CICF 2006 -- Festivities and such
MacCrimmon
Posts: 7,058 ✭✭✭
As Josh alluded to in the "CHICAGO" thread, it was much more sparse on Thursday during the professional preview day than in past years. From my perspective there was little to improve the Victorian coffers even if I was flush, and I'm not since Uncle Sam is going to jab some daggers into me for April 15th.......
Anyway, poor Dimitri was not only flight delayed but quite knackered after an 18 hour flight from Athens and was unable to make the 'preview' from 2-6PM. But, knowing what delighted the lad I picked out some sweet cherries from Herr Haberling for Dimitri to view later (Friday as it turned out). Hopefully D. was pleased with his additions to his type set. The standout was and will be a 1909 5 Franc gem with exquisite toning. I believe he submitted it to PCGS at the show for grading. Hopefully we'll also see TrueView pics soon. Dimitri can provide any further details on treasure Swiss and otherwise. Ron Guth also mentioned that PCGS was working on substantial improvements to the World 'turnaround times'......Go Guth.
Another highlight was viewing the whole denomination run of Cyprus piastres in proof which Dimitri had recently purchased via Heritage.....WOW!!!
Those Cyprus beauts were delivered courtesy of 3Mark via a quite circuitous route...but, safe and sound at last.
Thursday evening saw the Darkside crew gathering next door to the show at Gibson's Steakhouse for some surf and turf......yum. Originally, 3Mark, Preussen, Dimitri, Phil and Matt (a couple of young German dealers), MrEureka, Ron Guth, and myself were going to dine together, but the SRO crowd proved nearly impossible to accomodate a table that large, so we split. I dined with 3Mark, Preussen, Phil, and Dimitri who finally dragged in with major jet-lag at 7:20PM (3:20AM Athens time)........brave lad!!! The meal was marvelous: We started with about 2 pounds of lobster and a cup of warm, drizzly butter
, loads of shrimp, tuna, red peppers and avocados on another plate. The crew pretty much ordered filets all around with mashed taters and garlic mashed for me . . . We laughed at the young German lad, Phil, who had ordered a baked potato which was the size of an NFL football.....he ate pretty much the whole thing. No desserts, but 3Mark in the style of a true Southern Gentleman grabbed the check and treated his tablemates 
(we did manage to scrape up a tip to let him off that hook. 
)
Friday saw the temps plummeting and the wind howling at 30+ mph, but alas we were safely ensconsed in the bourse. Not much in the way of collectors even showed on Friday; just the hard-core types buying and selling and looking for a few cherries here and there. I did find a decent enough little group of 1928 Eire bronzes from Del Parker. The two farthings he had in flips weren't such a good match to the 1d, and 1/2d. I had picked, so he let me pick through 3 near complete date-run Danscos........and, one of them was very sweet with overflowing iridescence.....
NEN pretty much had the only big concentration of British milled at the show. James showed me a sweet proof 1887 £5, but alas, he finds me poor, even with a smattering of Swiss sales and the like.
We also met Conder101 on Friday in between his runs down to the various seminars.
Saturday met with the arrival of the usual collectors and "gift" crowds buying mint set products and the like. My perception was that the show was feast or famine for most dealers. They either had the material being sought out, or didn't. I was a bit miffed at a certain Russian dealers attitude about some Martin Luther medals. One, with sweet toning caught my eye, but the jerk wouldn't even show it to me.....JERK!!!! He claimed he was only selling the the set. I finally squeezed the price out of him.....$4000; $3000, if I spoke Russian, da? 3Mark and Preussen confirmed he was indeed Jerkova (that's my Scots-Rus for JERK ) material......you can tell I really liked the guy, eh? Also, spoke to MM for about 5 minutes with RC in tow.
2:15PM brought a frantic call from my lovely wife that the Master BR closet organizer had begun to collapse . . . So, I departed in haste to help the young lasses impending doom . . . . I can report that the spring-loaded rod is now splinted with two chunks of 3/4" Al and a pait of 1/4 - 2" machine bolts.......all is well....Good Night....sleep well....cheers, Mac
Anyway, poor Dimitri was not only flight delayed but quite knackered after an 18 hour flight from Athens and was unable to make the 'preview' from 2-6PM. But, knowing what delighted the lad I picked out some sweet cherries from Herr Haberling for Dimitri to view later (Friday as it turned out). Hopefully D. was pleased with his additions to his type set. The standout was and will be a 1909 5 Franc gem with exquisite toning. I believe he submitted it to PCGS at the show for grading. Hopefully we'll also see TrueView pics soon. Dimitri can provide any further details on treasure Swiss and otherwise. Ron Guth also mentioned that PCGS was working on substantial improvements to the World 'turnaround times'......Go Guth.
