Abby's Whitman November 2024 Show Report
abbyme24
Posts: 173 ✭✭✭✭
Hi everyone! I am excited to share with you my report on the November 2024 Whitman Expo held in Baltimore, MD. Overall this was a fantastic show in so many ways and answered a lot of questions about my approach to future shows, i.e. whether or not I continue to do them 
. I do want to apologize in advance for the lack of photos - I intended to take more, but I was so busy it slipped my mind. I will make more of an effort to capture photos for my next report.
Last time I asked for feedback regarding the length of these show reports, and most people felt that I should continue as I have been. I do want to ask for your feedback again, but this time about where I post this show report. My perspective is as a foreign (Japanese coins) dealer, but I have been posting here for a few reasons: 1) I have been interacting a lot with some U.S. dealers 2) certain aspects of show reports apply regardless of what type of coins you are into and 3) simply put this forum gets a lot more traffic. However, if you guys think these reports are not applicable enough for this forum and would be better posted in the foreign one, I am happy to oblige.
Anyway, let's get to it!
Wednesday, November 13th
Luckily I am local, so this is the first show I didn't have to travel for. During the day I started getting my supplies and coins together. I recently purchased a nice Pelican case for all of my gear; previously I had just used a normal hardshell suitcase. This worked fine, but it was not very easy to keep things organized. This Pelican case is great because it is built for air travel so has wheels, a retractable handle, and is strong enough to survive the abuse of baggage handling. It is also nice because it has foam inserts so I can create pockets for all of my stuff. Here are some pictures of the case itself and the top layer. This holds everything I need for a show besides the coins - so my banner, table covers, case liners, JNDA certificates, reference books, receipt printer, credit card reader, etc. etc.
After getting everything packed up, I headed to the convention center downtown, which is just a short 20 minute drive away. The loading dock area was open for dealers to use, so I pulled up to the gate where a friendly security guard let me in and guided me to the correct door to use. After a check of my ID, I dropped my bags off at my table and headed to dealer registration to pick up my badge. The whole unloading process was smooth, convenient, and safe, which was important since I was doing setup alone.
Once I had my permanent Whitman badge, I headed back to my table to get setup. This was the first time I got a corner table rather than a straight table. While I don't have a ton of inventory, (I brought approximately 100 coins, although many are relatively large) I wanted to make sure my display cases were presentable, easy to scan through, and not overly crowded. As you may have seen from previous reports, I like to have plenty of space for little "easels" that allow me to display the price as well as relevant remarks about each coin. Another reason for the corner table was visibility - since I was in the foreign section which is usually in a less desirable area, I wanted to make sure that within that area I received good foot traffic.
The convention center itself was buzzing with activity, and many dealers stopped by as I was putting out my coins to see what I had to offer. A dealer named Glen from California noticed my Oban and said he had recently sold one. He asked what I was charging and said I should have no issue selling it. He was right, as I had already sold it before the show under the condition I could have it on display there . You can read more about the Oban and see pictures in my thread here: https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1108518/the-mighty-japanese-oban
Doing setup alone took a bit longer but wasn't unmanagable. However I wasn't able to get all of my price labels in place (the most tedious part of my process) before setup hours ended, so I had to pause until the following morning. After making sure everything was locked up, I covered my tables and headed home, happy to be able to sleep in my own bed.
Day 1: Thursday, November 14th
I arrived at the convention center right when dealer hours opened at 8 AM. I wanted to make sure I could get my display cases perfect and have time to walk the bourse berfore early bird hours started at 10. My dad, who is also local, was kind enough to take a few hours away from work to help me finish setup and man the table for the early rush. While he was the one that originally sparked my interest in coins as a child, he never seriously collected them and had never been to a coin show. He was surprised at the size of the Whitman Expo and seemed excited to do some browsing himself.
He helped me get the rest of the price labels out and I was happy with how the cases of the pre-Meiji Japanese coins turned out. This was the first show where I had a larger stock of the "rectangle" coins, most of which I picked up from a recent trip to Osaka where I attended a coin show. Here are a few pictures:
Soon after, early bird attendees were allowed entrance. I was pleased to see a decent amount of people coming through the doors who had paid a pretty hefty fee for early admittance. A young numismatist named Joshua was the first to stop by my table. I recognized him from the GACC show in Tampa back in September, where I sold him several Japanese minors. At the time I was a bit nervous that he would have trouble selling them quickly and with enough margin for both of us, but I was very happy to hear that he had sold them all and was ready to restock. He picked up a few more minors as well as several of the crown-sized Yen, and provided me with a bid list for some of the cheaper bulk coins that he asked me to look for during my next trip to Japan.
