My PCGS Las Vegas show report - a bit long
ElmerFusterpuck
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I already had a Vegas trip with family planned during the time of the PCGS show, so good timing indeed. Of course I did some of the usual Vegas gambling and helped the local economy. My wife and I also checked out Toots and the Maytals at the Hard Rock on Friday night. we had a blast there, if you like reggae, they are well worth checking out and have been around since the late 60's.
The coin show itself is what I expected, small and cozy. The attendance seemed light during the time I was there, but the food buffet was outstanding! Hats off to whoever set that up. The welcoming staff was friendly, and I got a nice PCGS shirt at the door. Hopefully it still fits after all the buffets. There were supposed to be 24 dealers there, but I think either some had already packed up and left on the first day, or they never set up. In a small show such as this, empty tables are painfully obvious. I did check out the tables that were occupied and managed to find several coins of interest here and there. Legend was there was some nice coins; only talked to Laura a bit and she was nice and friendly. I did overhear her talking about grading, her favorite subject, but that's to be expected. I also talked with Walt Ackerman, another fine dealer with a nice selection. His staff was pretty cool too. I also like the dealer (name slips me now) from Northeast Numismatics, and he had many a temptation at his table. Of course I had to stop at Larry Shapiro's table and check out his inventory. I do believe he sleeps, eats and drinks coins, he's that much into it, and that's a good thing! Low key and easy to talk to, whether it was me, my dad (who had to check out what this almost 40 year obsession of mine was), or my wife, who has the knack of picking out the prettiest and most expensive coins. She did approve of my purchase of his 1886 toned Morgan, which is in another thread of mine. My dad liked it too, but he leaned slightly more towards an 1881-S purple toner. As a purchasing trip, I left the show pretty happy. I think I would have been haunted by that Morgan if I didn't get it.
A couple of friendly reminders for certain dealers/attendees at the show: don't demean your spouse in front of others at the show, that is low and really doesn't make me want to buy coins from you. Also, no one says you have to be bubbly and open, but don't be a general pr*ck to the non-collectors at the show. I'm not sure if this guy was a dealer or an attendee, but my wife and I got a bad vibe from him. Basic business 101, leave the pr*ckishness at home. I also did hear some dealers hoping there would be more buying going on; judging by the attendance, who could blame them? Maybe they were hoping Kenny Chesney would come by and make some purchases, he was in Vegas for the weekend.
I also did some submissions at the show, including my quarterly freebie for the Secure Plus service. I'll have to wait on those results, since PCGS needs to take the coin back to their secret lab for that grading. Meanwhile, here are the 5 raw coins I submitted, along with the results. I think I did OK overall.
Bought raw as an 1819, now PCGS 1819/8 in XF-40:
Bought raw, my eclipse toned Morgan came back genuine, the only dud submission. I don't think the color is AT, but what do I know:
Bought raw as EAC 45, now PCGS AU-55:
Bought raw as XF, now PCGS XF-45:
Bought raw for $30 (haggled), now PCGS MS-66:
The coin show itself is what I expected, small and cozy. The attendance seemed light during the time I was there, but the food buffet was outstanding! Hats off to whoever set that up. The welcoming staff was friendly, and I got a nice PCGS shirt at the door. Hopefully it still fits after all the buffets. There were supposed to be 24 dealers there, but I think either some had already packed up and left on the first day, or they never set up. In a small show such as this, empty tables are painfully obvious. I did check out the tables that were occupied and managed to find several coins of interest here and there. Legend was there was some nice coins; only talked to Laura a bit and she was nice and friendly. I did overhear her talking about grading, her favorite subject, but that's to be expected. I also talked with Walt Ackerman, another fine dealer with a nice selection. His staff was pretty cool too. I also like the dealer (name slips me now) from Northeast Numismatics, and he had many a temptation at his table. Of course I had to stop at Larry Shapiro's table and check out his inventory. I do believe he sleeps, eats and drinks coins, he's that much into it, and that's a good thing! Low key and easy to talk to, whether it was me, my dad (who had to check out what this almost 40 year obsession of mine was), or my wife, who has the knack of picking out the prettiest and most expensive coins. She did approve of my purchase of his 1886 toned Morgan, which is in another thread of mine. My dad liked it too, but he leaned slightly more towards an 1881-S purple toner. As a purchasing trip, I left the show pretty happy. I think I would have been haunted by that Morgan if I didn't get it.