Another highlight was viewing the whole denomination run of Cyprus piastres in proof which Dimitri had recently purchased via Heritage.....WOW!!!
Those Cyprus beauts were delivered courtesy of 3Mark via a quite circuitous route...but, safe and sound at last.Thursday evening saw the Darkside crew gathering next door to the show at Gibson's Steakhouse for some surf and turf......yum. Originally, 3Mark, Preussen, Dimitri, Phil and Matt (a couple of young German dealers), MrEureka, Ron Guth, and myself were going to dine together, but the SRO crowd proved nearly impossible to accomodate a table that large, so we split. I dined with 3Mark, Preussen, Phil, and Dimitri who finally dragged in with major jet-lag at 7:20PM (3:20AM Athens time)........brave lad!!! The meal was marvelous: We started with about 2 pounds of lobster and a cup of warm, drizzly butter
, loads of shrimp, tuna, red peppers and avocados on another plate. The crew pretty much ordered filets all around with mashed taters and garlic mashed for me . . . We laughed at the young German lad, Phil, who had ordered a baked potato which was the size of an NFL football.....he ate pretty much the whole thing. No desserts, but 3Mark in the style of a true Southern Gentleman grabbed the check and treated his tablemates (we did manage to scrape up a tip to let him off that hook. )Friday saw the temps plummeting and the wind howling at 30+ mph, but alas we were safely ensconsed in the bourse. Not much in the way of collectors even showed on Friday; just the hard-core types buying and selling and looking for a few cherries here and there. I did find a decent enough little group of 1928 Eire bronzes from Del Parker. The two farthings he had in flips weren't such a good match to the 1d, and 1/2d. I had picked, so he let me pick through 3 near complete date-run Danscos........and, one of them was very sweet with overflowing iridescence.....
NEN pretty much had the only big concentration of British milled at the show. James showed me a sweet proof 1887 £5, but alas, he finds me poor, even with a smattering of Swiss sales and the like.
We also met Conder101 on Friday in between his runs down to the various seminars.
Saturday met with the arrival of the usual collectors and "gift" crowds buying mint set products and the like. My perception was that the show was feast or famine for most dealers. They either had the material being sought out, or didn't. I was a bit miffed at a certain Russian dealers attitude about some Martin Luther medals. One, with sweet toning caught my eye, but the jerk wouldn't even show it to me.....JERK!!!! He claimed he was only selling the the set. I finally squeezed the price out of him.....$4000; $3000, if I spoke Russian, da? 3Mark and Preussen confirmed he was indeed Jerkova (that's my Scots-Rus for JERK ) material......you can tell I really liked the guy, eh? Also, spoke to MM for about 5 minutes with RC in tow.
2:15PM brought a frantic call from my lovely wife that the Master BR closet organizer had begun to collapse . . .
So, I departed in haste to help the young lasses impending doom . . . . I can report that the spring-loaded rod is now splinted with two chunks of 3/4" Al and a pait of 1/4 - 2" machine bolts.......all is well....Good Night....sleep well....cheers, Mac0
Comments
http://www.victoriancent.com
Being part of that quite circuitous route I can attest to Dimitri's Cypris coins being quite exquisite.
09/07/2006
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Interesting report! Sounds like average coins but great camaraderie
It sounds to me that attendence wasn't all that great.
1/2 Cents
U.S. Revenue Stamps
An unforgettable experience, we'll soon have pictures (hopefully) of some of the coins I picked ,by Phil and PCGS' TrueView service to share.
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DPOTD 3
I guess the Russian dealers are not getting any bonus awards for customer service. A few good years and it all goes to their heads.......
<< <i>What can I add? It was a very nice show, I got some great coins and met some of the nicest members of these boards, I wish I could have met more, I only missed Marty and the rubber chicken on Saturday. Special thanks to Josh (civitas) for helping me to crack out two slabs prior to a massive PCGS submission {the NGC was tough, the Anacs broke within seconds
An unforgettable experience, we'll soon have pictures (hopefully) of some of the coins I picked ,by Phil and PCGS' TrueView service to share.
I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE "UNVEILING"!!!
Inspired by Udo and his great report I might as well add a few comments.
Thursday was indeed a difficult day for me to attend, my (transatlantic) flight was delayed and I was jetlagged,
so I opted for a nice movie in the hotel's channel instead, I think it was Cache,
or the other one with Joaquin Phoenix playing Johny Cash, I saw a lot of movies while in the US.
Thursday night and the pre-planned dinner at Gibson's, my, you Americans eat a lot.