Another vest pocket dealer stopped by and purchased a couple of coins from the small Chinese selection I had. He asked if I was watching the recent Stacks HK auction, which I was, and mentioned that he was the consigner of a Japanese Trade Dollar that went for an incredible amount of money. I got his contact information and he said he would run Japanese coins by me before consigning in case there was something we could make a deal on directly.
At this point my dad had to head to the office, so I said goodbye and prepared for the upcoming general admission rush. As he was walking out, he texted me to say that there were a lot of people waiting in the lobby. Granted, a lot of people were waiting to be first in line at the U.S. Mint display for the FH Gold, but still this was music to my ears after the disastrous attendance at GACC.
My excitement and nerves were building as 12:00 approached. What seemed like an endless stream of people entered the convention center and started making their way around the bourse. Here is a picture from shortly after the show opened for general admission:
One of my first customers was Peter, another young numismatist who is active in the Whatnot auction circle. He bought some copper Sen for his personal collection as well as a toned 50 Sen. This was going to be a test for him - if the Japanese coin did well at one of his auctions, he would be back for more.
Foot traffic steadily built through the early afternoon, and by 3:00 I was slammed. One dealer I spoke to put it well when she said it can feel "manic" when things are super busy. It was definitely a whirlwind juggling multiple collectors at a time without any help, so I was really looking forward to having one of my friends join me for the next two days. But while it was hectic, it was successful from a sales standpoint. I sold a couple raw Koban and connected with a surprising number of people interested in Japanese coins.
At around 4:00 things started to slow down a bit, and at this time a dealer named Olivia from Flower Hill Collectibles came by to introduce herself. She heard I had some interesting Japanese coins on display, and picked out a couple toned rectangles for her personal collection.
The day came to a close almost as suddenly as it started, with collector traffic being switched to one-way at 5:30. While normally I would not close shop early on the first day, I started to pack up so I could make it to the airport to pick up a friend. Luckily traffic wasn't too bad and I was able to meet @OriginalDan at the airport.
I was really excited that Dan was able to make it to Baltimore for the show. I met him through a coin-related Discord channel over the summer, and he was one of my first clients. Early on we realized we had an uncanny mutual connection, as it turns out he and my brother were coworkers. He recently accompanied me to Japan for a coin show, where we both learned a ton, and I was looking forward to having someone so knowledgable help me out at the show. While he has been collecting for decades, he had never been behind the "other side" of the table and was excited to experience that.
After picking Dan up, we met up with a friend of his John, @Crypto, for dinner. Dan was glad that he would have a chance to introduce me to John since he has a lot of experience and advice to offer on the dealer side of things. We went to Fells Point, one of my favorite neighborhoods in Baltimore, where we had some excellent discussions over tacos and brussel sprouts. We quickly realized we had a shared interest in cars, which might have even dominated over coins. After a few hours we said our goodbyes, I dropped Dan off at his hotel, and I headed home, excited to wake up the next morning for Day 2.
Day 2: Friday, November 15th
Friday started out just as strong as Thursday, with a steady stream of collector traffic building consistently throughout the day. Having Dan at the table was great, as he could talk to potential customers as a collector himself. The assistance I had from my dad and friends at previous shows was super helpful, but aside from being able to show coins and cover the table while I was gone, they weren't able to do much when it came to questions about the coins themselves.
One of the first people I spoke to was an older gentleman who asked if I had any chopmarked coins. I was surprised, because few people ask about them in general, and my impression is that active collectors of chopped coins trend younger. I only had one chopmarked Yen to show him, which had been sitting in my case for a while since in addition to the chop, the reverse was pretty harshly cleaned. I told him it was sitting there for a while due to a bad buy on my end and that I could let it go for $100. He was a bit hesitant but did me a favor by saying that my bad buy was now his bad buy . I told him to stop by the table again as Dan is an expert on chopmarked coins. His eyes lit up with excitement - if I had to guess, there weren't too many collectors he knew that he could talk to about chopped coins. He was even more excited to hear that the author of a book he recently started reading about the history of chopmarked coins would be in attendance later that day - @ChopmarkedTrades , a friend of Dan and mine.
While foot traffic was just as steady as Day 1, there was a lot more looking and less buying. This didn't bother me too much though, since a lot of the people looking experessed interest and grabbed my card, so hopefully this means future sales opportunities. Dan and I kept remarking to ourselves how great it was to see such high interest in the pre-Meiji Japanese coins. We lost count of how many people stopped by and said it was really cool to see such a wide selection of these coins. Many people said they had seen the common circulated types here and there, but had no idea how deep the series went. It was a lot of fun sharing information about them and hopefully stoking some interest. I was happy to sell some to a handful of collectors who had never collected Japanese coins before.
