CNA Report
coinkat
Posts: 23,443 ✭✭✭✭✭
Well, I made it there late Friday and then spent about 4 1/2 hrs Saturday on the Bourse. I enjoyed myself... I had the chance to look at many coins... raw and slabbed. I really did not take a good look at copper, but from the quick glances, there was some excellent copper available on the floor. Attending a show like this helped me appreciate rarity and originality and alittle more. There were strong prices for quality. I looked mostly at dollars... found afew but nothing that special. There were some world dealers... saw a terrific GB Matte Proof 1902 Crown. I already had one and I doubt this one would be an upgrade but it was priced at about 250 which I thought was a bargain. I saw a GB 1687 Crown... graded AU58 by PCGS. Unfortunately, I missed fellow forum members... I will likely add more later.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
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~Roman
8 Reales Madness Collection
Nice pickups
I went early and presented my book as part of the educational seminar on Wednesday and Thursday. 15 speakers on wide range of Canadian numismatic topics. Very good stuff.
The bourse was about like normal for a CNA convention, about 60 or 70 tables of mostly Canadian with a little world mixed in. I bought a couple of nice Canadian pieces on the floor and one in the auction.
The auction was strange. For the first time in my recent memory, the auction was held while the bourse was open. Instead of 40 or 50 live bidders, there were about 10. In the end it did not matter much, since the auction firm set very high starting prices for many of the lots. A lot of stuff did not sell.
In any case, I always have a great time at this show. I recommend it for anybody interested in the greyside.
Pics on the buys later.
Rob
http://www.victoriancent.com
Thursday started early. Arrived at the convention at 8am to attend the education symposium. Michael Walsh’s talk on weak strikes and their affects on grading was enlightening. Certain series are known for weak strikes such as all Edward VII and George VI silver, all George V + VI nickels, along with specific dates such as 1871 50c, most of the Newfie dimes, the 1921 50c, and a few more. BOSOX (Rob) presented his research on the 1858 large cent. He discussed how many dies the Royal Mint made for obv + rev for both the 1858 +1859 cents and using his hoard as a sample calculated how many dies were actually used for the 1858 issue. Using statistics models and probability functions, along with mint records, Rob calculated the actual mintages for both the 1858 and 1859. You’ll have to read his book for the details, let’s just say that there are more 1858s than reported in price guides and that the total issue of Provincial cents is slightly less than the 10 million. Next up was Paul Berry with a presentation on the Double Tournois (a French copper about the size of a nickel) in Canada. Paul is the curator of the National Money collection in Ottawa. Off to lunch and back for 5 more lectures. One was on the 8 Real in the New World, specifically on how various countries in Central and South America counter stamped each others issues in an effort to retain them in country and to revalue them. I think Roman would have loved this talk. By 5 pm we decided to head for Stanley’s for drinks.
Met up with BOSOX, Bret Evans editor of CCN, Daryl Atchinson editor of the upcoming release of The Canadian Numismatic Bibliography, Greg Ingram author of several token books, a few CCRS guys, and a couple of dealers. Had a great time discussing coins, books, the hobby, and sharing stories and adventures. It was after dark when the party broke up.
Friday: Hit the bourse at 9:30ish. Richard Stockley, Bob Armstrong, and a couple of others already had people 3 and 4 deep waiting to look at the inventory. I headed to B&W’s table, Willard has a rather large inventory of preconfederation tokens – 8 came home with me. Ended up browsing everyone’s inventory and bought a total of 18 tokens. Off for a quick bite for lunch then down to the Auction part 1. I was too late for the tokens but got to watch the few world coin lots go off. Chile 1877 Peso PCGS MS64 sold to an eBay bidder for about $90, a Guatemala 1896/5 Peso PCGS MS62 also went to eBay for about $65, a GB 1804 BOE $ sold for $400, Mexico 8R 1895 PCGS MS64 went to eBay at around $125. Left when the USA lots came up. Back to the bourse where I found a nice looking 1921 small cent in an ICCS 60 holder “trace red” for less than $50. Finally got to go thru Bob Armstrong’s stuff. Most of the “good” stuff was gone but I did get 4 Geo VI silvers that should grade MS63-64 for my sets. Then off to the Newfoundland Enthusiasts meeting where Geoff Bell spoke of his adventures as an appraiser on the Canadian Road Show. Great stories and lots of laughs. There was some talk of trying to get the 2009 CNA to Newfoundland in support of the 60th anniv of joining the Confederation. I got to show off my 1880 Newfie $2 gold from the Remick sale. The meeting broke a bit early so we could go over to the Hilton for the RCM reception. Why this was held two blocks away from the convention beats me! The RCM put on a neat video presentation of the new issues coming out and we were each given a new 2007 Paralympics quarter that was being released to the public on Saturday. After the reception a bunch of us stopped at The Outback for steaks – eh, mate!
Saturday: Got there just in time to attend the CNA members general meeting and awards ceremony. Then off to the CATC (tokens) meeting. Again lots of discussion, some neat stories, some new finds shown. Then back down stairs for the 2nd session of the auction. I won 4 lots: 2 PCGS MS66 dimes (1954 + 1959), a 1928 CCCS MS63 25c, and a ICCS 1871 VF20 half $. Some notable lots: 1921 5c PCGS VF25 + AU53 did not sell while the PCGS MS65 example sold to a floor bidder for ~$46K, the 1875H 10c PCGS MS64 did not sell, The 1921 50c ICCS MS65 did not sell at $165K (est. was $250K). In fact about 75% of the lots went to the “mail / book”, i.e. no sale. The remaining lots were evenly split between eBay and a few dealers. My take: the reserves were too high and the quality of the material was not right. I looked at approx 100 of the 2300 lots prior to the auction and decided to bid on only 16 of them. Of the 16, 7 had opening bids (reserves) higher than I was willing to pay. I’ll let Rob discuss the copper. Anyway as the $’s came up for auction the time was nearly 7 pm and I was getting a headache. So back to the hotel for some aspirin and finally some sleep.
Up early Sunday feeling better. No one in the office at 7am for check out! There’s a note taped on the door “please leave key in room for early checkout”. Crossed back into USA around 8 am and settled in for the long drive.
Overall a great show for me. Met some old friends, made some new ones, missed a few, lots of stories and laughs, some very cool coins, medals and tokens. Sorry I missed Roman and coinkat. Although I was there for 3 days, I spent only a few hours on the bourse. My favorite parts were the education symposium and the comraderie at the gatherings. Can hardly wait for 2008 in Ottawa!
ps: I’ll post some pix a little later on.
Life member #369 of the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association
Member of Canadian Association of Token Collectors
Collector of:
Canadian coins and pre-confederation tokens
Darkside proof/mint sets dated 1960
My Ebay
Gene - sounds like there was way more to this show than just the auction / dealer tables. I think I'll dedicate more time to it next year and experience the whole thing.
IloiloKano - thank you for the compliment. I really like this piece as well and would love to know the conditions in which it acquired such color.
8 Reales Madness Collection
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.