Nebraska Coin Show Report
TwoSides2aCoin
Posts: 44,441 ✭✭✭✭✭
Oh yeah, I made it. It was table after table of displays. Guys and gals selling coins. I didn't see any dancing girls, but Pam Tillis sounds good as do the Lettermen. They both played at the Qwest center in quaint little downtown Omaha while I worked down there for the weekend. (Omaha builders Home Show)
Remember if you didn't read any Nebraska coin show previous posts, that I also had to work the home show at the Qwest center for my roofing business.
Our downtown part of the city is taking on a very pleasant look from the skyline as one approaches from the east on I-80.
Anyways, back to the coin show. I had the pleasure of meeting Tom Reynolds. He is a long time Nebraska dealer. I picked his brain for the most part, as he had a large display of Washingtons, Mercury, Roosies, Halves, but his particular interests are copper , namely large cents. He had some beauties.
He is actually one of the few listed authorized PCGS dealers so it was a nice to speak to him as he was gracious and kind. I pointed out a few of his Washingtons to him and asked how come they weren't in PCGS holders as they may be worth upwards of 3 or 4 hundy. He gave me that wise old look and stated that he's seen lots of coins over the years. I didn't want to question his authority, but I wondered about a few that just kept jumpin out at me. Of course, I didn't look at the back of any. I was pressed for time.
On a side note, we got into the subject of the cheerios sac, a few high grade modern coins and such... and of course, as a weathered dealer, I figured he would be stuck on the classics. It was at this point
I got this idea: "i wonder if he travels the circuit.... sure enough. He does. I was in orb heaven at this point .... hee hee heee...
"Well Tom, I'm sure you know of Laura, eh ?"... He gave me a sort of odd look and grin and said :" Laura S......"... aww nevermind you guys... I won't go into that. He knows her and agrees with her. In other words... If you want to collect coins , well and good. If you are going to spend huge money thinking you will make a killing by holding a high grade modern, you may get burned if the market conditions change drastically. He also says, if you are going to spend 3 grand, don't do it on a modern, do it on a classic. Enough said on that. He also told me , in jest, that Laura calls guys like him "copper weenies".... but he didn't seem to mind. We both laughed at that as she must acknowledge our MANHOOD, either way. I said, "oh, that sounds just like her, Tom"... He looked at me funny and said, "oh you know her too, huh ?" LOL
He also said he had a great respect and admiration for Stewart , ( Okay , Stewart, my public apologies if I ever showed you disrespect) Wow,... the things I found out were very amazing. I felt good tossing Stewarts name out there... and Tom Delorey... and and and... it made Mr Reynolds think I was somebody, too
.
In all fairness to my chat with Mr Reynolds, I can say, he was pleasant and blindsided by me when I asked about others in the numismatic world.
He was very knowledgeable in the market and so I asked him how come he was reading the Feb 21 issue of Numismatic News ? LOL ...
I'll tell you all now, if you do not travel the circuit, it is amazing. There are some nice coins and some very nice people. I made a few acquaintences......so if anyone is searching for dates or particulars, give me a PM... I got a bunch of guy's cards. I'll do the search for any of you for anything.... Sheeeesh. Tom has a lot of great coins and the Large cent collection was good to see. I told him I'd give him a call and pick up a few for my dansco7070, to which he said "that is a good way to collect".
While talking to him we got on the subject of the cheerios sacagawea. He said while things like that, the speared bison, leaf errors, 95 DDOs... were okay.... that they are a mere "flash in the pan" and not to get too excited about them..."stick with the classics, Joe".
Rather than try and snipe on ebay anymore.... I've got a new found view as to how to best work the market. A guy named Gwent happened along while we were talking. He is a local collector. I mean one of them serious guys looking for certain coins at all the coin shows. He had , at one time, an NGC graded Cheerios Sacagawea in MS67 that he sold for 3 grand..... lol.... loll... I am still laughin... but anyway, at least he bought into IHCs...
... (which I find kind of funny as my hoard of IHC's in THE GAME took a crap and put me almost in last place LOL ha ha ha ha hahahaha.. this gets better) The plot thickens. Thankfully Mr Reynolds knows nothing of the GAME, the boards, or any of this stuff, as most TRUE DEALERS do not. THEY ARE TOOOOOO busy. Oh my, you guys would be amazed. To have to do this full time would kill me. I enjoy the coins, the collecting side and a flip here and there, but some people think it sucks being a roofer. I cannot imagine having to sit there and man a table like that ... or a store... day after day. Sure there are milllions of dollars changing hands, but it is mind boggling. This was the first table I stopped at.
