Central States Show Report

Proofmorgan

My main objectives for this trip were to see the Bass and other Heritage lots and hunt for nice early gold. This time it was a quick solo mission. Arriving Thursday evening and departing early Saturday morning.

The travel and arrival went without issue. I arrived just after 530pm at the convention center. I scrambled to get to the Heritage lot viewing room and went through a few boxes before they closed.

Side note: There seemed to be a lot of Frustration with the single source for dinner within the building. OK service and limited seating. Most people were turned away waited to get seated….gazing at a restaurant of empty tables. Furthermore the bar was rented out for private events on both Friday (in the restraurant) and Saturday at the main bar (engagement party?).

Bass:

I’ve viewed Bass II and III in hand and it’s been mostly disappointing . Most of the coins have been dipped at one point. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few incredible coins, but just not my cup of tea as I seek originality. Furthermore, I can say confidently that PCGS graded these coins 0.5-1 grade too high in almost all cases. Even the CAC pieces are not top notch CAC. It seems everyone else I’ve talked to feels that same way. I could go on about it, but I’ll stop there.

Friday:

I had some time to kill with the 10am opening time so I hit the gym, got breakfast and viewed the Heritage lots again at a more comfortable pace. I couldn’t justify the early bird for my short trip.

The show was well attended. An impressive amount of tables for central states.

Observations:

-limited early gold (not unusual).
-prices were strong on the nice material and it didn’t seem to be moving too much due to pricing.
-lots of movement in the $1-$10k range.
-Bullion premiums….INSANE. I saw advertised premiums on generic silver range from $5-$12 over spot. It didn’t seem to be moving at this prices.

• I did see some monster cash transactions for bullion at the few wholesale type bullion dealers. Looking like people trying to move into metals.
• PCGS had a cool display of two commem sets facing off with voting. A little disappointing was that they weren’t matched coin for coin. It was top highlights from each. I found it hard to compare in that way. I was hoping to compare the tough coins against eachother. Ex: only one set displayed a Hawaiian. One set was higher graded but limited CAC. The other had an average of a grade down and mostly CAC.

I spoke to a few of my favorite dealers but didn’t mingle too much since my time was so limited.

I sold a nice coin from my core set to free some funds for the auction. There were a couple gems in lot viewing.

I might be chasing a couple auction lots so I’ll hold of on those photos until next week.

I’m personally disappointed that the auction wasn’t at the show. It was electric at the recent FUN show and I miss those days. I understand that the economics are probably better for the new way, but I miss the experience.

Saturday:

I had an early 645am flight. Planned layover in Baltimore for….6 hours. The earlier flight was booked. I tried to see if there were any seats on the earlier flight when I got there. There was one…at an extra $293. I took some time to think about it and eventually said screw it. For some reason their credit card function was erroring = free. SCORE! Back home 6 hours early.

Overall a great trip and my objectives were met. The Central States show seems to be growing. I’m hoping to connect with more of you at the next show when I have more time.

keyman64

Remember the Newman collection? Granted a different grading service did it but... lots of coins with issues, overgraded without a doubt and lots of CAC stickers.

There was an auction at the show. I was there for it and won a lot. Granted, it was the Legend Auction. I think they only have one official auction for the show. Agree on the restaurant issue there but there are other restaurants fairly close by and they are even walkable...but then there's the safety concern. I ate at the 2nd floor restaurant. Lots of empty tables. Space was not the issue, it was staffing that was the issue. I had to wait about 20-30min.

Proofmorgan

Keyman,

Good points. Unfortunate, the grading for those collections.

In my ignorance I definitely dropped the ball
On the legend auction. How was the attendance and experience?

It seemed staffing was the issue at the restaurant, I agree. I opted to wait it out myself, but many walked up expecting to
Get right in to be told 1 hour or more.

oldabeintx

This must have been a heck of a show, judging by the number of reports and their content. Thanks for posting.

291fifth

A great report and another reason why collectors need to learn to grade conservatively and use their own standards.

pruebas

Schaumburg has tons of good restaurants. But safety concern? In Schaumburg???

bidask

@pruebas said:
Schaumburg has tons of good restaurants. But safety concern? In Schaumburg???

I easily made reservations at good local restaurants using open table both 4/26 -27.

Nice report @Proofmorgan you seemed forcused .

Pnies20

Can’t go wrong at maggianos.

keyman64

@Proofmorgan said:
Keyman,

Good points. Unfortunate, the grading for those collections.

In my ignorance I definitely dropped the ball
On the legend auction. How was the attendance and experience?

It seemed staffing was the issue at the restaurant, I agree. I opted to wait it out myself, but many walked up expecting to
Get right in to be told 1 hour or more.

I had a good experience at the Legend Auction. I went in there with the goal of picking up one specific item and succeeded. I had to wait about 90 minutes for my lot to cross the block but I was fine with that. I could have done other things and possibly gotten myself distracted but I wanted to be focused and present. It was my first time bidding live in an auction room. They started about 15min late but it went fine. I snacked on cheese and crackers with a couple waters. There seemed to be about 10 people max in the room to bid and maybe as few as 5 when I walked out. There was one person bidding in the back on many lots and whenever the person bid he played an annoying sound to signal he was bidding. He bid me up an extra increment. I recorded it during the bidding for my auction win. Lol I’ll likely do a show report in the next few days and try to include the video.

Boosibri

I was there Thursday morning and Friday morning. Sorry I missed you!

Proofmorgan

Boosibri, looking forward to crossing paths one of these times.

Keyman, looking forward to that video. Secret Legend bidder? 🤐😉

It was definitely easy to book at any of the local restaurants, but some people like the one stop shop.

golden

Thanks for your show report. Wish I could have been there.

ScarsdaleCoin

Actually the Legend auction was held at the show and they had some
Nice items. Perhaps you overlooked it?

Proofmorgan

@ScarsdaleCoin said:
Actually the Legend auction was held at the show and they had some
Nice items. Perhaps you overlooked it?

I definitely dropped the ball on that one.

jkrk

Great reports.

My interpretation... PCGS & some other TPG over grades coins when a notable collection is sent in?

In addition, CAC puts stickers on many over graded coins in collections as well?

So... Is buying coins in a collection for novices?

I really don't understand how to grade so the I rely on the wealth of knowledge here.

Is my understanding accurate?

Smudge

Thanks for your report.

Proofmorgan

@jkrk said:
Great reports.

My interpretation... PCGS & some other TPG over grades coins when a notable collection is sent in?

In addition, CAC puts stickers on many over graded coins in collections as well?

So... Is buying coins in a collection for novices?

I really don't understand how to grade so the I rely on the wealth of knowledge here.

Is my understanding accurate?

CAC held the line and stickered very few of the coins.

ricko

@Proofmorgan .... Thanks for an interesting report and pictures. (Nice looking glass of wine)
Cheers, RickO