Any Baltimore reports?

PTVETTER

Any photos of new pick ups?

coinbuf

There have been one or two posts on Baltimore, maybe on page two now.

DelawareDoons

I can give some quick notes.

Dealer attendance felt down a bit. Several notable dealers took a pass on Baltimore this time around, mostly West Coast folks, I'm guessing as a result of the Phoenix show last week. There was still a real nice buzz to the floor on Thursday afternoon and most of the day Friday.

Despite the missing dealers, a lot of nice type material was on the floor. I didn't see a ton of better date stuff in higher grades ($5000+ coins) outside of the usual suspects, but I did feel there was a proliferation of higher-quality sub $1,000 coins out there, a veritable cornucopia for a middle-class collector. That is a marked difference from other large shows I've been to recently where the nice and yet not expensive stuff gets snapped up right away. I will say that by the end of the show, the cases seemed a lot thinner...

Which leads to my next note, business still seemed brisk even with dealer attendance being down a touch. Many dealers that I chatted with on Friday afternoon commented that it was an excellent show for them, and based on the buzz and empty spots in their cases, I think it might have been the best Baltimore show ever for some of them.

Bullion dealers were slammed. Non-stop lines for those guys, always somebody buying or selling. On Friday afternoon, stuff was just disappearing left and right. Heard a lotta comments from folks on the floor about pulling some cash out to buy some metals and whatnot. Definitely a bit of fear out there about the banks right now. As to if that is well-founded or not, I'll leave up to folks who are smarter than I am. All I know is that speculation about runs on banks tend to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Lot viewing was nice, as well. I looked through almost all of the Millholland collection coins. Jaw dropper after jaw dropper in there, and all so original. That alone was worth the trip.

coinbuf

Laura from Legend posted this on the CAC forum about the Baltimore show.

"It was unprecedented that EVERY MAJOR buyer I know of did NOT attend the Baltimore show. Also, there seems to be a new thing, East Coast dealers do not attend Long Beach anymore and the West Coast guys don't hit Baltimore. I have suggested forever these two shows cut down to 2 a year.

I think security and costs are the main reasons these shows will fade into oblivion. Also, I never liked the fact the auctions moved to a week after (although there is something to be said for that). Add in a lack of interesting coins to display, these seem to be fewer dealers attending and even fewer collectors."

alefzero

@coinbuf said:
Laura from Legend posted this on the CAC forum about the Baltimore show.

"It was unprecedented that EVERY MAJOR buyer I know of did NOT attend the Baltimore show. Also, there seems to be a new thing, East Coast dealers do not attend Long Beach anymore and the West Coast guys don't hit Baltimore. I have suggested forever these two shows cut down to 2 a year.

I think security and costs are the main reasons these shows will fade into oblivion. Also, I never liked the fact the auctions moved to a week after (although there is something to be said for that). Add in a lack of interesting coins to display, these seem to be fewer dealers attending and even fewer collectors."

I cannot see why the "June" Long Beach continues. It either ends up too close to Memorial Day or the hotel rates are too high of an overhead hit.

The anchoring auctions were a major highlight of the shows too. They started ruining the shows though when the sessions were being held during bourse hours. At least holding a Platinum Night (or similar) with a catered dinner complemented a show in a very symbiotic way. Those sessions during the day were maddening. First, one had to keep track of them. And then is was either bid absentee, close the table up and sit through an hour of undesired lots waiting to paddle up the one I wanted, or miss the lot while dealing with buyers and tire kickers, buying it later on the secondary market at a mark up.

ricko

@DelawareDoons.... Nice show report. Yep, bullion is getting a lot of interest right now, and predictions are that it will be going higher. We shall see... Cheers, RickO

logger7

https://www.coinraritiesonline.com/road-report/

WAYNEAS

@DelawareDoons
Thanks for a great show report.
Panic buying on Bullion?
Time will tell.
Wayne

coinkat

There is always something to see...