Quick Baltimore Show Report
DelawareDoons
Posts: 3,413 ✭✭✭✭✭
Figured I'd write up a quick Baltimore show report since I saw somebody mentioning the lack of them.
I got to Baltimore around 10:30am on Thursday morning, and parked in my usual garage across the street from the convention center. I went right upstairs to lot viewing. I did SB first since there was about, oh, 80 coins I wanted to see, some for the sake of possibly buying, others for some coin tourism. The room was fairly full, I had to grab a seat closer to the back. It took me about 45 minutes to go through my lots and take notes, then I popped over to HA for another 30 minutes worth of lot viewing in a similarly crowded room. I did have to wait to see several coins at SB because there were other people looking at them, so it was definitely not an empty house.
Side note; I cannot tell you how much I enjoy lot viewing now as a seasoned numismatist. It is your absolute best chance to see incredible rarities in hand, stuff that might get tucked into collections for the next 25+ years. Lot viewing has gone from being a complete afterthought to an absolute highlight of my big coin show experience over the past 10 years. Even if I walk away from a show empty handed, lot viewing makes it worth the time.
I made my way downstairs to the lobby around 11:45, and filled out my placard for general admission. While there, I ran into a friend and we moved towards the entrance to get into line to get into the show. We chatted and caught up for 15 minutes, then walked in. I made a beeline towards a certain dealer that had bought a coin off me and requested a hand delivery at Baltimore, then swung by Witter to chat with somebody there before visiting another dealer friend. After that, I popped over to NGC to drop off 3 GSA's (A really nice '82-CC, and 2x '80-CC Rev '78) for grading, as well as a 66 star (One sided PL) 1980 Onza for variety attribution, as it's an 80/79.
After catching up on obligations and socialization, I walked the bourse for a bit looking for stuff to buy. I kicked the tires on a few pieces for my personal collection and came close to pulling the trigger a couple times, but ended up buying nothing for myself. I did buy a few pieces to flip elsewhere on the bourse, but it was a rather uneventful show for me purchasing-wise. It wasn't for a lack of quality material available, nor asks being too strong, I just wasn't in my head due some other stuff going on. Nothing bad, great actually, but distracting.
The bourse had a nice buzz to it, regular Baltimore attendees know how the show feels on Thursday afternoons and this was business as usual. It was definitely more crowded than the pre-Covid shows, and I still saw plenty of deals going on, demand still feels high. I think it's easy to attend a show like ANA WFOM then come to Baltimore and feel let down, but you have to remember that the ANA WFOM are just a complete slice above and collectors will travel from all over the country for that show. Baltimore is more East-focused, so not quite as big.
Shortly after 1PM I met up with @lkenefic to check out his $2.50 Indian, which looked fine to me. The coin didn't have any repeaters, indentations, weird die gouges, tool marks, or other common PUP's of counterfeit gold, and had the right look, luster and color, so I'm pretty certain it is real.
After the show wrapped up, a few friends and I walked over to Capital Grille for dinner where I treated myself to a Porcini-Rubbed Steak and enjoyed life for a few hours, before making the trek home, as I had to work Friday.
Even with no newps, it was a good show for me, because after all, coin shows are only half about coins. 
"It's like God, Family, Country, except Sticker, Plastic, Coin."
Comments
Hey DD - nice write-up. Did you see much in the way of old holders? NGC 2.0/2.1, PCGS 1.0/1.1, Doily's or Regency's? If so, how were they priced?
Thanks - Tim
Dempsey and Baxter had a nice spread... I know they price theirs at top money so I didn't bother asking pricing, but I did chat a bit with their holder guy, Jeff, who told me the plastic market isn't really showing any signs of slowing down.
"It's like God, Family, Country, except Sticker, Plastic, Coin."
Thanks DD. I think the days of finding a bargain old holder are far behind us....
Tim
Nice report! Thanks for taking the time to share your experience 😎
I always enjoy a good show report (even when I don't attend the show), thanks for the write-up!
That was a great report.
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Great report, Thanks for the details. Did you notice how bullion was moving? Have not seen much in the reports so far. Cheers, RickO
That was a great report! Thank you very much for posting it for those of us who couldn't make it to the show!
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
Excellent report, and many thanks... again!!
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Lot viewing has gone from being a complete afterthought to an absolute highlight of my big coin show experience over the past 10 years. Even if I walk away from a show empty handed, lot viewing makes it worth the time.
This is true for me as well.
Complete Set of Chopmarked Trade Dollars
Carson City Silver Dollars Complete 1870-1893http://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/showcase.aspx?sc=2722"
Thank you for your report.
DelawareDoons,
Really great show report indeed. Short and sweet.
I especially liked the reason you state for auction lot viewing as a form of coin tourism. I was sniffing at a 1870-CC and 1871-CC $20 Liberty and because I could not view them in person I submitted a sight unseen auction offer and was not even close to winning the auction. I liked the 187O-CC more for tge EF-45 grade than the 1871-CC AU-55 grade which seemed less photogenic because the Stacks photo seemed a bit out of focus.
i am jealous of you having the time to view the coins.
Thanks for taking the time to write a report, especially the parts about lot viewing. Well said
I love these reports. Thanks for sharing.
Very descriptive analysis of your visit.