My Winter 2023 Long beach report - finally
ElmerFusterpuck
Posts: 4,746 ✭✭✭✭✭
Silly things like work get in the way, oh well. This report has been worked on the past few days, off and on.
I didn't know if I'd even make this show until things fell into place about two weeks before it. Now I'm glad I did thought we (me and my wife) barely made it out of the TX ice storm on the morning of Feb. 1st. It's pretty rare for major winter in san Antonio, but there it was that day. The one lone de-icing truck in san Antonio broke down that morning, but they fixed it in time so we could leave and make our connection. The weather in CA was so much better, it was nice to see the sun again.
Now for the show. I didn't come here with too much of a mission and had no coins to sell. I just wanted to fill in a few more holes in some bookshelf and registry albums plus find some eye catching coins. Since I'm a registry participant, I was able to take advantage of the free early bird pass and look around and talk with some dealers before it got crowded. Definitely one of the nicer perks out there for us PCGS registry folks! I attended the show part of Wednesday, most of Thursday and part of Friday morning, the following observations are my own, I'm sure others experienced something different.
Attendance: Early bird day had some people there, but not crowded at all, Not all dealers were set up, but there was enough to look at and buy, Thursday looked to be a well attended day, Friday was a bit less crowded. Most of the dealers I talked to said they were having a good show. Also the increase in YN's at shows is continuing. I also ran into at least 5 of my Instagram followers, some of who I met for the first time.
Interesting stuff I saw: Of course the Tyrant collection display was beyond awesome. My wife who is not a collector spent quite a bit of time there because of the history. I did see a couple of sealed Vault Boxes in a dealer's case, but didn't ask about them. There was also a booth for what they called augmented reality coins. The designs were cool and there was an app to "bring the coins to life", it would scan the coin and randomly create interesting #-D looking images on the screen. I thought the concept was cool, but balked at paying $250 for a limited edition of what was a well designed ounce of silver bullion. There were a few more card and jewelry dealers than last time, but figured coins and them could coexist. There was one booth that was so full of current political (and very obnoxious) memorabilia - maybe ok for some, but it was one I could easily skip. I did see quite a bit of silver and gold bullion trading hands, along with silver and gold coins. Seems like the crazy premiums on those are shrinking.
Purchases: This was a successful show for me there! I finally completed my 1934-58 red MS-66 and better wheat cent set after a decade. I had one hole left for most of that time, the elusive MS-66 RD 1935-S that didn't suck! On the last day, I was able to check the cases at @ThePennyLady, which are usually packed. Lo and behold, she had a very nice 1935-S that fit the bill. The last coin to fill the set and the last coin bought at the show. The other registry set item I picked up was the also elusive 1917-S reverse mintmark Walker in XF-45. That leaves just the 1917-S obverse mintmark hole to fill. I also picked up various other coins, mostly toners (no Morgans) and some coins for the bookshelf albums. I also picked up a full Library of Coins Roosevelt dime album for just over melt, another cool old album for the shelf.
Overall it was a good show for me, plus we got to visit with family for part of that time. I'll be back for sure at a future show. Below are some photos of what I got (first one is a collage of everything), with individual photos of the 1935-S cent and 1917-S Walker. I'll work on imaging the rest of the coins and show them in a future thread. Thanks for reading.
10-4,
Erik
My registry sets
Comments
Erik, it was great to see you, very nice report. Looks like it was a successful show for you. And I'm so glad I got to help you fill that last hole in your Lincoln registry set - congratulations on all your newps!
The Penny Lady®
Bet that Frankie is a stunner.
Nice report. Thank you!
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
I don't want to see all of that coin crap. What did you eat?? LOL!!!
@ElmerFusterpuck... Thank you for an interesting report. Very nice acquisitions. Cheers, RickO