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ANOTHER ANA Show Thread; Apology in Advance if this is Redundant so Feel Free to Ignore
TomB
Posts: 20,730 ✭✭✭✭✭
I just returned from doing the ANA show in NYC followed directly by another show in Parsippany, NJ. I’ve read through all the threads I had missed and notice that there are several threads with critiques of the show included; I will give my opinions here as each of us no doubt looks at the shows differently based on our personal experiences and what we find interesting.
Overall, it seemed that the show was very well attended and extremely busy. However, the poor layout of the Marriott Marquis made navigating the narrow aisles and easily finding people more difficult than it should have been. The ANA should make an effort to hold its flagship convention in a suitable convention hall and not in a building designed for smaller scaled meetings. As an example, registration was on the seventh floor while dealers were situated on the sixth and fifth floors and the official entrance to the show was also on the fifth floor. Also, the escalators and elevators required for moving from floor to floor were situated away from the bourse floors, which made it sometimes awkward or difficult to navigate, while carrying a case of coins, through the sea of folks meandering through the extremely narrow aisles that were set up between rows. Additionally, the food court, and I use the term loosely, was on a stage at the end of one of the bourse floors and was placed directly behind a large display set up by the US Mint. The display was so large that you could not see the food court until you were on top of it. Not that it really mattered as there were no chairs or tables to sit on or eat at and the food offerings were high priced and extremely limited. The show took place during a quite hot and humid week but that didn’t appear to bother anyone as the air conditioning worked well. I had previously lived in NYC (Amsterdam & W118th) so traveling to and from the show did not faze me as it seems to have fazed others.
I had the good fortune to meet a number of Board members, some of whom I already knew. These included gsaguy, TONEDOLLARS, monsterman (Greg Bingham), griffin6 (Will Rossman), raregoldcoins01 and TexasBullionTraders (Bryan). You may notice that for some members I write a part of or their full name while for others I do not do that; I do this since some members publicly write their name while others do not. I spent considerable time with gsaguy and can honestly say that I believe he knows more about GSA dollars than anyone I have ever met. He also has some of the most superbly toned coins I have ever seen! I like to think that I have some truly wonderful pieces, however, I was almost afraid to show him some after he took out his FA pieces. For the first time in my life I actually just had my jaw drop open and I just covered up my mouth with my hand, I must have look real professional doing that! Two of his Morgans in particular were so nice that I don’t know that I’ll ever see a prettier Morgan. Outstanding coins. As nice as the coins were it was even more of a pleasure to sit for two or three hours and talk coins. Bob Campbell, immediate ex-President of the ANA, shared a table with gsaguy and the three of us traded stories and coins for a bit. I even managed to wrangle a coin away from gsaguy and it wasn’t even a Morgan. I stopped by Scott Travers’ table where griffin6 (Will Rossman) was sitting. This was the first time I ever met will and I will tell everyone to please pay attention when Will posts in a thread as he is the real deal without question. Both monsterman (Greg Bingham) and raregoldcoins01 willingly shared their time to discuss their specialties and my niche. Unfortunately, I was unable to spend significant time with either TONEDOLLRS or TexasBullionTraders (Bryan) as I was pressed for time when I met up with them.
There was a healthy amount of superb currency, high grade gold, patterns, proof nickel coinage and nicely toned Morgans. Especially prevalent were proof Liberty and Shield nickels. Several folks whom I spoke with said that their show was great. There was also the usual experience of coins seemingly priced somewhat more aggressively to perhaps cover the extreme costs associated with attending the ANA in NYC. This is unfortunate but not really a surprise.
As for me, I purchased a plaque for my wife, a difficult to find book I had been looking for from Charlie Davis titled The Art Of Coins And Their Photography and three very nicely toned coins as well as getting an upgrade on a 1796 quarter from PCGS through a show walk-thru submission. I had hoped to be able to find more nicely toned coins, however, the floor seemed to be heavy in nice commems and Morgans but light in nice twentieth century pieces. This is a little puzzling to me as the prices of these nice coins are extraordinarily high. I can only presume that most of the best material is either in strong collector hands or that it will be destined for ebay as the prices realized on ebay are much stronger than what is typically seen at shows. Please keep in mind that I am writing at this point only about my niche, superbly toned twentieth century coinage.
