I lost my virginity today, aka my first coin show.
Russ
Posts: 48,514 ✭✭✭
And report on same.
For the last 10 days or so, I've been a good boy and kept my finger off the snipe button on eBay to conserve budget for my first ever coin show. This was a local show, only a couple blocks from my shop. The close proximity worked out well, because there was zero parking anywhere near the place. Show started at 10 AM, and Dan met me at the shop early to compare notes.
In fervent anticipation of all the proof Kennedy treasures I would find, I tucked my want list in my little belt pouch along with my loop and cigarettes, stuffed my wad of cash in my pocket and headed out. Quick note: Real cash in pocket, diversionary "sorry, Mr. Dealer, but this is all the money I have" cash in my wallet.
We arrived at the show, and stood in line for a few minutes waiting to get to the entry door. Both of us paid our $5 cover charge, started to walk in when I noticed something strange. No coins! It was a collector card show. Paper! UUGGHHH. Turns out there were two shows going on, and we headed for the wrong room.
After we sheepishly got our money back, we headed to the right room, and no fee! Free.
Show was small, perhaps 15 tables in total. Sad to say, not a PCGS slabbed Kennedy proof in site. Non, nada, zip. Not a lot of PCGS slabbed material at all. Some NGC, SEGS, PCI, a smattering of ACG, but mostly raw in the traditional cardboard 2x2's. Saved all week, and nothing to buy.
So, education time. I walked around looking at coins, particularly toned ones, to try and get a feel for fake and real toning. One dealer had some very obviously AT'd Morgans, and didn't appreciate it when I asked about his "oven baked coins".
But, I liked it, so I bought it anyway (see other thread).
One dealer had a 1903 IHC that was VERY pretty. Bright red, a ton of luster with beautiful lavendar and red emerging round the periphery on both the obverse and reverse. This one looked like real toning to me, and he wasn't asking much for it. But, the reverse had some nasty carbon spots. Were it not for that, I probably would have grabbed it.
There were a handful of PCGS slabbed Walkers around, including two in MS64 that I need for my short set. But, after carefully scrutinizing both, I passed. I'm trying to build this set with coins that are solid for the grade with plenty of eye appeal, and neither quite cut it.
Quite a few proof sets and mint sets on display, but it was quickly apparent that it was all bottom of the barrel leftovers.
There was also quite a bit of gold and, as a ratio of raw to slabbed, a much higher percentage of it seemed to be slabbed compared to the other coins. I was VERY tempted by some of the Indians. They're neat coins. But, alas, my ignorance of these (and, the fact that I realize that), kept my hand out of the cash stash.
One dealer had some of the educational notes on display. WOW! Talk about stunning engraving work. They were literally works of art so much more beautiful than any of the bills we have today. Also, very expensive. Another dealer had some "fractional" currency. Didn't even know that stuff existed. Cool little notes, 3¢ and 25¢ were a couple I saw.
The dealers seemed all to be very friendly and eager, but that may have been born of the fact that they didn't seem to be moving much merchandise. I did notice that they talk alot among themselves looking for coins from each other.
Besides the AT'd Morgan, I also grabbed a $10 gaming token from the Eldorado. It looked cool, so I bought it. Those were my only "newps".
Crowd was very small, might have been the weather. It was nice today and, in my area, nice days are scarcer then other parts of the country so many people were probably off doing outside stuff.
Well, that's basically it. My first report. Dan and I plan on hitting the show at the Tacoma Dome next Saturday, so I guess today can serve as the warmup; the breaking in.
Oh, one other thing. I did notice that the security guard was following me around a lot. HMM...
Russ, NCNE
For the last 10 days or so, I've been a good boy and kept my finger off the snipe button on eBay to conserve budget for my first ever coin show. This was a local show, only a couple blocks from my shop. The close proximity worked out well, because there was zero parking anywhere near the place. Show started at 10 AM, and Dan met me at the shop early to compare notes.
In fervent anticipation of all the proof Kennedy treasures I would find, I tucked my want list in my little belt pouch along with my loop and cigarettes, stuffed my wad of cash in my pocket and headed out. Quick note: Real cash in pocket, diversionary "sorry, Mr. Dealer, but this is all the money I have" cash in my wallet.
We arrived at the show, and stood in line for a few minutes waiting to get to the entry door. Both of us paid our $5 cover charge, started to walk in when I noticed something strange. No coins! It was a collector card show. Paper! UUGGHHH. Turns out there were two shows going on, and we headed for the wrong room.
After we sheepishly got our money back, we headed to the right room, and no fee! Free.Show was small, perhaps 15 tables in total. Sad to say, not a PCGS slabbed Kennedy proof in site. Non, nada, zip. Not a lot of PCGS slabbed material at all. Some NGC, SEGS, PCI, a smattering of ACG, but mostly raw in the traditional cardboard 2x2's. Saved all week, and nothing to buy.
So, education time. I walked around looking at coins, particularly toned ones, to try and get a feel for fake and real toning. One dealer had some very obviously AT'd Morgans, and didn't appreciate it when I asked about his "oven baked coins".
