PAN show report
kranky
Posts: 8,709 ✭✭✭
PAN is the Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists, and it was the biannual state show in Pittsburgh this weekend. I was helping PTVETTER at his table again. This time was the first show that was Thursday-Saturday instead of Friday-Sunday and that was a succesful change. Thursday was a 1PM start. We had a 98% sold-out bourse even though the ANA ran their show against us and we missed seeing a few of our favorite dealers due to that. I think overall attendance matched last year's, and although there was only one full weekend day it seemed the show on Saturday drew attendance that would have been the typical Saturday and Sunday combined attendance. Most dealers stayed until well after lunch Saturday so the bourse was full almost the entire show.
Was great to see and catch up with board members beartracks42, papabear, vam44 and jfoot13, good guys all. Also faithful local show attenders and board lurkers Bob and Judy were in attendance as well.
The dive in PMs put a chill on the gold and 90% silver transactions. My impression was that dealer buying prices were set in anticipation of further declines and some dealers who would typically have a lot of gold did not bring it - perhaps choosing to hold in hope of a rise later. Buy-sell spreads were quite large in my view. But overall, judging by dealer temperament, the show was successful with a nice mix of wholesale and retail business. Can't really speak further to what's hot/what's not but I heard from modern dealers, classic dealers, foreign dealers and specialist dealers who all said they had a great show.
Must give special credit to FunwithMPL who put his complete set of matte proof Lincolns on display. Oh, when I say "complete", I mean complete... with every die variety represented. I can't imagine how long it would take to do something like that. And it wasn't just a simple display, as die diagnostics of each one were shown via enlarged photographs, and accompanying historical information. It was world-class and I am very glad to have seen it. Not only that, but FunwithMPL is just a nice guy to chat with and I really respect his passion for MPLs. I wonder how many people who saw it realized how special such a set is.
One bit of drama was some out-of-town "hotel buyers" (who had run multipage ads in the paper this week) were in the hotel directly next to the show venue, and had people along the road holding "COIN BUYERS/GOLD BUYERS" signs pointing to the hotel, in an attempt to divert showgoers who might have been confused. I can only hope that didn't happen.
Without question the most popular item the public brought in to sell was state quarter rolls. A close second was Sacagawea dollars. Don't know if they paid a premium to obtain them, but I hope not.
And some anecdotes from 3 days at the show...
- Customer wants to look at GSA dollars. Examines at least two dozen. When finished, says "Well, I forgot to bring my reference book so...", puts down the last one, and leaves the table. It got me thinking about the wide range of organization shown by collectors at shows. It has nothing to do with the size of the budget. I saw a number of people pawing through bins of loose 2x2s priced under $1/each using a checklist or well-marked reference book. Other times I'd see someone looking at a 4-figure coin trying to remember if that was one they needed, with no reference material at all.
- A neighboring dealer is directing a customer to another dealer who would be a better fit for the coins the customer is trying to sell. He points all the way across the show floor and says, "You see that guy over there with the gray hair?" Yeah, that narrowed it down!
- Customer holds up coin and asks the dealer, "Is this an AU?" Dealer: "Some would call it that."
- At one point I saw a showgoer grab one of the security guards and ask him to come with him to the men's room. I wasn't close enough to hear the whole conversation but my thought was maybe someone was ill. I found out later what happened. Someone left a small valise of coins in the men's room and instead of just walking off with it, the showgoer wanted the security guard to handle it. It got back to the owner via a page over the show floor. I love integrity like that.
- A customer came up to me and asked for some help. Her husband asked her to go to the show and buy a couple $20 gold coins. From a brief conversation, it was clear she didn't have any idea what they should cost or how to go about it. I asked for some more information to get a better idea and learned she didn't care about dates but was to get MS65 St. Gaudens (she showed me a photo of one). Pat and I helped her with some guidance on TPGs, a price target, and what terminology to use so she didn't sound so "innocent". After a while she stopped back with her purchases (she did fine) and thanked us for the help. I hate to think what could have happened if she had held out her photo of a St. Gaudens and said "I want to buy two of these with 65 grades." I don't know of any unethical dealers at PAN but on the other hand I would hate to see someone pay $1000 more than necessary just because of being uneducated. It was nice that she came back to express appreciation for the guidance.
One more note - a person came in with a complete set of American Arts gold in OGP to sell and was getting some (IMHO) lowball offers and the person chose not to sell. I know they can be hard to move but 10% back of spot? I said I would try to find out where someone could get a better offer, so if any of you have any ideas please let me know either here in the thread or via PM.
Overall, it was a great 3 days as usual.
Was great to see and catch up with board members beartracks42, papabear, vam44 and jfoot13, good guys all. Also faithful local show attenders and board lurkers Bob and Judy were in attendance as well.
