Short Long Beach Show Report
lermish
Posts: 3,012 ✭✭✭✭✭
My intention is not to be pessimistic but this was by far the worst big show I've ever attended. I got in as a 9am early bird thanks to taking part in the PCGS registry.
There was not a crowd at all. I can't quantify the numbers but it felt like maybe a 65-75% drop in attendance from the last couple of LB shows. Dealers were actively soliciting me to have a look or discuss their inventory which, in my experience at least, almost never happens.
The inventory for sale at nearly every table was stale and boring. I was looking for CAC gold, trade dollars, 18th century world gold, and world chopmarked coins. I found essentially nothing of interest and was done walking the floor by 10:45a. The PCGS submission line was long and very slow; I waited ~45 minutes but didn't mind as I had not much else to do.
I had really nice chats with David McCarthy , Bill Shamhart, @alefzero and @stealer and and hung out at a friend's table for a while but left early to go to my favored Korean restaurant a mile from the convention center.
I vastly overpaid for this 76-S trade 2/2 variety but I don't see the variety with a decent looking coin come up that often and I didn't want to leave empty handed. Also picked up this 1922 $10 gold cert as I am putting together a small set of 1922 gold cert notes.
The weather was absolutely glorious.
Comments
How hot was the kimchee?
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Good flavor but very mild. Luckily I got plenty of spice from the wings.
In terms of length of show reports, less can be more, and that's the case here. Bad show, good report.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
I like the gold cert. At least you came away with something for your project.
The gold certificate really nice.
It was great to talk with you again for a little bit.
The show was slow and attendance low. It has been in decline for a few years now. I do not think it is a slow recovery from the pandemic. While part of the issue, I also do not think we can entirely blame the migration to digital trading. In my opinion, and I have said it many times, the problem is with anchoring auctions. Having at least one major session on Friday nights (Platinum Sale, was Heritage's name for it) flew in all the fat wallets and lots of others. Both of the other extremes didn't work from my perspective. The one with seemingly constant sessions in various satellite rooms DURING THE SHOW PUBLIC HOURS was disruptive to the bourse. At the other end, running auctions off-site during the show or just having lot viewing on-site with auctions a week or so afterward back at the companies' offices really makes potential attendees consider foregoing the travel and just use online images and bidding or the old go-between dealer agent for the auctions.
The show was good for me, in part, due to the extraordinary attendance by a larger than usual number of friends in the hobby and dealer peers, for a Long Beach show. Due to a problem with one of my ankles, I did not walk the bourse and look at even a single coin offered by set up dealers. Got one from a guy I know who walks the bourse. But my ankle problem kept me and my wallet out of trouble.
The return of the PCGS crossover special was very welcomed to me. I got 11 out of the 33 I submitted under that for show standard and economy. Two other show-level orders were miscoded (not delivered back to the show) and will get mailed back to me. No problem and an expected sort of thing when there is a deluge that comes with such a special. (It was not like I was mobbed with customers who would have bought those coins there if delivered during the show.) Of those, I sent 7 generally OGHs for variety labeling but figured I might as well go for upgrades since I was sacrificing those hot older holders. They did not have time to do the varieties on the labels, so they were effectively just reholdered. The exception was one upgrade. It was a 1799 BB-159 (8x5 stars) that was a PCGS VF35, which I was worried I overpaid for in the first place, to now PCGS XF40. The other miscoded order was of 23 that were just show reholder with varieties added. They did the varieties on that order, thankfully, and I can wait for them to arrive in the mail this week sometime.
The best thing though was when a representative from PCGS came to my tables and informed me that they have begun attributing the Trade dollar varieties from my Trade Challenge 50 book. They are making the announcement in about a week, but I was told it is not a secret to guard. In that order of 23, I am still waiting for, I saw the Trade dollars received my designations and not just the FS Cherrypicker designations. Then I looked at Coinfacts for 1877-S and saw the considerable number of varieties from that book. Maybe there is a registry set there now or coming too. That really should stimulate variety interest in the series and broaden the market in them from simply the mix of high-grade date set collectors and single-coin Type Setters. I am considering consigning the remnant of my Trade inventory to auction sometime, as it does represent a few double-row slab boxes to shlep from show to show as is.
The weather was unusually humid for So Cal and a bit warm. Can't blame Collectors Universe for the weather. One night was remarkably balmy though. All in all, it was a good show for me, even if the attendance and sales were anemic.
I'm in the gold note section as well, both are good 👍
Yes weak turn out. Holiday Monday of the week.
Medium local show next week some dealers missing long beach., will go there that show is packed!
Nashville show on horizon. East coast dealers not fond of coming to california.
Seems majority of larger well known shows are all east of the Mississippi . This has been the trend for awhile.
California sales tax only exempt if over $2K now. California Nexus threats play on dealers minds.
2016 last time ANA.'S WFOM came west of the Mississippi river. NGC Has not been seen in california since PCGS bought out.