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Thursday at Long Beach
Elcontador
Posts: 7,417 ✭✭✭✭✭
I didn't see any other postings about the show, so if there are any of them, my apologies in advance.
Two things I really liked:
1) I was able to take Metrorail and it is wonderful! If you plan on attending the show & don't have lots of (expensive) stuff to carry, I highly recommend it if a park and ride lot is near your home. Your Blue Line stop is either Transit Mall or First Street. It's a long two blocks to the Convention Center. Allow a little bit of extra time, as the Blue line runs on surface streets in Long Beach. Time from when I got on the train back to when I arrived home was 55 minutes (the park and ride is 3.25 miles from my home). I must admit, though, it was weird for me to be seeing metro signage written in English.
2) Heritage has a computer with public access available to attendees. What I was able to do was when I found a coin I liked & got the dealer's best price, I was able to go on line and look at auction archives for the particular coin. Not only was I able to compare recent auction prices with the price I was quoted, but I was also able to compare images of said auction coins with the coin that interested me.
THANK YOU HERITAGE!!!!!!
The show - There seemed to be much more wholesale than retail activity. In 4 1/2 hours, I was done, which is probably the shortest amount of time I've spent at a Long Beach Show. I didn't see a whole lot of material which I gave a second look.
Now, after finding my nice MS 65 Barber Half after a four year search in February, I noticed quite a bit of high grade Barber material on the floor (including MS 65 Halves). Pinnacle Rarities had a row of MS 65 Barber Halves lined up in their case (some of them looked pretty good from a quick glance), and I saw about 5 other MS 65 Barber Halves that if I was looking for one, I would have looked at them more closely.
There were lots of MS 66 Liberty Nickels (mostly PC) available. While most were type, there were some better dates as well . I have never seen so many at Long Beach before. The problem is that I only liked one of them, which I bought. Almost all of the ones I saw imo had too many contact marks for my liking on the obverse. If someone can PM me and show me how to cut & paste an image w/o the price, I shall do so. As usual, before buying the coin, I got the Mark Feld and Truthteller Numismatic "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval" before buying it; and I can't thank these guys enough. Per the above, I was able to compare the price offered to the Heritage auction archives, which I found to be extremely helpful.
What I found to be disturbing was that while I found a few MS 65 Capped Bust Halves that were attractive, I saw a number of them which I thought were AT coins that have made it into slabs. There was a sameness about their color, toning, etc. which bothered me. PM me if you want more details. If you are considering buying one of these coins, be very careful & I suggest having a second set of eyes look at the coin before reaching for your wallet. The market for these coins is strong, and some people aren't as picky about these things as I am.
I am happy to say that I got my usual scowl / rude comment from Laura when I visited the Legend table. I have only seen her smile / be pleasant one time in all of the years I have attended the Show (when she went on television re the 1913 Liberty Nickel acquisition). So to me, she is the proverbial canary in the coal mine. As long as I get a scowl or rude comment from her, I know that everything is reasonably normal, which I believe to be a good thing.
I ended the day picking up a toned 1919 P Stander from Mark Feld in NGC FH 6, and getting Jay Cline to sign his SLQ book for me. An added bonus was chatting in Portuguese with a Brasileira who was helping out one of the coin dealers. She told me that she has been here five year, and rarely, if ever, get an opportunity to falar Português.
Two things I really liked:
1) I was able to take Metrorail and it is wonderful! If you plan on attending the show & don't have lots of (expensive) stuff to carry, I highly recommend it if a park and ride lot is near your home. Your Blue Line stop is either Transit Mall or First Street. It's a long two blocks to the Convention Center. Allow a little bit of extra time, as the Blue line runs on surface streets in Long Beach. Time from when I got on the train back to when I arrived home was 55 minutes (the park and ride is 3.25 miles from my home). I must admit, though, it was weird for me to be seeing metro signage written in English.
2) Heritage has a computer with public access available to attendees. What I was able to do was when I found a coin I liked & got the dealer's best price, I was able to go on line and look at auction archives for the particular coin. Not only was I able to compare recent auction prices with the price I was quoted, but I was also able to compare images of said auction coins with the coin that interested me.
THANK YOU HERITAGE!!!!!!
The show - There seemed to be much more wholesale than retail activity. In 4 1/2 hours, I was done, which is probably the shortest amount of time I've spent at a Long Beach Show. I didn't see a whole lot of material which I gave a second look.
Now, after finding my nice MS 65 Barber Half after a four year search in February, I noticed quite a bit of high grade Barber material on the floor (including MS 65 Halves). Pinnacle Rarities had a row of MS 65 Barber Halves lined up in their case (some of them looked pretty good from a quick glance), and I saw about 5 other MS 65 Barber Halves that if I was looking for one, I would have looked at them more closely.
There were lots of MS 66 Liberty Nickels (mostly PC) available. While most were type, there were some better dates as well . I have never seen so many at Long Beach before. The problem is that I only liked one of them, which I bought. Almost all of the ones I saw imo had too many contact marks for my liking on the obverse. If someone can PM me and show me how to cut & paste an image w/o the price, I shall do so. As usual, before buying the coin, I got the Mark Feld and Truthteller Numismatic "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval" before buying it; and I can't thank these guys enough. Per the above, I was able to compare the price offered to the Heritage auction archives, which I found to be extremely helpful.
What I found to be disturbing was that while I found a few MS 65 Capped Bust Halves that were attractive, I saw a number of them which I thought were AT coins that have made it into slabs. There was a sameness about their color, toning, etc. which bothered me. PM me if you want more details. If you are considering buying one of these coins, be very careful & I suggest having a second set of eyes look at the coin before reaching for your wallet. The market for these coins is strong, and some people aren't as picky about these things as I am.
I am happy to say that I got my usual scowl / rude comment from Laura when I visited the Legend table. I have only seen her smile / be pleasant one time in all of the years I have attended the Show (when she went on television re the 1913 Liberty Nickel acquisition). So to me, she is the proverbial canary in the coal mine. As long as I get a scowl or rude comment from her, I know that everything is reasonably normal, which I believe to be a good thing.
I ended the day picking up a toned 1919 P Stander from Mark Feld in NGC FH 6, and getting Jay Cline to sign his SLQ book for me. An added bonus was chatting in Portuguese with a Brasileira who was helping out one of the coin dealers. She told me that she has been here five year, and rarely, if ever, get an opportunity to falar Português.
"Vou invadir o Nordeste,
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
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An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
<< <i>I am happy to say that I got my usual scowl / rude comment from Laura when I visited the Legend table. >>
I know the feeling, that was the highlight of the spring ANA show for the Fatman and I!!!
Great report!
Congrats on your new purchases...