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Coin show report: Ohio State Numismatic Association
RGL
Posts: 3,784 ✭
Arrived about 10:30 a.m. today to partake of the floor, about 130 dealers at Vets Memorial here in downtown Columbus. Show admission was free, but $3 to park ... Huge room, nice wide aisles, easy to get around. Traffic was steady and attendance moderate, but did not strike me as super busy for the size of show.
As I always do, I circled the floor inspecting all the cases to appraise potential buys, making mental notes of coins to circle back on. The only exception was that I snatched up a 1966 SMS set with a CAM Jeff for $9, before anyone else could get it, on the first circle of the floor. Aside from two 1895 Morgans, there seemed to be a scarcity of "wow" material both in terms of appearance and rarity. Dealers described their sales as "OK.," but I did not get the sense they were enthused about sales. I saw many persons offering coins for sale only to see dealers pass, including comments that they already had too many of the offered coins in stock.
In my specialty, proof Jeffs, there was a decided lack of material, only some so-so slabs and some raw coins that generally were 65 tops. I only came across three slabbed PR-67s from 1938 to 1942 and they were all priced north of $400. The SMS pickings also were slim, aside from the set cited above. I came across some SMS singles that dealers considered CAM -- most weren't -- and only found a few that truly would CAM, and they were priced at astronomical levels. I did not see a single non-slabbed SMS coin that would DCAM. And, interestingly, perhaps speaking to demand, I did not come across a single SMS DCAM in a slab. There simply were none to be had.
There was a bounty of circulated pre-1934 material in the dealers' cases, much of it overgraded. There are a lot of AUs out there marked as BUs, regardless of series. It struck me, and Conder confirmed when I came across him, that there was a relative lack of PCGS slabbed coins. The dealer's cases overflowed with NGC coins by the hundreds and ANACS slabs were present with an unusually high percentage, but that perhaps is attributable to local/Ohio dealers who slab at ANACS since is it located here in Columbus. Conder and I guesstimated that perhaps 25 percent of the slabs on the floor were PCGS.
The highlight of my day came when I stopped at the table of Gary Mugno of Island Coins out of Lake Grove, N.Y. He had not one -- but two -- cases of beautifully toned Morgans. Many were mooses and just a joy to behold! Gary is one of the founders of the Toned Coin Collectors Society and I can see why. While salivating over his coins, I asked Gary which was his favorite. He turned and went to his backup table and came back with a slab and handed it to me. Chills literally went down my spine ... it was the most gorgeous toned Morgan I have ever held. The obverse was splashed in every color of the rainbow, the most vivid, deep colors I ever have seen on a Morgan. Simply amazing! If any of you get a chance to see this 1881-S, you simply must. You will be spell bound. The reverse is white, but seldom have I seen such a beauty. And, here's the kicker: The coin is in a 67 PCGS holder and is every bit of it. I didn't dare ask the price and just profusely thanked Gary for sharing it with me.
I then had an enjoyable, lengthy chat with Conder after he emerged from one of the lectures. For those who have not had the pleasure, Conder is a collegial, professiorial type and very much an interesting guy to chat up on coins -- and, obviously, slabs. Conder found a few new discoveries on the floor which I will let him share. We chatted about his book on slabs and the fact he now has 25-percent more material, but must fit the next edition within his current page count. We talked about PCGS grading as of late and the fact that I have a "mule" slab, with a Collectors Universe ungraded BU insert and yet the PCGS reverse hologram, that is the only one he knows of. If you get a chance to meet and talk with Conder, seize it, he's a wealth of information.
I did not end up spending much at the show given the paucity of Jeffs and SMS material. Speaking of 1881-S Morgans, I did spend $60 on an NGC MS-64, with lovely blue-green and maroon obverse toning along the left rim and field, with the colors spilling over all of the reverse. Reverse is semi-prooflike. Cheek is very clean and the entire coin is very clean overall. Stuck me as undergraded. The on-site ANACS grader offering opinions gave it a 5. Also picked up a 1961 proof set for the burnt-orange and red toned Roosie and did claim one raw Jeff proof -- a 1941 with some light gold tone for 63/64 money. I peg it as solid 65, shot 66. All in all, a pleasant five hours spent perusing coins. Sorry to be so wordy, but I write for a living and it comes easily and quickly ...
As I always do, I circled the floor inspecting all the cases to appraise potential buys, making mental notes of coins to circle back on. The only exception was that I snatched up a 1966 SMS set with a CAM Jeff for $9, before anyone else could get it, on the first circle of the floor. Aside from two 1895 Morgans, there seemed to be a scarcity of "wow" material both in terms of appearance and rarity. Dealers described their sales as "OK.," but I did not get the sense they were enthused about sales. I saw many persons offering coins for sale only to see dealers pass, including comments that they already had too many of the offered coins in stock.
