfinxHI.... Thanks for an interesting show report... good information. You mentioned selling GSA slabs (I assume CC Morgans), I am curious about the sale price of these. The dip in gold this last week seems to have people holding for a while.... I am still looking for the rationale behind the dip. Cheers, RickO

thebeav

Very nice report.
Sounds like it was successful for you !

SurfinxHI

@ricko said:
@SurfinxHI.... Thanks for an interesting show report... good information. You mentioned selling GSA slabs (I assume CC Morgans), I am curious about the sale price of these. The dip in gold this last week seems to have people holding for a while.... I am still looking for the rationale behind the dip. Cheers, RickO

They all were moving for bid+5-10%

Gold? Wish I knew. Tied to the dollar, somehow.

Cheers,
Greg

ricko

@SurfinxHI.... Thanks for the response. I have several (actually purchased unopened, almost 20 years ago from GSAGuy)...and was wondering what they go for now on the show circuit. Cheers, RickO

bearcave

Great show report!! I like Morgans and you have some super looking ones there.

mark_dak

Thanks for the update. 2021 can't come fast enough - haven't been to a show since February and am more than ready. Good news is I probably saved lots of money not purchasing while gold and silver were at their highs. Sold some 90% when things got pricey, appears I can already buy back at a lower price based on your report. The respite means I'm stocking up on $$ when shows open back up.

Tibor

Maybe gold dropped on positive news on COVID 19 vaccine and the
incoming new administration. Good news for the average public
usually bad for gold prices.

1630Boston

Thanks for the interesting report

CalifornianKing

Thanks for posting this! Really missing coin shows and shops!