Orlando Coin Show Report

Merc

Today is the last day for the Orlando coin show if you are interested. I was there all day yesterday. Unfortunatelly, I didn't meet any forum members. It was a good size for a club show. Some dealers had mostly slabbed Morgans, Peace dollars and Walkers. Others had all raw Morgans. I saw one that had 100+ raw morgans that all looked the same. Every one had been dipped bright white.

ACG was there at the last show in the fall. This time they were not there. I saw few ACG slabs, but I did see several NTC slabs. I checked out 1 Morgan graded MS66 DMPL by NTC. It was just a semi PL. I only found 1 MS65 DMPL Morgan graded by PCGS.

I was hopping to find some pre-1950 proofs but there was not much. I did see a 1862 Proof 62 NGC dollar but that was about it.

I did find a few things though. I bought a 1916-D Mercury in G 4 (ANACS) It had a nice full rim on the obverse and mostly full on the reverse. The mint mark area was protected by the rim so I could see the triangle center to the mintmark and the repunched D. I bought it from a part time dealer who just had a handful of coins in his 2 cases. Then I bought some VG Barber halves at reasonable prices to almost complete my low grade Barber half collection.

eagle7

Thanks for the report!

ksteelheader

Thanks for the report.....................Ken

Merc

I'll get a picture of the reverse of the 1916-D when I get my camera's batteries recharged.

I did see 2 other 1916-D Mercs. One was an AG 3 ANACS. I passed because I wanted a better one. There there was a 1916-D raw. The dealer had a question mark beside the 191-D on his holder. I guess he didn't know if it were real or not. I didn't even bother to look at it. I've read there are more fake 1916-D's than real ones.

While I was buying one Barber, a guy came up to the dealer and asked if he had a 1877 Indian Cent. He said he was buying it for his daughter to fill her album. The guy looked at it for 5 seconds and bought it! That shocked me for 2 reasons. When I was a kid, there was no way my dad would buy me a $350 dollar coin. Then he just glanced at a raw rare coin and bought it taking the dealer's word it was real. I know what to look for to see if a 1877 is real, but I would take more than 5 seconds. The guy didn't even use a glass to inspect it.

kranky

Thanks for the show report, I read every one that people post.

About that guy buying the 1877, it seems perfectly natural in a way. Take someone who doesn't know anything about coins, what reason would he have to be worried? He's never heard of an altered coin, a doctored coin, or outright counterfeits. He goes to a coin show to buy what his daughter wants, and grabs the first one he comes across. If his daughter collected vintage Barbie dolls, he would have done the same thing at a similar show.

That's a real problem - as a hobby, we don't have a way to reach the totally uneducated buyers because they are way out on the fringes of the hobby. They don't subscribe to Coin World, they aren't ANA members or members of local clubs, and they don't post or lurk here or at other boards. Even when they offer educational seminars at shows, most people don't know about them until they arrive and if their timing is bad, they miss the chance to attend.

Maybe shows could offer short, half-hour educational seminars for newbies four times a day, and for those who attend they get their entrance fee refunded or perhaps a coupon for $5 credit good at any dealer's table. Keep it short, cover the areas where things can get dangerous, provide a educational booklet or handout at the end.

mdwoods

Congratulations on the Dime, and thanks for the nice report. Whenever I read of someone attending a coin show, it makes me want to go to one.