Moving to the next table I met a guy who had lots of gold. Graded by PCGS, ICG, NGC, ANACS..... everything from one dollar and up. No stellas, sorry. He had raw stuff too.
He had Morgans, too... don't let me forget to tell you... I saw MORGANS EVERYWHERE.....
The one that stood out to me in Dave's display though.......was the flying eagle. OMG !
He pointed it out to me and I said : "um six grand ?"... He laughed and said the last guy offered 8, but both of us could apply our offers as a down payment and we'd still be short.
Personally, I didn't think it looked like PF65, but it was NGC, so who am I to argue. I still needed another seventeen grand to afford it. Anyone looking for a PF65 1856 FE ? PM me. I made friends with that big guy (I mean I didn't run off with it as I looked through my loupe at it) and I don't think the coin sold on Sunday. Wow, that guy had some other nice stuff, too. A bit pricey. Most coins that I want are always more than I want to spend. Imagine that.
Next few tables I just happened by. Then I saw the WISCONSIN LEAF display. I smiled and looked around for whoever owned it (I am sure it is a forum member YN) I was sorta bummed to not see anyone there at the time I was there. There were two leaf earrors (sp for PUN) displayed along with an extensive report and research done on it. Beautiful MS64s in PCGS holders.... I looked back over my shoulder at Tom's table and thought.... "is this a flash in the pan"...
I moved briskly through as the Home Show was still calling me back. There was a guy named Mike and looked like his dad at the next table. They had lots of Morgans. He had them displayed every which way. A box of merc dimes for a buck a piece wasn't enough to get me to do the "grab bag thing, either"... sheesh. I been around too long to play "go fish" with my money. But the fellas were nice, so it was all good.
The next table up was an old guy. He was wrappin' up to finish for the first day (Saturday.. and I didn't get there til after 3). I was there long enough to get his card, and he took my name. He had several bust halves I am interested in. Several were problematic and I asked: " aren't these dipped or cleaned ?"... He says: "yeah"... Well, I still would like the 1824. I hate toning, but if I am going to put together a 7070, I need as close to AU and up with toning as I can get without dipping or cleaning. Cripes..... He quoted me 250 and I told him to call me when he got back to Albion Nebraska. He's asking me book value... what a deal
Next table was a whole wall. DSS coins and Dave. He is a young , big guy. I can understand the proud feeling one must get to "HAVE a business"... but one must also be cautious about one's boastfulness. Anyway. Not that I was not impressed with a huge inventory and display, but I felt very insulted when he offered me an 1800 heraldic reverse bust dollar for 2500 that looked like someone tried to carve a pentagram into the face . The scratch was completely over the field, across the the head... oh it was sick. I looked at him like : "dude, what's your game ?"... Then he says: "Hey man, without the scratch it's a 3800 dollar coin"... I laughed and said...... Whoa, a 2500 dollar body bag, that's great Dave, no thanks".... I moved on. I missed several tables because I had to get going.
When I got over to Don, I had the pleasure of seeing an 1893 S Morgan... a 1918/7 Buffalo and a nice raw MS63ish shield nickel. He wanted a bit too much for the morgan and buffalo... but I asked him to hold me the nice shield nickel for my 7070. I really wanted to stay and barter. I did learn there is a show in Lincoln next week, so I hope to drive up there, but I got some phone numbers now. I can do a lot over the phone .
Who knows, maybe Rick Snow will read this and PM me for that proof 65 flying eagle. I'll leave ya some profit, EagleEye
In closing, what I saw there impressed me a lot more than what I expected to find there. I located at least three perfect candidates for my 7070. Now my question is : Should I wait for the gold to go down or work on that page first ? and leave the other classics for later ????? I cannot imagine the gold page ever being cheaper to fill than now. I am afraid if I wait on that page, it will never get filled.
There's my report, my findings, my thinking outloud. Hope you enjoyed it. The Nebraska state quarter is due out soon, too.
Remember if you didn't read any Nebraska coin show previous posts, that I also had to work the home show at the Qwest center for my roofing business.
Our downtown part of the city is taking on a very pleasant look from the skyline as one approaches from the east on I-80.
Anyways, back to the coin show. I had the pleasure of meeting Tom Reynolds. He is a long time Nebraska dealer. I picked his brain for the most part, as he had a large display of Washingtons, Mercury, Roosies, Halves, but his particular interests are copper , namely large cents. He had some beauties.
He is actually one of the few listed authorized PCGS dealers so it was a nice to speak to him as he was gracious and kind. I pointed out a few of his Washingtons to him and asked how come they weren't in PCGS holders as they may be worth upwards of 3 or 4 hundy. He gave me that wise old look and stated that he's seen lots of coins over the years. I didn't want to question his authority, but I wondered about a few that just kept jumpin out at me. Of course, I didn't look at the back of any. I was pressed for time.
