ANA Grading Seminar and dealer night at the N.H. Coin Expo

BigD5

I'll try to make an update of the show each night as they roll along.

We finished up the grading seminar at the N.H. Coin Expo today and I have to say it was quite interesting. It was refreshing to get different perspectives on grading "techniques" or "methods" that different individuals use.

We squeezed plenty of information into 2 days, so it was fairly fast paced but it did the trick.

Overall, the most important factor stressed was looking at a coins' luster and strike characteristics as heavily as one would factor in marks, or hits. If you grade coins focusing too much or heavily on strictly marks, you most likely will not be a completely successful grader of coins in today's market.

Met Cohodk and fountainheadgold at the seminar. Good people. Funny how fountainheadgold and I were sitting next to one another for the seminar and didn't realize who we were until the end of the first day! That was amusing.

Hit the bourse floor after the seminar, and man was it busy. Last year was the first year for this show, and it was rather uneventful. Ok busy, but nothing exciting. Tonight was much more brisk, which should keep everyone optimistic for the weekend.

I sold a bunch of material, which is never a bad thing , and finally got a chance to walk around with only 30 minutes left. Spotted one decent commem. with some color, and scooped that one up.

Also saw a really nicely toned Barber half dollar. I'm at a disagreement with the grade of the coin in comparison to what the selling dealer has the coin graded at, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to snag this one. It's pretty though.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow and am anticipating a busy day.

I'll let the others chime in with their experiences on their own, although I did see a couple nice coins later on.

shylock

Thanks for the nice report BigD and keep them coming.

Overall, the most important factor stressed was looking at a coins' luster and strike characteristics as heavily as one would factor in marks, or hits. If you grade coins focusing too much or heavily on strictly marks, you most likely will not be a completely successful grader of coins in today's market.

Great point. You see people here putting too much emphasis on one facit of grading all the time, and marks are usually what they focus on.

BigD5

Oh! Also, I picked up a REALLY nice ms/62 bust half dollar earlier in the evening also.

Why get so excited about an ms/62 bust half?

Original surfaces, light greenish-red album rim toning with nice "skin".

I was esctatic on this coin.

Absolutely no shot in my eyes to upgrade, although the dealer I purchased it from (he's usually straight with me, as far as I can tell, be that as it may) only sent the coin in once, and legitimately believes it can get in a 3 holder. I won't be the one who give it another whirl, but I will look at it again before doing anything with it.

The kind of coin that should sell before I leave the show, but who knows, if the floor is crawling with those Frankie collectors........