The dive in PMs put a chill on the gold and 90% silver transactions. My impression was that dealer buying prices were set in anticipation of further declines and some dealers who would typically have a lot of gold did not bring it - perhaps choosing to hold in hope of a rise later. Buy-sell spreads were quite large in my view. But overall, judging by dealer temperament, the show was successful with a nice mix of wholesale and retail business. Can't really speak further to what's hot/what's not but I heard from modern dealers, classic dealers, foreign dealers and specialist dealers who all said they had a great show.
Must give special credit to FunwithMPL who put his complete set of matte proof Lincolns on display. Oh, when I say "complete", I mean complete... with every die variety represented. I can't imagine how long it would take to do something like that. And it wasn't just a simple display, as die diagnostics of each one were shown via enlarged photographs, and accompanying historical information. It was world-class and I am very glad to have seen it. Not only that, but FunwithMPL is just a nice guy to chat with and I really respect his passion for MPLs. I wonder how many people who saw it realized how special such a set is.
One bit of drama was some out-of-town "hotel buyers" (who had run multipage ads in the paper this week) were in the hotel directly next to the show venue, and had people along the road holding "COIN BUYERS/GOLD BUYERS" signs pointing to the hotel, in an attempt to divert showgoers who might have been confused. I can only hope that didn't happen.
Without question the most popular item the public brought in to sell was state quarter rolls. A close second was Sacagawea dollars. Don't know if they paid a premium to obtain them, but I hope not.
And some anecdotes from 3 days at the show...
- Customer wants to look at GSA dollars. Examines at least two dozen. When finished, says "Well, I forgot to bring my reference book so...", puts down the last one, and leaves the table. It got me thinking about the wide range of organization shown by collectors at shows. It has nothing to do with the size of the budget. I saw a number of people pawing through bins of loose 2x2s priced under $1/each using a checklist or well-marked reference book. Other times I'd see someone looking at a 4-figure coin trying to remember if that was one they needed, with no reference material at all.
- A neighboring dealer is directing a customer to another dealer who would be a better fit for the coins the customer is trying to sell. He points all the way across the show floor and says, "You see that guy over there with the gray hair?" Yeah, that narrowed it down!
- Customer holds up coin and asks the dealer, "Is this an AU?" Dealer: "Some would call it that."
- At one point I saw a showgoer grab one of the security guards and ask him to come with him to the men's room. I wasn't close enough to hear the whole conversation but my thought was maybe someone was ill. I found out later what happened. Someone left a small valise of coins in the men's room and instead of just walking off with it, the showgoer wanted the security guard to handle it. It got back to the owner via a page over the show floor. I love integrity like that.
- A customer came up to me and asked for some help. Her husband asked her to go to the show and buy a couple $20 gold coins. From a brief conversation, it was clear she didn't have any idea what they should cost or how to go about it. I asked for some more information to get a better idea and learned she didn't care about dates but was to get MS65 St. Gaudens (she showed me a photo of one). Pat and I helped her with some guidance on TPGs, a price target, and what terminology to use so she didn't sound so "innocent". After a while she stopped back with her purchases (she did fine) and thanked us for the help. I hate to think what could have happened if she had held out her photo of a St. Gaudens and said "I want to buy two of these with 65 grades." I don't know of any unethical dealers at PAN but on the other hand I would hate to see someone pay $1000 more than necessary just because of being uneducated. It was nice that she came back to express appreciation for the guidance.
One more note - a person came in with a complete set of American Arts gold in OGP to sell and was getting some (IMHO) lowball offers and the person chose not to sell. I know they can be hard to move but 10% back of spot? I said I would try to find out where someone could get a better offer, so if any of you have any ideas please let me know either here in the thread or via PM.
Overall, it was a great 3 days as usual.
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
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Comments
FunwithMPL
By the way that exhibit did win Best of Show.
And Thanks to everyone at PAN for a great time and a great show.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
Thanks for taking the time to post.
Mike
For a large selection of U.S. Coins & Currency, visit The Reeded Edge's online webstore at the link below.
The Reeded Edge
Really good to see you and the guys from Reeded Edge again. I thought the show was fairly well attended, but the material on hand was mostly generic. Perhaps that is because I did not find the Currency that I was seeking. Anyway, nice to touch base again.
And the top view, showing the thickness...
The type set got as done as it was going to get so it was retired. Still thinking about what to start next.
Shortgapbob, glad to hear you guys were pleased and thanks for your help with the program.
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
Most of the dealers had a great show and were supprised how well it went being on the same days as the ANA
PAN's next show in in Oct.
PAN's May show 2013 will again be on the same days as the ANA s show
See you all at PAN
I want to thank ALL the dealers and public for thier support at the PAN show
PS what a GREAT display of MPL from Carl If you missed that display you really missed something!!!
The Penny Lady®