In my specialty, proof Jeffs, there was a decided lack of material, only some so-so slabs and some raw coins that generally were 65 tops. I only came across three slabbed PR-67s from 1938 to 1942 and they were all priced north of $400. The SMS pickings also were slim, aside from the set cited above. I came across some SMS singles that dealers considered CAM -- most weren't -- and only found a few that truly would CAM, and they were priced at astronomical levels. I did not see a single non-slabbed SMS coin that would DCAM. And, interestingly, perhaps speaking to demand, I did not come across a single SMS DCAM in a slab. There simply were none to be had.
There was a bounty of circulated pre-1934 material in the dealers' cases, much of it overgraded. There are a lot of AUs out there marked as BUs, regardless of series. It struck me, and Conder confirmed when I came across him, that there was a relative lack of PCGS slabbed coins. The dealer's cases overflowed with NGC coins by the hundreds and ANACS slabs were present with an unusually high percentage, but that perhaps is attributable to local/Ohio dealers who slab at ANACS since is it located here in Columbus. Conder and I guesstimated that perhaps 25 percent of the slabs on the floor were PCGS.
The highlight of my day came when I stopped at the table of Gary Mugno of Island Coins out of Lake Grove, N.Y. He had not one -- but two -- cases of beautifully toned Morgans. Many were mooses and just a joy to behold! Gary is one of the founders of the Toned Coin Collectors Society and I can see why. While salivating over his coins, I asked Gary which was his favorite. He turned and went to his backup table and came back with a slab and handed it to me. Chills literally went down my spine ... it was the most gorgeous toned Morgan I have ever held. The obverse was splashed in every color of the rainbow, the most vivid, deep colors I ever have seen on a Morgan. Simply amazing! If any of you get a chance to see this 1881-S, you simply must. You will be spell bound. The reverse is white, but seldom have I seen such a beauty. And, here's the kicker: The coin is in a 67 PCGS holder and is every bit of it. I didn't dare ask the price and just profusely thanked Gary for sharing it with me.
I then had an enjoyable, lengthy chat with Conder after he emerged from one of the lectures. For those who have not had the pleasure, Conder is a collegial, professiorial type and very much an interesting guy to chat up on coins -- and, obviously, slabs. Conder found a few new discoveries on the floor which I will let him share. We chatted about his book on slabs and the fact he now has 25-percent more material, but must fit the next edition within his current page count. We talked about PCGS grading as of late and the fact that I have a "mule" slab, with a Collectors Universe ungraded BU insert and yet the PCGS reverse hologram, that is the only one he knows of. If you get a chance to meet and talk with Conder, seize it, he's a wealth of information.
I did not end up spending much at the show given the paucity of Jeffs and SMS material. Speaking of 1881-S Morgans, I did spend $60 on an NGC MS-64, with lovely blue-green and maroon obverse toning along the left rim and field, with the colors spilling over all of the reverse. Reverse is semi-prooflike. Cheek is very clean and the entire coin is very clean overall. Stuck me as undergraded. The on-site ANACS grader offering opinions gave it a 5. Also picked up a 1961 proof set for the burnt-orange and red toned Roosie and did claim one raw Jeff proof -- a 1941 with some light gold tone for 63/64 money. I peg it as solid 65, shot 66. All in all, a pleasant five hours spent perusing coins. Sorry to be so wordy, but I write for a living and it comes easily and quickly ...
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Comments
Dan
Any sightings of coins from the Ohio State Bureau of Worker's Compensation?
roadrunner
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.
Check out the Southern Gold Society
and it sets us apart from practitioners and consultants. Gregor
Thanks for the report.
Badger
Link to 1950 - 1964 Proof Registry Set
1938 - 1964 Proof Jeffersons w/ Varieties
On Saturday I got there about 11AM, and circled the floor a few times looking for Proof coins for my type set, and key dates to finish off my circulated sets. I could only afford 1 good coin, so I was carefully looking for it. I found a nice looking raw proof liberty nickel at a good price, but questioned whether it was really a proof. The dealer let me run it by the ANACS grader, who was unsure as well, so I passed. I narrowed my surch down to a proof Merc in PR66, a proof IHC that was a 64, but had probably had a quick dip once, and a circulated 1877 IHC in an ANACS AG3 holder. Ended up getting the proof IHC. Didn't run into any forum members on Saturday. Dealers were disappointed in sales on Saturday. I got the impression that if I went back today, I couldn't have got some bargains from dealers looking to get rid of stock.
Columbus shows typically have a ton of ANACS holders since it's local, and not many PCGS (West Coast). There were quite a few NGC's, then PCI and SEGS. One dealer had quite a lot of ACG's. Last year I easily sold some MS64 common date Morgans, but had a lot more difficulty with it this year. Most dealers weren't even interested.
As a side note, try not to go to a coin show with a hangover. Every time I leaned over a display case, it took an enormous act of will to prevent my breakfast from being displayed next to all the coins. That would have been some difficult toning to explain!
<< <i>As a side note, try not to go to a coin show with a hangover. Every time I leaned over a display case, it took an enormous act of will to prevent my breakfast from being displayed next to all the coins. That would have been some difficult toning to explain! >>
Thanks for the Columbus coin show updates. I used to live there and that was the first coin show I went to years ago.
FrederickCoinClub