I could hardly finish my plate and would go now and again outside for a smoke,
smokers seem to be a minority deprived of all its rights in the US,
I'm not sure I agree with all this antismoking campaign.
If a person wants to keep being healthy, exercise and good, modest amounts of healthy food are much more important factors,
if you're going to sit on your butt all afternoon eating junk and watching reality shows on tv
you're in no position to give me healthy living lessons, generally speaking.I'm free to pollute my lungs as I wish.
Back to Gibson's which proved to be the sole night I went out with the "boys", I had a guest to entertain too.
A very nice spot, where I made the first introductions with the members, I knew who Larry was,
we had spoken on the phone before, but did not realize who Mac was until he gave me a couple of Swiss modern commems
I was looking for, that's how secretive he is.
Preussen ,another very knowledgeable and very laidback guy was at our table too,
along with Philip, one of two 30 years old Germans who became coin dealers at a very early age,
almost converting their hobby to a full time job, but with an impressive display of coins
and apparently each year they are driving across the US for a month visiting dealers and shows,
preferrably with girlfriends they pick up on site.
Friday was my first day at the show, I arrived early and fresh.
I introduced myself to Karl and Joanne Stephens but soon that Swiss dealer caught my attention
and went to spend time with him instead, useful time as it proved.
Mac showed up just when I had made my final choices, his ok was an encouragement to conclude the deal.
Then I visited Josh's table, I knew Josh from photos, I only bought a minor Egyptian coin
but was very glad to meet him and his partner. Having bought this good Swiss stuff,
my eye fell on a PCGS MS66 OGH 1922 10 francs, so I asked the little boy behind the table counter ,
what was the best price he could do for me. Turns out the little boy was James Ricks from Northeast Numismatics.
I thought that his table was impressive, all slabbed, but I could have never guessed that James looked and was so young.
So I introduced myself too and proceeded to pay the price for the Swiss coin as well as the difference
for a final Cyprus proof that I had bought from their site.
Another impressive table was Andy Lustig's.
I saw Andy the first night, and he finally managed to haunt my dreams with an early colorful Swiss specimen franc
that I'm in the middle of buying, it is just changing holders.
Andy's stuff is really impressive, the kind of table you just want to buy everything,
especially if you like high grade stuff from everywhere like me.
I had no illusions about finding any Greek stuff and the only one worth mentioning was a superb phoenix by those German boys,
but I already have one in similar condition, they were as nice and willing to even consign it to me,
this was the kind of trust Larry had managed to inspire through everybody,
but due to a high number of coins for sale I had to decline the generous offer.
But let's not forget, this was my first contact with the 4 Cyprus proof silver coins I had won from Heritage
and three more coppers, so it was the same experience, all new, ultra rare stuff that needs proffessional imaging to do them justice.
Larry brought these for me, sent to him by cosmic, him and Preussen found Mac and myself
in the middle of our secret deal nearby that morning.
I spent Friday evening at the bar with Larry drinking Famous Grouse, (and he was drinking Jameson's),
and cointalking with anybody who approached us.
When I was drunk enough, I went back to my hotel and guest.
Somehow that day I had managed to finish all my prearranged business with everybody ,
only submissions were missing.Let's not forget to mention a couple of freebies I got from Larry,
a 1/2 mark toned NGC MS68 and a German East African paisa full red from an original roll,
they sit proudly next to me as I type this along with a few others.Right then after leaving the bar I saw Conder,
always with nice stories to talk about
and Preussen with Mac joined us too, a great excuse for me to not walk back to the hotel, I skipped my exercise that day.
Saturday was my final day and I basically devoted it in submitting coins to PCGS through Ron Guth
who apparently had spent the previous night at Gibson's with Larry
but I was not able to tell how much alcohol they had consumed by looking at Ron,
even if Larry looked a bit more tired than usual,slightly recovering from a hangover,very quite and next to me.
The usual suspects were there too. I was impressed at how Ron ,
the president of PCGS,was able to handle pretty much everything, from the most humble tasks
to giving instructions and free books to newbies, you name it, he's our man.
Shame that PCGS did not grade on site, still better than the other TPGs who didn't even bother to set up.
I missed Marty while I was submitting , apparently he was seen cracking a slab by simply throwing it on the pavement with hatred,
I at least went to Josh and we used more scientific material.
All and all an excellent show, nice coins and people all around.
On Sunday morning I left to NY where I spent 5 care-free days,
I also got to talk to Don and Greg on the phone, this was undoubtedly my best trip in the past 6-7 years, I can't wait to repeat it.
edited to make text fit small screens
myEbay
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Wish I was there too!