Summer FUN 2022 Show Report

keyman64 · July 7, 2022 8:51PM

Alright, this is all from my weird world and perspective of course. Soak it in. Lol

I knew this day was coming for weeks but with a week long road trip with my kids, pressures from work (day/night/weekends/on my vacation days etc) and everything else going on, I just was not able to be fully prepared to accomplish everything I wanted in this FUN filled day.

Wednesday night and into Thursday morning at 4;00 AM, I worked to get a bunch of extra things finished for work so everything wouldn't hit the fan for my boss and clients. I slept for two hours then got up and drove two hours to Summer FUN. It can take 90 minutes but that is normally without traffic.

Parking for $10 and walking in to the show at the convention center was so much shorter this year. I appreciated that. Sometimes it is what seems like a 20 minute walk from car to show floor. I walked in the building at 9am, announced my arrival on Instagram, got my name tag and went to lot viewing for a friend and for a few things I wanted to check out for myself. Heritage staff are always very nice and accommodating. At 9:05AM-ish, there were only a couple other people in there doing lot viewing. Lots of space and comfort. It turns out there is nothing for me in the auction. As for my friend, over the phone I recommended against one purchase and provided information about another item he plans to pursue.

I left lot viewing to hit the show floor. It was 9:58AM. Normally for the show openings there are speeches, ribbon cuttings etc etc...none of that. Maybe they didn't want a crowd gathered in one spot for a bit due to pandemic concerns? Or maybe they accomplished it prior to my walking up at 9:58AM? No idea. I do know that it would annoy me in the past when the show is supposed to start at 10AM and you have to wait 15 minutes for speeches before everyone can rush in at once. In any case, I was thankful for the ability to walk in at 9:58AM.

Besides lot viewing, I had a few primary goals for the day. Meet a few people I had chatted with online, sell some things to free up space and remove things that tended to clutter up my focus, consign some things to Great Collections, maybe do a PCGS submission and to cherrypick Mercury Dimes or possibly acquire really high grade Mercury Dimes with amazing toning.

I was pleased to sell the largest number of items I have ever sold at a show, not the highest dollar stuff, just stuff...clutter, if you will. I sold some coins that were deemed Genuine. Another two items were a blast white 1939 Merc in PCGS 67+ and the following PF66 coin which I have always thought about keeping but it just doesn't fit anything I do these days. If it can bring joy to someone else for a bit, so be it.

Early on at one table, I saw this coin. Wow, there's a lot to take in with this one.

At another table, I saw a person buying five 10oz silver bars for $224 each. Another person then immediately bought a 10oz silver bar. Silver is down and there a few people buying.

The dealer table space seemed to be full but it surprises me when I see some dealers either still not setup or still setting up 90 minutes after a large show like this opens. As for attendance, I have seen much better for Summer FUNs in the past.

Overheard on the paging system: If you misplaced a large amount of cash, please come see us...something like that. Yes, this happened. A large sum of cash was turned into security and they had to secure it in a safe as I understand it. Interesting...

There were a lot of under-25 dealers around. This is good for the hobby. I have had reason to interact with a number of them and they seem like pretty good people. Fingers crossed for a bright future.

I had a $14 pulled pork sandwich, potato sticks (think fries but hard like chips and a tenth the size of a fry), a $4 bottle of water and chocolate chip cookie for lunch. $22 and change later, I was satisfied. I really should return to the days of packing my lunch in my backpack. I really should do this. It is easy and so much cheaper. Another lunch option was a small Papa Johns pizza and a few other things. Anyway...

Because the weeks leading up to the show were so hectic for me, I never did get things in order for a PCGS submission. Meh, whatever. I hear regular submissions are taking 3+ months in some cases. No reason for me to rush on a couple of items I guess.

In the afternoon, I was able to consign five coins to Great Collections. It is always pleasant working with Great Collections.

So, what about my goals of cherrypicking or buying high grade Mercury Dime toners... well, I did not search 2x2 flips this year. That's so much work. I only focused on looking at slabbed dimes and I did not find a single cherrypick that was WORTH IT. While searching slabs I did see an old NGC holder with a 1943 merc but the label said 1943-S. I let the dealer know. As for really nice toned Mercs in high grade...I saw an NGC 66*FB Merc with a neat red obverse toning but in parts it was also kinda brown. The luster and flash was there but it had a rather large horizontal hit on the reverse right field that bothered me too much. That's what happens in the lower grades. The pricing seemed reasonable but the color just wasn't amazing enough and the hit killed it for me...also I would have to cross it...not for me. I saw another Merc in PCGS 66+FB with very nice color, obverse and reverse. Here again, it is lower grade than what I want and it was a 1943-D. I already have three nicely toned 1943-D Mercs, 67FB, 67+FB and 67+FB. I just didn't need a fourth. Throughout the show, I saw a few 1945-S Mercs in 66, 67 and 68 with pretty decent reverse toning and some that also had better than average obverses but none of them were really really impressive. They would end up being getting upgraded later.