A couple of friendly reminders for certain dealers/attendees at the show: don't demean your spouse in front of others at the show, that is low and really doesn't make me want to buy coins from you. Also, no one says you have to be bubbly and open, but don't be a general pr*ck to the non-collectors at the show. I'm not sure if this guy was a dealer or an attendee, but my wife and I got a bad vibe from him. Basic business 101, leave the pr*ckishness at home. I also did hear some dealers hoping there would be more buying going on; judging by the attendance, who could blame them? Maybe they were hoping Kenny Chesney would come by and make some purchases, he was in Vegas for the weekend.
I also did some submissions at the show, including my quarterly freebie for the Secure Plus service. I'll have to wait on those results, since PCGS needs to take the coin back to their secret lab for that grading. Meanwhile, here are the 5 raw coins I submitted, along with the results. I think I did OK overall.
Bought raw as an 1819, now PCGS 1819/8 in XF-40:
Bought raw, my eclipse toned Morgan came back genuine, the only dud submission. I don't think the color is AT, but what do I know:
Bought raw as EAC 45, now PCGS AU-55:
Bought raw as XF, now PCGS XF-45:
Bought raw for $30 (haggled), now PCGS MS-66:
10-4,
Erik
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There's no way that Morgan is anything but natural.
Question about the 1831 half - what happened to Pluribus? Filled die?
Yes I believe that is a filled die, seen many a bust half with part of it missing.
And yes, I believe the Morgan is NT, I've seen many a pattern like that, along with the blue color. There is a bit of orange embedded too, it just doesn't look like a blowtorch job, seems like a coin lying on top of a coin pattern. I thought it had a shot at MS-65 too.
10-4,
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you think the toning "prejudice" is just too strong at the moment?
Great job on the walker, brother.
On the grading, I did the $325 show special. I also submitted a PCGS ancient holder MS-65 BN 1852 large cent for the quarterly Secure Plus freebie. I think it has a shot at 66, figured a free try couldn't hurt.
Already mentioned the $30 for the half, here are the others, based on what I remember.
1819 cent - $100
1837 cent - $260, no big deal there, just wanted it slabbed
1882 $1 - $75
1831 half - $120
The 1852 cent above, paid $499 years ago, it's a blazing example.
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It was my pleasure meeting you and your dad.
I hope you enjoy your toner for many years to come !
I love coins,and will be working all day and tomorrow getting ready for Nashville !
POB 854
Temecula CA 92593
310-541-7222 office
310-710-2869 cell
www.LSRarecoins.com
Larry@LSRarecoins.com
PCGS Las Vegas June 24-26
Baltimore July 14-17
Chicago August 11-15
I'm at a loss trying to understand current collectors' obsessions with TPG and justification of the cost - It just seems irrational to me....
Glad you had a good time and found a nice WL half. I agree with the others about the dollar toning. I have some of those I pulled from Treasury bags.
I'm kind of with you, but I figured if I start selling in the future, having some of the key or better condition coins slabbed should at least make it easier. I very rarely submit coins myself; I prefer someone else to do the dirty work. When I'm working on my slabbed Lincoln set, I'll buy the PCGS MS-66 1958 cent for $15 or so, I sure wouldn't submit, even to try for a 67.
I'll buy good raw coins in a heartbeat, but I prefer a slabbed, properly graded example for a little more security, especially for possible resale in the future. That 1943 half submission was for fun, the 66 is just icing on the cake.
Looks like the 1882 dollar needs a review! Even the person I picked it up from shook his head and said that was a nice coin...
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Wow, I'm surprised by the Morgan; looks NT to me.
Not sure how many low pops were made, I'd be curious myself. I thought I'd get 5 out of 5 good submissions too. I'd like to hear from submitters on their results, looks like PQPeace did well.
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