The coin below, a Bunsei Isshu (the only square coin in the series) received a surprising amount of interest. I assumed only advanced Japanese collectors would care about it, but something about it really spoke to people. I wasn't surprised that nobody went for it, as my asking price was relatively high due to them being difficult to find in MS. But it was neat to learn about what kind of coins stuck out to beginners to the series. Here is a picture of it:
In the early afternoon another friend whom I have yet to meet in person stopped by, Lianna. She has been doing an incredible amount of research on Japanese rectangle coins (check out her site at www.rectanglecoins.com !) and has been a massive resource for me as a new-ish dealer to these coins. I was excited to be able to express my thanks to her in person. She remarked that several people had come up to her at the show to tell her about this table that had tons of rectangle coins - it was nice to hear that people had been talking about my table to others who might be interested in Japanese coins.
I was a bit disappointed with sales up to this point, but that changed when a newer client of mine asked me to take a picture of a couple of my displays. He wasn't able to make it to the show but heard I had some fresh stock that wasn't on my website yet. I sent them over and shortly after we came to a deal on two straight graded Koban as well as the Bunsei Isshu I posted above. While it wasn't technically at the show, I am going to count it as a show sale anyway .
Traffic started to slow down again after 4, but overall turnout was similar to Day 1, as were sales after the big "remote" deal I made. Although today I was excited for the show to end since I had something even more exciting that night - the Ginza Coins auction! This is an annual auction by one of the premier auction houses in Japan, and there were nearly a hundred lots that I was interested in, several of which were raw rectangles that were some of the nicest examples I had ever seen.
Originally @OriginalDan, @ChopmarkedTrades, Lianna, myself, and a few others were going to get dinner Friday night, as that was the only night all of us would be together. But we quickly realized that due to the time difference between here and Tokyo, the auction was going to start at 7:00 PM! Since none of us wanted to do dinner while being stuck on our laptops, I came up with an idea to have a live auction watch party. My parents live close by and have the perfect basement setup for something like this, with a projector setup, a huge couch, and tons of space. And since they love hosting, they were happy to cook up some Japanese-inspired dishes for us to eat.
So instead of heading to a restaurant, we made our way to my parents house after the show. I decided to invite a few friends and siblings as well so overall there were 10 people. The coin/non-coin split was right down the middle - 5 of each. I had no idea how much the non-coin people would care about the auction, but in some ways they were more excited than us! We all sat on the couch watching the live auction on the projector. I was on the side on a separate laptop doing the bidding, as not only was I bidding for myself but I did lot viewing and representation for some of the others. The non-coiners (not sure what to call them, maybe just sane people 
) were enthralled - most had never seen an auction live, and it being in Japanese added another intriguing layer to everything. They were asking questions and cheering/hollering whenever I won a lot. There was an ongoing joke with the cut bid, as it seemed that I was the only one to ever use it, even winning a lot with one. Everytime I clicked the "cut bid" button the auctioneer would look flabbergasted, exclaiming "CUTTO BIDDO", and we would bust out laughing. Overall it was SO much fun, I had never had this great of a time with an auction, and I hope that this auctions lines up with Whitman in the future so we can make this an annual thing. Here is a picture of the setup:
Day 3: Saturday, November 16th
I woke up Saturday after just a few hours of sleep, as the last of the lots I was interested in didn't close until about 2:30 AM. So I wasn't too disappointed that the show wasn't super busy. I've come to expect this from shows, and in some ways it's nice to have a day where I can take things slow, spend some time walking to the bourse/talking to friends, and catch up on inventory.
I ended up making a few more sales, but while foot traffic wasn't terrible, there just wasn't a lot of buying going on. Some dealers had packed up Friday evening, and by noon on Saturday probably around half were gone. Dan and I decided to stay for a while since we didn't have anything better to do until dinner, and while I didn't make any sales in the afternoon I was able to chat with a few more collectors.
We decided to pack up around 3:00 which went smoother than my last two shows - at this point I have my process down a bit better. I had separate baggies for the price display labels for each denomination of coins, with one extra baggy where I could put all of my labels for sold coins. This way I could know they were ready to be reused for new inventory. I think for the next show I will have to bring a slighly bigger bag, as the one I brought was getting pretty stuffed by the end of the show. A very good problem to have!