But, I liked it, so I bought it anyway (see other thread).One dealer had a 1903 IHC that was VERY pretty. Bright red, a ton of luster with beautiful lavendar and red emerging round the periphery on both the obverse and reverse. This one looked like real toning to me, and he wasn't asking much for it. But, the reverse had some nasty carbon spots. Were it not for that, I probably would have grabbed it.
There were a handful of PCGS slabbed Walkers around, including two in MS64 that I need for my short set. But, after carefully scrutinizing both, I passed. I'm trying to build this set with coins that are solid for the grade with plenty of eye appeal, and neither quite cut it.
Quite a few proof sets and mint sets on display, but it was quickly apparent that it was all bottom of the barrel leftovers.
There was also quite a bit of gold and, as a ratio of raw to slabbed, a much higher percentage of it seemed to be slabbed compared to the other coins. I was VERY tempted by some of the Indians. They're neat coins. But, alas, my ignorance of these (and, the fact that I realize that), kept my hand out of the cash stash.
One dealer had some of the educational notes on display. WOW! Talk about stunning engraving work. They were literally works of art so much more beautiful than any of the bills we have today. Also, very expensive. Another dealer had some "fractional" currency. Didn't even know that stuff existed. Cool little notes, 3¢ and 25¢ were a couple I saw.
The dealers seemed all to be very friendly and eager, but that may have been born of the fact that they didn't seem to be moving much merchandise. I did notice that they talk alot among themselves looking for coins from each other.
Besides the AT'd Morgan, I also grabbed a $10 gaming token from the Eldorado. It looked cool, so I bought it.
Those were my only "newps".Crowd was very small, might have been the weather. It was nice today and, in my area, nice days are scarcer then other parts of the country so many people were probably off doing outside stuff.
Well, that's basically it. My first report. Dan and I plan on hitting the show at the Tacoma Dome next Saturday, so I guess today can serve as the warmup; the breaking in.
Oh, one other thing. I did notice that the security guard was following me around a lot. HMM...
Russ, NCNE
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For some life lasts a short while, but the memories it holds last forever.
-Laura Swenson
In memory of BL, SM, and KG. 16 and forever young, rest in peace.
Next bump: Long Beach! I see you getting a Super Savers and flying out! There will be a group of us on Thursday (by the PCGS table at 11:00).
Hey- PLENTY of PCGS slabbed Kennedies! In fact, one Dealer's case had about two hundred of them- seriously! He deals with tons of PCGS Moderns. Others will have them too.
Something to think about.
peacockcoins
<< <i>Sad to say, not a PCGS slabbed Kennedy proof in site. Non, nada, zip. Not a lot of PCGS slabbed material at all. Some NGC, SEGS, PCI, a smattering of ACG, but mostly raw in the traditional cardboard 2x2's. Saved all week, and nothing to buy. >>
Are you saying that there weren't any Proof Kennedys in the 2x2's either, or just none that were PCGS Slabbed?
<< <i> stood in line for a few minutes waiting to get to the entry door. Both of us paid our $5 cover charge, started to walk in when I noticed something strange. No coins! It was a collector card show. Paper! UUGGHHH. >>
My first show was in Baltimore at the Convention Center - walked into a show of toy soldiers - yes, canons, artillary, battlefields, WOW! Finally found the coin show.
Probably would have been better to have stayed at the Toy Soldier show - as a newbie at the coin show I "got took good", oh well, it was a learning experience.
Sounds like you had a good time; Great!
There were plenty of proof Kennedy's in 2x2's but, just like the proof and mint sets, they were junk.
Russ, NCNE
Be careful with raw IHCs - the color differences between genuine and played-with are subtle. Last show I worked helping a dealer he had five Unc IHCs offered to him by a showgoer. I took them over to a copper expert for an opinion and he immediately flagged three as having been recolored, one as OK, and the fifth he wasn't sure about. Took him about a second to identify the bad ones and to me they looked pretty nice.
I agree with your comment on the educational notes. They are really beautiful. I only wish I had bought some way back when they were affordable and currency was dead.
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
If you like the Educational Notes, you might want to pick up a set of the BEP souvenier cards - they used the same dies, without the seal and serial number. I got mine a few years ago for about $10 for the set (a "show special" that really was a bargain). The Educational Notes came out a while (five, ten years?) ago, but I still see them at shows.
I really like the BEP souvenier cards - you can get some really pretty engravings (like the first series of National Bank Notes) really cheaply.
Check out the Southern Gold Society
Kind of reminds me of the time a friend told me about a new club so we went to check it out. First impression when walking in was that sure were a lot of girls there, it was awesome because they were dancing together and everything. Hardly a guy in sight! Move on over to the pool tables and there are some more that look like they could kick your butt all over the place and they looked at us like they wanted to. Things started to dawn on us, yep we were definitely in the wrong place!
Bob
That was a great story. Hope you have better luck at the next show. I'm still waiting for my first.
Proof Dime Registry Set
Dan and I will be headed to the Tacoma Dome show, but I don't think I'll be there that late.
goyankeez,
Of course I have pictures.
Russ, NCNE
If you start playing around with fractional currency and looking at Educational notes you may never come back. The beauty and affordability of some of those can't be touched in the coin world. The 1896 $5 Educational is my favorite. Compare that with this ugly Lincoln note we care around today. What a slide downhill for the USA.
Coyn
1964 proof JFK halves
The End