High grade Mercury Dime quality toners continue to be tough. I really thought I would see a couple more. At least I hoped I would. Feel free to message me if you have something.

I just didn't find anything to buy, even though I was tempted by a few things.

I had a good time, met some good people, including YN dealers, I left the show about 6:30PM and walked to my car among plenty of thunder but no rain yet. I drove the two hours home, half of which was in heavy rain. Typical for the summer time afternoon thunderstorms. When I got home, I was immediately greeted by my two wonderful kids (age 17 & 18) and we sat down for dinner with leftovers from the night before. It was a wonderful day!

I am looking forward to Winter FUN!

alefzero · July 7, 2022 8:58PM

Nice report. Love that wild Ike.

I think it is a lot easier for Millennials to deal in coins today than in the past. So many online resources and auctions, an environment that is comfortable and natural for many of them. Great to hear they are out there. I was worried that since we are an electronic rather than cash economy, those "kids" really didn't grow up with pocket change and jars under the sinks.

Rob9874 · July 7, 2022 9:23PM

Thanks for the report. Care to share how much the Ike was? 1974 is my birth year. Something tells me it's outside my reach.

keyman64 · July 7, 2022 9:28PM

@Rob9874 said:
Thanks for the report. Care to share how much the Ike was? 1974 is my birth year. Something tells me it's outside my reach.

If you pull up the cert, you’ll see what it sold for in Legend’s auction last year. They wanted 3-4 grand more than that, if I recall correctly.

Rob9874 · July 7, 2022 9:31PM

@keyman64 said:
If you pull up the cert, you’ll see what it sold for in Legend’s auction last year. They wanted 3-4 grand more than that, if I recall correctly.

pcgscacgold · July 8, 2022 3:08AM

Great report. Thanks for taking the time to write about the show from your eyes.

1630Boston · July 8, 2022 4:00AM

Great Great Great report, thanks @keyman64

1630Boston · July 8, 2022 4:01AM

@keyman64 said:

@Rob9874 said:
Thanks for the report. Care to share how much the Ike was? 1974 is my birth year. Something tells me it's outside my reach.

If you pull up the cert, you’ll see what it sold for in Legend’s auction last year. They wanted 3-4 grand more than that, if I recall correctly.

WOW

ricko · July 8, 2022 4:33AM

@keyman64... Thanks for an excellent report. Not surprised to see the silver bars moving right now. I continue to be amazed at the premium for tarnish... While that Ike dollar is certainly a technicolor explosion, I simply do not understand why someone would pay a $15/$16 thousand dollar premium for environmental damage. I have better things to do with my cash. Cheers, RickO

Paradisefound · July 8, 2022 5:08AM

@keyman64
I enjoyed reading your report ☺️ Thank you!

…. and WOW to this 😳

messydesk · July 8, 2022 5:33AM

@alefzero said:

I think it is a lot easier for Millennials to deal in coins today than in the past. ...

Yeah, Millennials had a rough time dealing coins 30 years ago.

divecchia · July 8, 2022 7:29AM

Great Show report!!!

Thanks for sharing your prospective on the show.

Donato

keyman64 · July 8, 2022 8:51AM

Another tidbit...

I saw two nicely toned PCGS Peace Dollars at FUN. They were expensive as one might expect. But since these are not common to see it was interesting.

winesteven · July 8, 2022 1:21PM

Great report, @keyman64 .

I attended just today (Friday). The “crowd” was sparse, no real buzz. My needs are specialized, so I was done in just two hours. Nicest part was seeing some friendly dealers I do business with. Going forward, I’ll probably only attend Winter FUN, skipping the smaller summer version.

Regarding the Papa John’s Pizza, I also had that for lunch. I asked the vendor how many slices he cut the Pepperoni pizza into, and he replied “Four”. I then let him know I wasn’t too hungry, and asked him if he could then just cut it into two slices (lol).