Summary
To say I was thriled with the way the show went would be an understatement. Not only was this by far the best show so far from an attendance and sales standpoint, I also was able to spend a lot of time with some people that I've gotten to know pretty well. The social aspect of shows has been a very unexpected benefit to dealing, and I can see why so many people travel to these shows even if it might not make the most financial sense for some.
It was also really nice seeing so much interest in Japanese coins. As I mentioned earlier, so many people commented on how interesting the coins I had to offer were and how happy they were to see a table with such a nice selection of Japanese coins. This show left no doubt in my mind that there is a healthy demand in the U.S. for Japanese coins - not just from those already actively collecting them, but those that have seen them around but never took a serious interest due to not having an easy option to get into the series.
While my first two shows, Long Beach Expo and GACC last month, left me questioning a little bit if the show circuit was worth it for me, this show solidified for me that it absolutely is. I am looking forward to FUN in January and to connect further with collectors there.
If you made it all this way, thank you for reading! I know it was a long read and I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I do writing them. See you next time for my report from Winter FUN!
Comments
Thanks for your report.
Nice report and pics!
Warms my heart! So happy you had a great experience. I, for one, would love to learn more about your specialty.
John
Whitman Brands: President/CEO (www.greysheet.com; www.whitman.com)
PNG: Executive Director (www.pngdealers.org)
Excellent and comprehensive report and please keep doing them as you are adding a new perspective. Looking forward to seeing your Japanese coins at FUN.
Best, SH
Great report! Was nice to meet you briefly on Friday.
Complete Set of Chopmarked Trade Dollars
Carson City Silver Dollars Complete 1870-1893http://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/showcase.aspx?sc=2722"
Great report Abby. I had a blast sitting behind the table and I’d love to do it again!
Thank you for the excellent report!
Thanks for your super report! I hope to be at FUN and will make it a point to look you up.
Awesome report Abby! I think yours has become the gold standard. So glad you had a great show & I’ll look forward to seeing you @ FUN.
Ken
“The thrill of the hunt never gets old”
PCGS Registry: Screaming Eagles
Copperindian
Retired sets: Soaring Eagles
Copperindian
Great report Abby! I won't miss the next one!
Keep them coming. Great content.
Thanks for taking the time to put the report together.
"Look up, old boy, and see what you get." -William Bonney.
Excellent report and glad to see the interest in Japanese coins is growing in this country. I'd love to go back for a month or two just to see old friends and the newest things in vending machines.
That is one in depth show report. Your use of a timeline was wonderful.
Great report! Thanks for taking the time to post it.
Great show report!!!
Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.
Donato
Donato's Complete US Type Set ---- Donato's Dansco 7070 Modified Type Set ---- Donato's Basic U.S. Coin Design Set
Successful transactions: Shrub68 (Jim), MWallace (Mike)
Great report, you have a talent for writing.
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
For some reason now I want to buy one of your coins 😎. Great report.
A very enjoyable read! Definitely keep doing these and the US section is the perfect spot for them.
That was a great show report. Thank you for letting us see the show from your perspective.
Cutto biddo! Too funny. If I ever call an auction I am totally using that.
I was one of the ones that told Lianna to go over to your table, glad you connected.
Believe it or not, that is actually a Japanese word, albeit a loan word from English. But when it was written in Japanese syllables (カットビッド), it comes out sounding like that. (It’s actually more like “catto biddo”.)
Great report! Looking forward to meet you one day.
I used to collect modern Japanese (post-1869) patterns. I sold the collection a few years ago because I was unable to make much headway on it.
Abby, congratulations on a successful show! Keep posting on THIS forum! Great report!
I’m looking forward to meeting you at Winter FUN!
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
Very enjoyable summary. By all means keep the reports in this section.
Thanks everyone for reading and for your feedback! I will go ahead and keep posting my show reports here then. Maybe I will even do one for the next Japanese show I go to.
Thank you for putting on a great show! Please stop by at the March show if you have a chance
Looking forward to meeting you in person!
David, it was nice meeting you as well! Hopefully at the next show we will be able to chat a bit more, but glad Dan was able to introduce us to each other.
Dan, thanks again for all of your help! Was a real treat having you behind the table. I can tell you really enjoyed it
Yes, please do! It's always nice when people on the forums come say hi, helps me put a face to the name
Thank you for the extremely kind words Ken. It has been a while so I am definitely looking forward to seeing you again at FUN!
You were sorely missed but we will make up for it next time. This will definitely not be the last get together/auction party
The vending machines in Japan are incredible!! I am very lucky that I am able to go there so often, and I just wish everybody had the opportunity. As you know, it's a fascinating place in so many ways. And yes I am happy to see it too - such an interesting area of numismatics and there's a lot of opportunity both on the collector and dealer side of things.