On a side note, we got into the subject of the cheerios sac, a few high grade modern coins and such... and of course, as a weathered dealer, I figured he would be stuck on the classics. It was at this point
I got this idea: "i wonder if he travels the circuit.... sure enough. He does. I was in orb heaven at this point .... hee hee heee..."Well Tom, I'm sure you know of Laura, eh ?"... He gave me a sort of odd look and grin and said :" Laura S......"... aww nevermind you guys... I won't go into that. He knows her and agrees with her. In other words... If you want to collect coins , well and good. If you are going to spend huge money thinking you will make a killing by holding a high grade modern, you may get burned if the market conditions change drastically. He also says, if you are going to spend 3 grand, don't do it on a modern, do it on a classic. Enough said on that. He also told me , in jest, that Laura calls guys like him "copper weenies".... but he didn't seem to mind. We both laughed at that as she must acknowledge our MANHOOD, either way. I said, "oh, that sounds just like her, Tom"... He looked at me funny and said, "oh you know her too, huh ?" LOL
He also said he had a great respect and admiration for Stewart , ( Okay , Stewart, my public apologies if I ever showed you disrespect) Wow,... the things I found out were very amazing. I felt good tossing Stewarts name out there... and Tom Delorey... and and and... it made Mr Reynolds think I was somebody, too
. In all fairness to my chat with Mr Reynolds, I can say, he was pleasant and blindsided by me when I asked about others in the numismatic world.
He was very knowledgeable in the market and so I asked him how come he was reading the Feb 21 issue of Numismatic News ? LOL ...
I'll tell you all now, if you do not travel the circuit, it is amazing. There are some nice coins and some very nice people. I made a few acquaintences......so if anyone is searching for dates or particulars, give me a PM... I got a bunch of guy's cards. I'll do the search for any of you for anything.... Sheeeesh. Tom has a lot of great coins and the Large cent collection was good to see. I told him I'd give him a call and pick up a few for my dansco7070, to which he said "that is a good way to collect".
While talking to him we got on the subject of the cheerios sacagawea. He said while things like that, the speared bison, leaf errors, 95 DDOs... were okay.... that they are a mere "flash in the pan" and not to get too excited about them..."stick with the classics, Joe".
Rather than try and snipe on ebay anymore.... I've got a new found view as to how to best work the market. A guy named Gwent happened along while we were talking. He is a local collector. I mean one of them serious guys looking for certain coins at all the coin shows. He had , at one time, an NGC graded Cheerios Sacagawea in MS67 that he sold for 3 grand..... lol.... loll... I am still laughin... but anyway, at least he bought into IHCs...
... (which I find kind of funny as my hoard of IHC's in THE GAME took a crap and put me almost in last place LOL ha ha ha ha hahahaha.. this gets better) The plot thickens. Thankfully Mr Reynolds knows nothing of the GAME, the boards, or any of this stuff, as most TRUE DEALERS do not. THEY ARE TOOOOOO busy. Oh my, you guys would be amazed. To have to do this full time would kill me. I enjoy the coins, the collecting side and a flip here and there, but some people think it sucks being a roofer. I cannot imagine having to sit there and man a table like that ... or a store... day after day. Sure there are milllions of dollars changing hands, but it is mind boggling. This was the first table I stopped at. Moving to the next table I met a guy who had lots of gold. Graded by PCGS, ICG, NGC, ANACS..... everything from one dollar and up. No stellas, sorry. He had raw stuff too.
He had Morgans, too... don't let me forget to tell you... I saw MORGANS EVERYWHERE.....
The one that stood out to me in Dave's display though.......was the flying eagle. OMG !
He pointed it out to me and I said : "um six grand ?"... He laughed and said the last guy offered 8, but both of us could apply our offers as a down payment and we'd still be short.
Personally, I didn't think it looked like PF65, but it was NGC, so who am I to argue. I still needed another seventeen grand to afford it. Anyone looking for a PF65 1856 FE ? PM me. I made friends with that big guy (I mean I didn't run off with it as I looked through my loupe at it) and I don't think the coin sold on Sunday. Wow, that guy had some other nice stuff, too. A bit pricey. Most coins that I want are always more than I want to spend. Imagine that.
Next few tables I just happened by. Then I saw the WISCONSIN LEAF display. I smiled and looked around for whoever owned it (I am sure it is a forum member YN) I was sorta bummed to not see anyone there at the time I was there. There were two leaf earrors (sp for PUN) displayed along with an extensive report and research done on it. Beautiful MS64s in PCGS holders.... I looked back over my shoulder at Tom's table and thought.... "is this a flash in the pan"...
