Coin Show Report - GSNA Convention, Somerset, NJ
DaveG
Posts: 3,535 ✭
Today I went to the last day of the three-day Annual Convention of the Garden State Numismatic Association. This show features 55-60 dealers (including book and supply dealers) and runs from Thursday to Saturday.
First off, I am sad to report that book dealer John Burns suffered a truck breakdown, so he wasn't able to attend the show. John's booth is always a high point of any show he attends, so I hope he gets "back on the road" quickly.
In speaking to dealers, they were very happy in general with the show. Thursday was reported to be a busy day, although Friday was a bit quiet. Floor traffic today was pretty busy. (It's interesting - this show never seems to have a lot of floor traffic, especially compared to Parsippany. It is nice being able to get to a dealer's table without having to elbow three people aside, though.) Today, however, almost every table had at least one person in front of it at all times.
Today was more of a social outing for me, so I only took a couple of quick turns around the floor. Very high on the coolness factor was a $5 National Gold Bank Note from the Farmer's National Gold Bank of San Jose owned by Gary Parietti of Long Island Numismatics. These are generally only seen in well-worn condition; I think this may be only the second one I've ever held in my hand - VERY COOL!
I didn't really see that much of interest. I didn't see that much in the way of slabbed Seated Dollars, for example. I checked a couple of dealers who had big binders of Mercuries and Walkers, but came up dry in the VF mint-marked coins of the late-1920s. Once again, I failed to find a nice XF 1946-D Walker or a nice XF 1935-S Mercury Dime.
I did chat with Andy Lustig, who had some knock-your-eyes-out World coins.
I also went to the GSNA meeting at noon. They presented some awards (YN of the Year, Numismatist of the Year and Coin Club of the Year) and gave the membership an update of their situation (the membership rolls are up-to-date after a new membership chair took over files that hadn't been updated for a couple of years; the editor of the journal said she'd be switching to electronic publishing for those who wanted electronic copies, which would save significant printing and mailing costs.)
I always spend some time with the exonumia dealers at the GSNA show, because they always have neat, inexpensive material. My only purchase for today was a copy of "Medals of the United States Mint Issued for Public Sale, 1972 edition" published by the Treasury Dept. For $12, who could resist? If you've seen the various Presidential Inaguaral, Secretary of the Treasury, various honorary medals, etc., you know that they're designed and engraved by many of the same people who designed our coins and many of them are very handsome (and pretty darn inexpensive, too). The book illustrates each medal, identifies the designer and gives a summary biography of the subject.
Just as I was leaving, I stopped by Tom Hyland's table. He was busy fondling a slab, so I lifted an eyebrow at him. He handed me a brand new purchase: a 1795 half dollar in an NGC VF-30 slab!
(It was in an NGC-9 slab, so it had been slabbed between 9/01 and 7/03) A very nice coin! If there was any way I could have justified it, I probably would have grabbed it!
One final note: I stopped by the supply dealer, US Coin Supply, on the way out. I noticed that he had a copy of the first edition of David Lawrence's book on Barber halves, as well as a copy of Lawrence's second editon of his Barber quarter book (both shrinkwrapped). (In case any of you Barber nuts want copies, the quarter book is on his website, but the half book isn't, so you may have to contact him directly if you want it.
All-in-all, a very nice show. (Oh, the food was good, too!)
First off, I am sad to report that book dealer John Burns suffered a truck breakdown, so he wasn't able to attend the show. John's booth is always a high point of any show he attends, so I hope he gets "back on the road" quickly.
In speaking to dealers, they were very happy in general with the show. Thursday was reported to be a busy day, although Friday was a bit quiet. Floor traffic today was pretty busy. (It's interesting - this show never seems to have a lot of floor traffic, especially compared to Parsippany. It is nice being able to get to a dealer's table without having to elbow three people aside, though.) Today, however, almost every table had at least one person in front of it at all times.
Today was more of a social outing for me, so I only took a couple of quick turns around the floor. Very high on the coolness factor was a $5 National Gold Bank Note from the Farmer's National Gold Bank of San Jose owned by Gary Parietti of Long Island Numismatics. These are generally only seen in well-worn condition; I think this may be only the second one I've ever held in my hand - VERY COOL!
I didn't really see that much of interest. I didn't see that much in the way of slabbed Seated Dollars, for example. I checked a couple of dealers who had big binders of Mercuries and Walkers, but came up dry in the VF mint-marked coins of the late-1920s. Once again, I failed to find a nice XF 1946-D Walker or a nice XF 1935-S Mercury Dime.
I did chat with Andy Lustig, who had some knock-your-eyes-out World coins.
I also went to the GSNA meeting at noon. They presented some awards (YN of the Year, Numismatist of the Year and Coin Club of the Year) and gave the membership an update of their situation (the membership rolls are up-to-date after a new membership chair took over files that hadn't been updated for a couple of years; the editor of the journal said she'd be switching to electronic publishing for those who wanted electronic copies, which would save significant printing and mailing costs.)
I always spend some time with the exonumia dealers at the GSNA show, because they always have neat, inexpensive material. My only purchase for today was a copy of "Medals of the United States Mint Issued for Public Sale, 1972 edition" published by the Treasury Dept. For $12, who could resist? If you've seen the various Presidential Inaguaral, Secretary of the Treasury, various honorary medals, etc., you know that they're designed and engraved by many of the same people who designed our coins and many of them are very handsome (and pretty darn inexpensive, too). The book illustrates each medal, identifies the designer and gives a summary biography of the subject.
Just as I was leaving, I stopped by Tom Hyland's table. He was busy fondling a slab, so I lifted an eyebrow at him. He handed me a brand new purchase: a 1795 half dollar in an NGC VF-30 slab!
(It was in an NGC-9 slab, so it had been slabbed between 9/01 and 7/03) A very nice coin! If there was any way I could have justified it, I probably would have grabbed it!One final note: I stopped by the supply dealer, US Coin Supply, on the way out. I noticed that he had a copy of the first edition of David Lawrence's book on Barber halves, as well as a copy of Lawrence's second editon of his Barber quarter book (both shrinkwrapped). (In case any of you Barber nuts want copies, the quarter book is on his website, but the half book isn't, so you may have to contact him directly if you want it.
All-in-all, a very nice show. (Oh, the food was good, too!)
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Comments
I didn't look very hard, because I'm a bit tapped out, but Gary Parietti had some nice no motto gold (including an NGC-55 1843 half eagle that looked really nice) and a scrubbed 1851-O half eagle in an NGC-45 slab.
Someone else had a raw 1856-O eagle that looked XFish in the case, but I didn't take the opportunity to give it a closer examination.
I didn't see the amount of C- and D-mint gold that I have been seeing at Parisppany, though.
Check out the Southern Gold Society
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)
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