Grapevine, TX Coin Show Report (24 Sep 2022)

oih82w8 · September 28, 2022 1:14PM

I arrived at the Grapevine Coin Show Saturday (Day 2) at about 1000 hrs. I normally do not arrive at opening time since many of the dealers are still setting up from the day before. I started in the back of the room and made my way down the moderately crowded aisles of dealers.

There were quite a few people of various ages from little tikes to the more mature folks, mostly men, but there were a couple of well-educated ladies of our hobby in the room as well. I observed lots of raw coin display cases, with a splattering of certified coins. There were a couple cases of jewelry and I saw one case of some antique pocket watches. Several bullion dealers were present along with ancients and a couple of Dark Side display cases. Paper currency dealers were present as well. Overall a nice agglomeration of representation for our hobby.

As I was making my second pass through the aisles, a dealer greeted me and asked if I had anything good in the briefcase to sell. I return his salutation and sat down and replied that I had a couple of trays of coins for him to look at. He cleared an area of his table and proceeded to sort through the trays and place the coins that he had interest into a small tub. The cons that he did not have an interest in, he placed them “face-down” in the Lighthouse trays. We reached a compromise on several coins initially and they were placed into another container with his buying prices stickered onto the slabs. During our transaction, a passerby collector began to browse through his “buy” pile of my coins and the dealer stood up and with a stern voice stated that those were not were not available at this time, and that they were not his to sell. The dealer stated that I had a bunch of really nice coins, but he did not deal with varieties, which a good portion of my collection is comprised of. This sentiment was echoed by a couple of other dealers I had discussions with throughout the day. We revisited the “potential buy” pile and made an amicable deal a few others. Some, of course, there was too great of a distance between my asking and his buy prices, which is the nature of the beast in just about any deal. I notice his checkbook off to the side and was wondered how our arrangement would be settled. He triple checked his numbers and went through each one with each he coin he intended to purchase. The dealer came back with a bank bag and counted off the cash three times as well. He was quite the professional in the matter and I left his table feeling satisfied. Before I left his table we shook hands and he thanked me for stopping by and invited me back in case I changed my mind on any other coins where we did not see eye-to-eye on with prices.

I made a couple of more stops at different tables and sold a few more items, while receiving compliments on what was offered, but most were not interested in varieties. I was surprised that some of the passerby collectors did not seek me out after leaving some of the dealer’s tables, like what happened in Dallas and Denver previously to see what was remaining. There were a few dealers that were not interested in buying which is understandable. I did not see anything that I could not leave without, since most was raw in 2x2 holders.

As the afternoon progressed, so did the incoming crowds. It was getting a little too uncomfortable for me and I made unintentional contact with more than a few people with my briefcase. With most of my collection still in hand, I left Grapevine with a little padding in my wallet and a nice feeling of satisfaction, not seller’s remorse of yesteryear.

I believe that I have come to the point in my life where coins are just things that we possess for a time, enjoy, and let others share that feeling. Although there are a couple of coins which I will have a hard time to let go of, the remaining varieties will most likely be sent to GC for auction.