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Bay State Coin Show Report for Friday, March 30
airplanenut
Posts: 21,910 ✭✭✭✭✭
I arrived at Friday's show in Boston around 5:15PM on Thursday... oh, wait, I should rewind a bit. The Bay State show began on Thursday for me. TomB took the train into Boston, and I met up with him around 4:45PM. Tom was the first board member I ever met, and, in 2001, the person who really encouraged me to attend my first show--a local one--where he set up. He began to show me the ins and outs of coin shows, and has showed me lots of fantastic pieces, helping to train my eye. I owe Tom a lot for where I am today, and since he's a really nice guy all-around, enjoy getting together to talk. Since we both like hockey, he came in Thursday to go to the Bruins vs. Penguins game with me. Since we had time to kill (games start at 7), we decided to walk to the game... but, not in a line of any sort. In fact, I really didn't know where we were going or how we'd get there, but the weather was fantastic, so we just talked as we walked all over Boston, including past the show, so Tom knew the route to walk on Friday. Luckily, my sense of direction won out, and we arrived right around when I wanted to, having discovered numerous parts of Boston I'd never before visited.
During the walk and at the game, Tom and I talked about a whole host of issues regarding anything and everything, and suffice it to say, it was a really, really enjoyable day. Since I had been doing some terribly boring manual labor for the 6 hours before I left to meet up with Tom, and since it's been a high-pressure Spring Break, it was nice to really get away from school and enjoy the company. Anyhoo, the Bruins lost (that was actually bad, since the Penguins are neck-and-neck with our team, the NJ Devils, for 1st place in their division), but the game was good, physical, and the goals were--except for one--well earned. Anyhoo, when the game was over, we figured out when Tom would get to the show, and we were on our ways home (though my way home was much, much shorter
)
I got to the show 10 minutes before it opened, giving me a chance to pay the admission ($6) and hang up my coat. I walked the show about half-way through before I stopped to talk with Cape for a while, as well as John Agre (ColonialCoinUnion) who was at his table. after a long chat, I went along to see the rest of the show. On my first pass though, I picked up few, if any pieces to look at... I just didn't really see much worth a second look. I figured that on my second pass through the show, I'd see more things and then go ahead and make some purchases. For the show, I was on the lookout specifically for a nice NJ copper cent, as well as toned coins and anything else that just looked really, really nice.
On my second pass, though, again I really couldn't find anything. I looked at a few pieces--some I even prayed would be nice (ok, I didn't pray for it) just so I could spend some money as I haven't bought much in a while (one piece in a few months)--but I just couldn't come to spend any money... there just wasn't anything to spend it on. Through the course of my 5 hours at the show, I only bought two NGC PF66CAM Accented Hair Kennedy halves, which were in non-attributed holders. They were just to flip, so there are no new additions to the collection.
If you've never been to Bay State before, it's divided into a many rooms--two large and many others small--which makes navigation quite annoying at times. At this show, though, it never seemed really busy, as it has in previous shows, and getting through the narrow aisles wasn't difficult. I enjoyed my time with fellow board members, but the consensus was the show was a really slow show for both dealers and collectors. Nice coins were difficult to find (few impressive type pieces, almost no original gold), and many coins seemed familiar from the past show in October. Perhaps some dealers need to lower some prices to make the sale and get new inventory. Also, a few copper dealers weren't there, which made my finding an NJ cent harder (and, of course, I didn't get one). So, to sum it up, the show was fun for the company and the time away from campus, but really not impressive for the coins. It turned out Tom wasn't able to make it, and I told him that he really didn't miss much--and I wasn't lying to make him feel better.
Jeremy
During the walk and at the game, Tom and I talked about a whole host of issues regarding anything and everything, and suffice it to say, it was a really, really enjoyable day. Since I had been doing some terribly boring manual labor for the 6 hours before I left to meet up with Tom, and since it's been a high-pressure Spring Break, it was nice to really get away from school and enjoy the company. Anyhoo, the Bruins lost (that was actually bad, since the Penguins are neck-and-neck with our team, the NJ Devils, for 1st place in their division), but the game was good, physical, and the goals were--except for one--well earned. Anyhoo, when the game was over, we figured out when Tom would get to the show, and we were on our ways home (though my way home was much, much shorter
)I got to the show 10 minutes before it opened, giving me a chance to pay the admission ($6) and hang up my coat. I walked the show about half-way through before I stopped to talk with Cape for a while, as well as John Agre (ColonialCoinUnion) who was at his table. after a long chat, I went along to see the rest of the show. On my first pass though, I picked up few, if any pieces to look at... I just didn't really see much worth a second look. I figured that on my second pass through the show, I'd see more things and then go ahead and make some purchases. For the show, I was on the lookout specifically for a nice NJ copper cent, as well as toned coins and anything else that just looked really, really nice.
On my second pass, though, again I really couldn't find anything. I looked at a few pieces--some I even prayed would be nice (ok, I didn't pray for it) just so I could spend some money as I haven't bought much in a while (one piece in a few months)--but I just couldn't come to spend any money... there just wasn't anything to spend it on. Through the course of my 5 hours at the show, I only bought two NGC PF66CAM Accented Hair Kennedy halves, which were in non-attributed holders. They were just to flip, so there are no new additions to the collection.
If you've never been to Bay State before, it's divided into a many rooms--two large and many others small--which makes navigation quite annoying at times. At this show, though, it never seemed really busy, as it has in previous shows, and getting through the narrow aisles wasn't difficult. I enjoyed my time with fellow board members, but the consensus was the show was a really slow show for both dealers and collectors. Nice coins were difficult to find (few impressive type pieces, almost no original gold), and many coins seemed familiar from the past show in October. Perhaps some dealers need to lower some prices to make the sale and get new inventory. Also, a few copper dealers weren't there, which made my finding an NJ cent harder (and, of course, I didn't get one). So, to sum it up, the show was fun for the company and the time away from campus, but really not impressive for the coins. It turned out Tom wasn't able to make it, and I told him that he really didn't miss much--and I wasn't lying to make him feel better.
Jeremy
JK Coin Photography - eBay Consignments | High Quality Photos | LOW Prices | 20% of Consignment Proceeds Go to Pancreatic Cancer Research
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I had to leave the show a little bit earlier than planned on Friday. I found out that my flight out of Boston was delayed and I had to rush to the airport to catch an earlier flight in order to be able to make it to a connecting flight.
Authorized dealer for PCGS, PCGS Currency, NGC, NCS, PMG, CAC. Member of the PNG, ANA. Member dealer of CoinPlex and CCE/FACTS as "CH5"