Among the eye candy for viewing were gsaguy’s outrageous dollars, Larry Shepherd’s table, which had my favorite Long Island I have ever seen for sale (this is a boldly toned and extremely lustrous red and gold PCGS MS66), the NGC display of monsterman’s commems (The Bingham Collection), superb assorted large currency, an outstanding display of error Buffalo nickels that was truly a labor of love and dedication, the opportunity to see and examine plaster molds made by one of the finalists for the Washington quarter back in 1931 and seeing a fully prooflike silver Washington business strike. Why was that last item so cool? Well, this coin was a 1947-S and it looked like a well-struck 1967 SMS. That’s pretty rare.
Anyway, I had a great time at the show just as I always do and would encourage all to go to the national conventions, regional shows and local shows every chance as there is always something different to see.
Overall, it seemed that the show was very well attended and extremely busy. However, the poor layout of the Marriott Marquis made navigating the narrow aisles and easily finding people more difficult than it should have been. The ANA should make an effort to hold its flagship convention in a suitable convention hall and not in a building designed for smaller scaled meetings. As an example, registration was on the seventh floor while dealers were situated on the sixth and fifth floors and the official entrance to the show was also on the fifth floor. Also, the escalators and elevators required for moving from floor to floor were situated away from the bourse floors, which made it sometimes awkward or difficult to navigate, while carrying a case of coins, through the sea of folks meandering through the extremely narrow aisles that were set up between rows. Additionally, the food court, and I use the term loosely, was on a stage at the end of one of the bourse floors and was placed directly behind a large display set up by the US Mint. The display was so large that you could not see the food court until you were on top of it. Not that it really mattered as there were no chairs or tables to sit on or eat at and the food offerings were high priced and extremely limited. The show took place during a quite hot and humid week but that didn’t appear to bother anyone as the air conditioning worked well. I had previously lived in NYC (Amsterdam & W118th) so traveling to and from the show did not faze me as it seems to have fazed others.
I had the good fortune to meet a number of Board members, some of whom I already knew. These included gsaguy, TONEDOLLARS, monsterman (Greg Bingham), griffin6 (Will Rossman), raregoldcoins01 and TexasBullionTraders (Bryan). You may notice that for some members I write a part of or their full name while for others I do not do that; I do this since some members publicly write their name while others do not. I spent considerable time with gsaguy and can honestly say that I believe he knows more about GSA dollars than anyone I have ever met. He also has some of the most superbly toned coins I have ever seen! I like to think that I have some truly wonderful pieces, however, I was almost afraid to show him some after he took out his FA pieces. For the first time in my life I actually just had my jaw drop open and I just covered up my mouth with my hand, I must have look real professional doing that! Two of his Morgans in particular were so nice that I don’t know that I’ll ever see a prettier Morgan. Outstanding coins. As nice as the coins were it was even more of a pleasure to sit for two or three hours and talk coins. Bob Campbell, immediate ex-President of the ANA, shared a table with gsaguy and the three of us traded stories and coins for a bit. I even managed to wrangle a coin away from gsaguy and it wasn’t even a Morgan. I stopped by Scott Travers’ table where griffin6 (Will Rossman) was sitting. This was the first time I ever met will and I will tell everyone to please pay attention when Will posts in a thread as he is the real deal without question. Both monsterman (Greg Bingham) and raregoldcoins01 willingly shared their time to discuss their specialties and my niche. Unfortunately, I was unable to spend significant time with either TONEDOLLRS or TexasBullionTraders (Bryan) as I was pressed for time when I met up with them.
There was a healthy amount of superb currency, high grade gold, patterns, proof nickel coinage and nicely toned Morgans. Especially prevalent were proof Liberty and Shield nickels. Several folks whom I spoke with said that their show was great. There was also the usual experience of coins seemingly priced somewhat more aggressively to perhaps cover the extreme costs associated with attending the ANA in NYC. This is unfortunate but not really a surprise.
