First Coin Show-any advice

curiousgeorge

Looks like I will attend my first coin show on June 21. Any advice or tips for a newbie?

LucyBop

wearing lots of lipstick and batting the big eyelashes always does wonders for me....

kranky

Here is a recent thread.

LincolnCentMan

Take a greysheet and a lot of money.

David

LanLord

My best advice is don't let it be your last coin show!

nwcs

Look at everything before buying anything.

Kim

Observe as many dealers as you can. Mouth shut eyes open for the first pass around the floor...until you get the feel. Then ask questions. Any dealer who is not willing to answer them does not deserve to earn the sale!

GaCoinGuy

Don't let the dealers intimidate you. If they act like they are doing you a favor by showing you a coin, they prolly don't need your bus either. And don't be afraid to ask people to move their 17 greysheets, 8 albums, and overnight luggage off the tops of the cases. I saw one guy in Dalton that had a big, large, I mean HUGE suitcase with him, knocking all into people.

NumisEd

When talking to dealers, firmly grasp the sides of your pants with each hand and, if you drop something, kick it as far as possible.....do not bend over to pick it up. With that advice, you should be just fine.

baccaruda

lol. I agree with Ed.

Watch out for your cornhole.

Jamericon

Comfortable shoes!

Woodwind

You will probably see many raw "BU" Morgan Dollars at the show. As a new collector I bought some raw "BU" Morgan Dollars 10 years ago which turned out to be cleaned, polished, whizzed, contaminated, about underculated and so on leaving me little more than junk silver. These can be tempting since most are over 100 years old, are in great shape, and are very affordable.

Having said this, if you plan to buy one, stick to PCGS, NGC and ANACS slabbed dollars until you can better identify problem coins, and until you get to know some of the dealers. This is one of the few cases where I recommend buying something in plastic.

Happy hunting and good luck.

ScarsdaleCoin

Do you like any other hobbies LOL

wear commfy shoes

hookooekoo

My advice is to take along some play money (i.e. money you can afford to lose) and any kind of pricing book ("Red Book" being one of the best because it provides a lot of interesting reading as well as easy to obtain, others may tell you to take a grey sheet, but I've been collecting coins for about 4 year now and I still don't know where to obtain one easily and cheaply, but the "Red Book" can be found in most book stores).

At this stage, use the price book to know what are some of the lesser expensive "type" coins and purchase a couple of coins within your spending limit. As an example, if your interested in purchasing a Standing Liberty Quarter, the price guide will let you know that coins such as the 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1928S, 1929, 1929D, 1929S, 1930, and 1930S are all valued at about the same price for a given grade and will be less expensive than a 1924D, 1924S,1926D,1926S, 1927D, 927S, and 1928D.

After the show, take your new found treasures home. Take time to inspect them. Get a loupe if you don't already have one to look at them under magnification. Purchase a grading book and attempt to grade your coins (start with circulated pieces). Try to learn what you can by studing these first pieces. Take them to a friend in the hobby or to a local coin dealer and let them review the coins with you.

You will most likely find that you spent more for the coins than you had to, but as long as we start with a small quanity of "play" money and only perchase items that hold some appeal for you, you will not care and they will be some great pieces to begin your education from.

A summary of my suggestion might go something like "go to the show expecting to be cheated, spend a little bit of money as if you were just throwing the money away, and purchase something that will hold some interest".