I would be lying if I said that a small purpose of these reports isn't a bit of self-promotion, hopefully not in excess
But in all seriousness, you are not alone. I've sold a lot of people their first Japanese (and some even their first foreign!) coins, simply because it is such a unique area of the hobby. There really is nothing else like it. Hopefully I can meet you at a show sometime!
Yes it definitely got a big laugh each time, as for most of us that was the only thing he said that we could understand
. And thank you for sending her my way, next time please stop by and say hi!
Yes I was trying to explain the loan word thing to some of the people there - if you look closely at my picture you can see "CUT BID" was the only words there in English. Somebody asked why and I said that's because that is actually the word that they say/use in Japanese so there was no need to write it in katakana.
Hope to meet you in person some day as well! And wow, that is a very interesting series to collect - super esoteric, and not cheap or easy to find. I'm sure you enjoyed the hunt, but it doesn't surprise me that you had difficulty making headway. If you remember any of the coins you had I would love to learn more about them.
Thank you Steve, I am excited to meet you as well!
Question - what are the JNDA's? Some kind of required document for each Japanese numismatic coin or?
Best, SH
JNDA stands for Japanese Numismatic Dealer's Association. Their two primary functions are to organize events/shows (they put on a couple of the biggesgt ones in Japan), as well as authenticating Japanese coins.
They do not grade nor encapsulate coins, they simply issue a certificate of authentication accompanied by high resolution images. This may be surprising to US collectors as you would rarely see high-value coins being traded raw here, but the collector base in Japan takes a much more old-school approach. They buy the coin for the coin and couldn't really care less about a slab or a grade. This is slowly changing, as more and more stuff is being sent to PCGS, but for now almost everything pre-Meiji is still raw, so the JNDA certificate is crucial to make sure what you are purchasing is authentic.
Since there is no encapsulation, you do have to closely look at the images on the certificate and match up any marks/distinguishing features to the raw coin to ensure it's a match. I've attached an example of a certificate below:
Great detailed report! Now all you need to do is bring bottles of sake to the show...
Young Numismatist • My Toned Coins
Life is roadblocks. Don't let nothing stop you, 'cause we ain't stopping. - DJ Khaled
Oh boy. I’m starting to feel the familiar symptoms of collector virus. Those obans are beautiful coins!
Great report, and a very interesting area of numismatics !
Love reading your reports. In fact I purchased my first Japanese coin right after your long beach report. Doesn’t really matter if it is a dealer report in us coins or a dealer report on foreign coins , all reports are good! I know ( myself included ). I am selling a mix of us and foreign when I set up at shows.
Fantastic report! Well written. I read the whole thing and I have no interest in Japanese coins!😂🤣
Great representation of Baltimore!
You will have so much fun at the FUN show in Orlando. Great time to get warm in January and the show is much larger than the Baltimore show. 😎
Awesome report. Love your style! Please keep posting them here.
My 1866 Philly Mint Set
Thanks for taking the time to write and share your report, Abby! I'm glad to see you continue your journey, and it's obvious the impact you're already making on a relatively stodgy industry.
Really enjoy the thoughtful threads.
Alot of hidden advice for prospective dealers like myself.
BST: KindaNewish (3/21/21), WQuarterFreddie (3/30/21), Meltdown (4/6/21), DBSTrader2 (5/5/21) AKA- unclemonkey on Blow Out
That would prove informative. Especially with photos to see another side of the hobby.
What a cool lady living her best life. Pleasure meeting you Abby; may the mustard stains come out in the wash in your pursuits as a dealer. Great report, sorry I couldn’t make the show. Next time for sure
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
Give in to the dark side
That's awesome! What kind of coin did you buy?
Woo thanks for reading! Everybody keeps telling me how awesome FUN is going to be, I am SO excited. And you're right, it will be a nice break from the cold weather here.
Thank you for the kind words!! The support and feedback I've gotten here has been a huge motiviation, so thank you!
If I can pass along even just a tiny fraction of the help and advice I have received from others, I will be super happy. If you have any specific questions feel free to ask here or DM me.
Great, I will go ahead and document my next show. It will be from the buy side and not the sell side, but hopefully will be interesting nonetheless.
Great meeting you John and thanks for all the advice (both what you've already given me, and what you will give me in the future as I fully intend to continue bugging you
) Look forward to seeing you at a show sometime!
Awesome
ANA 50 year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
Glad things went so well! I've never seen a dealer in high-quality pre-Meiji Japanese material at a Whitman show before, most of what you'll see is generic type pieces.
The Koban are very cool, even if the coins with corners are an abomination