As for me, I purchased a plaque for my wife, a difficult to find book I had been looking for from Charlie Davis titled The Art Of Coins And Their Photography and three very nicely toned coins as well as getting an upgrade on a 1796 quarter from PCGS through a show walk-thru submission. I had hoped to be able to find more nicely toned coins, however, the floor seemed to be heavy in nice commems and Morgans but light in nice twentieth century pieces. This is a little puzzling to me as the prices of these nice coins are extraordinarily high. I can only presume that most of the best material is either in strong collector hands or that it will be destined for ebay as the prices realized on ebay are much stronger than what is typically seen at shows. Please keep in mind that I am writing at this point only about my niche, superbly toned twentieth century coinage.
Among the eye candy for viewing were gsaguy’s outrageous dollars, Larry Shepherd’s table, which had my favorite Long Island I have ever seen for sale (this is a boldly toned and extremely lustrous red and gold PCGS MS66), the NGC display of monsterman’s commems (The Bingham Collection), superb assorted large currency, an outstanding display of error Buffalo nickels that was truly a labor of love and dedication, the opportunity to see and examine plaster molds made by one of the finalists for the Washington quarter back in 1931 and seeing a fully prooflike silver Washington business strike. Why was that last item so cool? Well, this coin was a 1947-S and it looked like a well-struck 1967 SMS. That’s pretty rare.
Anyway, I had a great time at the show just as I always do and would encourage all to go to the national conventions, regional shows and local shows every chance as there is always something different to see.
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Comments
I've also met Bryan (gsaguy) and you're right about his Morgans! After viewing them along with a tremendous American Silver Eagle I renewed my interest in these and have continued my quest for these amazing coins!
I've never understood why someone like Bill Gates doesn't just sweep into a show like this and buy up every single Monster toned coin on the boarse. I know I would.
peacockcoins
Great reading. I knew your 1796 quarter was a knockout & total PQ for the grade. Curious what it upgraded to?
Re-elect Bush in 2004... Dont let the Socialists brainwash you.
Bush 2004
Jeb 2008
KK 2016
Interested in your comments.
As for Bill Gates: Remember, this guy does not spend money. He enjoys having it, not spending it. If you want to talk about a Microsoft guy that can buy things (and actually does) you should mention Paul Allen's name (you know the founder of Microsoft). He is the one who enjoys his money. He is the type of person who could make a major dent in coins.
As for the Liberty nickels, dbldie55, there was a complete set of proofs in NGC holders with some coins being represented more than one time. All of these coins were blazing white as if they were either minted yesterday, preserved in an extraordinary manner or dipped. The cameo effect was relatively weak on some of the pieces even though they were designated cameo. This appears to me to be idiosyncratic of early nickel proof coinage. Another dealer also had an extensive holding of these coins and they were, for the most part, lightly toned in golds and ice blues. I prefered this grouping more. Also, the CAM pieces in this group looked to have better CAM properties. Very few of the proof Liberty or Shield nickels I saw had thick, streaky or dark toning.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Was that 47-S Washington for sale, and for how much? I'm curious because I've got a semi-prooflike 48-S Washington.
This may kill you, Tad, but there was a '76-D Ike in a PCGS MS67 holder with the most glorious burnt orange edges and pumpkin center that could be imagined on that coin. It was for sale so send me a PM and I will fill you in on the details.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Can you convince GSAguy to share (scan) his jaw dropping toned dollar?? I would love to see it!!
Mark
Did you happen to see the Sunnywood shield nickel collection on display at the show? Parts of it are on "display" in the NGC registries, as well as here.
Hoot
good to chat with you at the ana.........next time we`ll have to scour the floor together.......gsaguy does have some headlights doesnt he!!!!!....i told him i knew his trick.......next time you look at them ...pay particular attention to the capital plastic holders......the screws are mini batteries which really " lights `em up"....:-)
they are .....FA
gregg
out of rockets ...out of bullets...switching to harsh language
peacockcoins
Reading the various threads on the show are candy for the guys that couldn't make it. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. (You must type with both hands
like braddick, i always love to read posts like this.
look for my thread tom, i think i filled the cracks.
Go BIG or GO HOME. ©Bill
Peak Numismatics
Monument, CO