I moved briskly through as the Home Show was still calling me back. There was a guy named Mike and looked like his dad at the next table. They had lots of Morgans. He had them displayed every which way. A box of merc dimes for a buck a piece wasn't enough to get me to do the "grab bag thing, either"... sheesh. I been around too long to play "go fish" with my money. But the fellas were nice, so it was all good.
The next table up was an old guy. He was wrappin' up to finish for the first day (Saturday.. and I didn't get there til after 3). I was there long enough to get his card, and he took my name. He had several bust halves I am interested in. Several were problematic and I asked: " aren't these dipped or cleaned ?"... He says: "yeah"... Well, I still would like the 1824. I hate toning, but if I am going to put together a 7070, I need as close to AU and up with toning as I can get without dipping or cleaning. Cripes..... He quoted me 250 and I told him to call me when he got back to Albion Nebraska. He's asking me book value... what a deal
Next table was a whole wall. DSS coins and Dave. He is a young , big guy. I can understand the proud feeling one must get to "HAVE a business"... but one must also be cautious about one's boastfulness. Anyway. Not that I was not impressed with a huge inventory and display, but I felt very insulted when he offered me an 1800 heraldic reverse bust dollar for 2500 that looked like someone tried to carve a pentagram into the face . The scratch was completely over the field, across the the head... oh it was sick. I looked at him like : "dude, what's your game ?"... Then he says: "Hey man, without the scratch it's a 3800 dollar coin"... I laughed and said...... Whoa, a 2500 dollar body bag, that's great Dave, no thanks".... I moved on. I missed several tables because I had to get going.
When I got over to Don, I had the pleasure of seeing an 1893 S Morgan... a 1918/7 Buffalo and a nice raw MS63ish shield nickel. He wanted a bit too much for the morgan and buffalo... but I asked him to hold me the nice shield nickel for my 7070. I really wanted to stay and barter. I did learn there is a show in Lincoln next week, so I hope to drive up there, but I got some phone numbers now. I can do a lot over the phone .
Who knows, maybe Rick Snow will read this and PM me for that proof 65 flying eagle. I'll leave ya some profit, EagleEye
In closing, what I saw there impressed me a lot more than what I expected to find there. I located at least three perfect candidates for my 7070. Now my question is : Should I wait for the gold to go down or work on that page first ? and leave the other classics for later ????? I cannot imagine the gold page ever being cheaper to fill than now. I am afraid if I wait on that page, it will never get filled.
There's my report, my findings, my thinking outloud. Hope you enjoyed it. The Nebraska state quarter is due out soon, too.
0
Comments
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.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I lightly considered making a trip to attend this show so I could brag to my friends, family, and colleagues that I actually had a reason to travel to Omaha.
Authorized dealer for PCGS, PCGS Currency, NGC, NCS, PMG, CAC. Member of the PNG, ANA. Member dealer of CoinPlex and CCE/FACTS as "CH5"
I also have begun collecting modern gold commemoratives, singles in the original packaging, but, like the IKES struck out completely.
The Club made a profit on the show. Considering we had to pay $1,000 a day to rent the room that's pretty good. All the dealers said they were very happy with how sales went.
Saturday night we had a banquest with Bill Horton of the ANA. The gloves came off and I have to admit Bill was forthcoming with details and solutions and over all, if they're not empty promises, bode well for the ANA and it's members.
The greatest joy was watching notlogical all weekend. He was in his element. He did his exhibit and is planning on making a thread about the result on his won so I won't spoil his surprise. Rollie and Patti Finner were there (Central States and ANA repectively) and at the Banquet asked Samuel to stand up and said, "Samuel is the youngest person to have ever had an article published in The Centinel. He is a bright, young star in the sky of Numismatics who we trust will continue to grow brighter and brighter as he grows." They spoke of dealers they have met, who know Samuel from these boards, etc. and said how each said "they felt privledged to help him in any way they can". Well, I was about to burst my seams! This proud papa could hardly contain his joy and have to admit a tear welled up in my eyes as I saw him stand up and address the group about his accomplishments and all at 12!!! He was also told that his article was up for an award at the Central States show in Columbus, OH next month. Just wish it wasn't a 800 mile drive or we'd be there in a heartbeat. The next day, person after person who were at the banquet came up to me and said, "We can't tell you how impressed we are with your son". Along with the pride was a good dose of humility realizing the responsibilty I've been blessed with in "training up a child in the way he should go". He picked up a nice 1909 half that he wanted for his 7070 so he did better than I did at finding coins.
Over all, it was a great weekend that both he and I will remember for a long time.
"Live long and prosper"
My "How I Started" columns
Ken
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)