Baystate show/Boston show report

BigD5

Overall this was a very busy show. Much busier than in the spring, with plenty of activity noted from virtually everyone we talked with.

Thursday evening was brisk with a wide variety of material being scooped up. Raw, slabs, type, and of course gold. Gold was VERY active for virtually everyone that deals in it. I was able to buy a few nice coins along with the selling, so that always helps.

Friday was another busy day with plenty of activity. A bit surprising as snow came down and although the main roads/highways were clear, the side roads were a bit icy/messy. Went into the morning hoping for the best because of that. I think foot traffic was better than expected considering the weather. We weren't crazy busy but busy enough where sitting down for more than a couple of minutes wasn't an option. Later in the afternoon there were a few dealers who were VERY actively buying higher grade type and by the way they were running around, I know they had a great day and were looking to reload, so to speak.

Saturday was pretty much llike a mild hurricane. Very, very active with plenty of foottraffic. Didn't stop until 4pm or so. Very exciting to be quite honest. I think the most exciting part about doing shows right now is that almost every area of the market is quite active. It's not just certain segments. Another thing that has seemed to pick up is coins coming in the door via retail traffic. Plenty of old collections, partial collections and "stuff" was brought, or seemed to be anyway, to the show to sell. I would imagine the recent pluses of gold and silver have a lot to do with that.

Sunday turns into a fleamarket of sorts at the show, so I bailed out on Saturday evening. Overall it was an excellent show despite the "off" weather and the odd "construction" of walls in the hall that seperated the bourse into different "sections". That was the strangest thing I've ever seen, and one of the "sections" was quite small, almost like a small living room with a few dealers tables set in there, and I wouldn't have been too happy to have been stuck in there. I believe a change of room design is in store for next year, but this has always been a less than ideal location for this show, if you're a dealer setting up.

I met up with the usual crew of board members that hit teh Westford Ma. and Nashua N.H shows and also had the privelage of meeting Dennis from JadeRareCoin. They seem to have quality inventory and Dennis seemed to be very personable. I would think he was running on fumes though as I KNOW he posted information on a show he did down south last week so he's been on the road a bit.

If I think of anything else I'll add it in later.

RYK

Thanks for the excellent report.

BigMoose

BigD5, thanks for the Show report. These are always appreciated.

ConstellatioCollector

Thanks for the report. Can't wait to retire then be able to travel to all these shows!!!

Tsimmerdown

I went to the show on Friday, and it seemed like traffic was pretty decent. I had a hard time navigating through the aisles, and many of the tables seemed pretty busy. Not a great show for my needs as a paper collector, but there were two exclusively US paper dealers and several coin dealers with paper. That's OK.. this is a COIN show afterall, and there is a major paper currency show coming up in St. Louis this month. I enjoy looking for paper being sold by coin dealers, because sometimes it is possible to get some good deals.

I returned later on Friday after the snow had been coming down a little heavier to purchase a note I saw earlier. Traffic was a lot lighter and this was about 4:00 - 5:00. I noticed some dealers had already packed up for the day, but activity was still decent.

Darkside paper currency collectors also had a few dealers selling exclusively foreign currency, which I thought was neat. If you're interested in starting a paper collection and you want to do it on the cheap, it's easy to build up a collection of foreign currency very quickly. I should have spent more time at those tables, but I was more interested in chasing down the US stuff.

I ended up buying a nice upgrade for the collection.. so it was worth the trip.

BigD5

One other note that I noticed. With proof and mint sets (common stuff including modern commem's), word out on the floor was that this stuff is VERY soft right now and no one was paying more than 20% back of bid for anything. I saw a very large deal get done at 30% back of bid.

This stuff can usually be sold for 10% back of bid quite regularly. Those numbers may seem a touch drastic, but I heard it, and saw it. I guess it could change tomorrow, as well.

Tsimmerdown, I was sitting directly behind PaperM from Seabrook at the show, so you must have been in my vicinity and I'm sorry we didn't have a chance to meet.

JadeRareCoin

BigD5, it was very nice to meet you. I enjoyed our conversation. I am still at the show (it's Sunday at 2:00), so I think I will shut this computer down and hit the road. It is completely dead in here. Even the antique dealers are packing up!

Dennis

haletj

I went to the show. Too bad I didn't even realize some board members were there. I collect Lincolns and I didn't see one single early red Lincoln 1910-1928 at the entire show! I did sell some coins though and find a few nice later date Lincolns, Jeffersons, and Washingtons.

kieferscoins

Why do you think the proof sets are so soft right now?

Cameron Kiefer

DaveG

Thanks for the great report.

Show reports are always the first posts I look for!

BigD5

Cameron, I have no idea. A shop dealer mentioned it to us on Thursday evening in case anyone coming in was trying to sell them and two other dealers also mentioned it in passing, and at a table behind me a rather large group of the common sets went for 30% back of bid. We were offered the deal, so I know the price was accurate.

Remember, this was common dates/issues.

BillJones

<< <i>Why do you think the proof sets are so soft right now?

Cameron Kiefer >>



Aside from support that comes from collectors who are looking for slabbed very modern Proof coins (1968 and up) in the Registry grades like PR-69 and 70, cameo, there is very little sold support for these sets. The mintages run into the millions (usually 2 to 4 million annually), and that's more than enough sets to satisfy the demand.

AND since these sets contain little or more often no silver, there's no help for them there either.

roadrunner

The Boston show took some of the wind out of the sails of the Auburn, MA show held today. Some of the regular tabled dealers were absent as well as those who walk the floor. Gold coins moved ok, especially MS62's to 64's of most anything. I sold some MS65 Saints and a few smaller denoms in 61-62 grades. But other than gold, it didn't seem like much else was going on. The traffic from the public seemed pretty heavy nontheless. We missed BigD5 and some other other New England dealers at the show. I had some high grade type but it appears I was at the wrong show with it.

I was fortunate to pick up an original/matched 1900 proof set (with original invoice from 1900) all graded NGC PF65/66. The set was shown to me a month ago but I didn't pull the trigger. This time I had a bit more cash to play with and bought it. Interesting set in that the original buyer bought or added 2 extra cents and nickels for some reason. And as it turns out the 3 cents are really neat PF66RB's. Usually the minor coins in these proof sets look terrible. Not the case here.

roadrunner

ConstellatioCollector

Please share PICS when you have them.

michael

great report

keep them coming darin!!!!!!!!!!!!

michael

jmccarthy1983

Nooo I missed the show!