My Parsippany Show experience and meeting with TOM B

joebb21

When I walked in around 8:45 am, the show was really starting to pick up. The rows were tough to navigate as people were moving everywhich way around. I saw lots of people asking for gold while silver seemed to be getting some attention as well.

My first purchase of the day was when I spotted a 1945 walker in pcgs ms65 in a doily holder and gladly paid the dealer "bid" for it.

Personally, I didnt find to much that I was really interested in and spent the morning showing off my proof franklin rattler set (which was in Joe Brattoli's case)(and is still the ONLY known complete set)

Before I began putting this set together, I knew I could not compete with some of those great sets out there, so I thought "what is a set that I could put together that would be the #1 out there?" I decided on franklins in proof and with a condition that the holder must say pr65 or above. Needless to say it was incredibly hard to complete. after over 3 years of searching the set was finally completed. That was some months ago and now I am finally ready to part ways with this great and fun set and begin a different set.
The set is a one of a kind set that I dont believe can be duplicated (especially with pr67's). The 1950 proof is an incredibly hard coin to find in a rattler and my guess as to surviving pieces in pr65 and abover in rattlers is probably under 10. (based on alot of research and help from Heritage trying to track some coins down for me.) anyway- it was a pleasure to display it and I hope some of you got to see it....

now back to the show...

I met up with ANKERJ who I was very surprised to see was allowed to go to a coin show on the day of an anniversary. Im sure he must have got something nice for the Mrs. to persuade her...

After a little chatting we heard rumors that master poster TOM B was set up in the smaller room (2 rooms at this show)- so we figured we would go mess with him before we told him who we were.

It only took a second to spot Tom. He really is as ugly as his icon depicts. I snapped a photo of him- but dont look at it if you dont want nightmares...


Ankur and I were pulled by toms green glowing face towards his table and really were surprised to meet the man behind the mask.

He was an absolute pleasure to talk to. A very kind and well dressed man- and he was without any mustared stains on his shirt.
Tom- your a good man. Hope to see you start coming back to parsippany every month.

My closing remarks.

I heard little about the pcgs lawsuit around the floor (though one dealer who does doctor and sets at the parsippany show had his name mentioned a couple of times)
Fresh material didnt seem to really be around to much as some of the big fish that came early didnt seem to find that much to buy.
Carson city morgans seemed to be HOT as I saw ALOT of movement going on with them. (go figure?)
I saw a nice 79cc gsa morgan (original packaging with a card) being offered-(which seemed to be the freshest coin around (for the most part)

Many dealers reported having decent to strong sales (when I left around 12:30)
while-
One particular dealer said he hadnt made a sale all day until 12:26 pm when I walked up and bought this coin from him.




-Hope you all enjoyed and may the Fonz be with you...

Walkerguy21D

Good report - thanks for sharing. Congrats on finding a 'road less traveled' and completing the journey.
The show was already busy at 8:45 am? You guys must start your shows early up there in the NE!
I hope I get to meet the venerable TomB some day as well.

cladking

I haven't had the p[leasure of meeting TomB but am hardly surprised
to learn he's first class as well as first rate.

AnkurJ

I arrived at the show a little late today, rougly around 10am. There was still a decent amount of floor traffic at that time. I went to my favorite dealer and friend Larry Greenstone's table. While looking over his Bust Halves, I asked him where Tom B's table was. He informed me it was in the smaller room. After agreeing to trade Larry one of my duplicate Bust Halves, and buying one I needed, I was off to Tom's table.

As I walked into the other room, I scanned it for an unfamiliar face. BINGO! That must be Tom B. I looked over his coins, and spent a lot of time chatting with him. We spoke about some of the coins he had in his case, including a Capped Bust Quarter that was once owned by Chad. He had many people interested in it, but it was simply not for sale. We talked about Chad and how he had some difficult times, but was a pleasure to see on the board. I asked Tom where his scary icon came from and why he choose it. He told me that years ago in the late 90s, when the PCGS boards had just started, there were only a few icons that one could choose from. He went with that one, and decided to keep it even though it is pretty scary. We talked about problems coins and why I have bought some of them. It was great to see him after being on the boards for so many years, and I hope he will continue to do the Parsippany show. Other board members I met were the Fonz, Seaeaglecoins, Kuishu1, and of course Tom B.

As I walked through the room after picking up an 1810 bust half, and a few other odds and ends, I was in the mood for some GOLD. Old Gold specifically, or a nice mid grade $3 indian. I found a few items, but the mojority were priced very strong. I saw an 1854 $3 in AU 50 for $1450, and another 1854 in AU 58 for $1500! I spoke to a dealer friend regarding prices and how some coins are much cheaper on Heritage. And the obvious conclusion was....many dealers BUY from Heritage. Most dealers seemed to do well, but others said it was their worst show in a while. Early coinage was hard to find, but was overpriced in most cases.

All in all it was an enjoyable show except for one thing....THE KITCHEN WAS SHUT DOWN! Apparently the health board shut down many places in the area. So the fried good food that is at the show was absent today unfortunately.

Ankur

CommemDude

OMG, had I known TomB was going to be there I would have gotten myself together and headed over. Nice reports, thanks !

123cents

Good report. Enjoyed reading it.

Walkerguy21D

Good supplemental report, Ankur - glad to hear you had a good show also.
But isn't there at least one oxymoron in this phrase?


<< <i>THE KITCHEN WAS SHUT DOWN! Apparently the health board shut down many places in the area. So the fried good food that is at the show was absent today >>

mustanggt

Thanks for posting the report..

AnkurJ

Im wondering, is there a show next month? It lands on July 4th...


As for the kitchen. The show is held at a PAL youth center, so there are many events and shows. I was told the kitchen was shut down because the kitchen was not scrubbed down every day. When the food is fried, I think its pretty safe...

SeaEagleCoins

Yes.. there will be a show on the 4th... hopefully everyone will wait until AFTER the show for any fireworks


As for the food at the show... nice guys running the snack bar BUT it is no great loss that they were not serving up any food... we are all a bit healthier for it (of course, it was difficult for the dealers to keep up with their "special" fashion accessories)