Coin Show Report - GSNA Annual Convention, Somerset, NJ
DaveG
Posts: 3,535 ✭
Today I went to the annual, three-day convention of the Garden State Numismatic Association. The show features about 55 tables and runs Thursday-Saturday.
As you can imagine, Thursday and Friday are mostly for the dealers and a few hard-core collectors. People who go on Thursday and Friday usually report that floor traffic is very light.
Saturday is the big day for the public, but even then, floor traffic is usually light, especially when compared with the monthly Parsippany show.
However. . .
Tom Hyland, the show manager, does a tremendous job getting dealers who don't usually come to New Jersey, so it's not just the same old dealers and material and it seems like a number of collectors save up all year for this show, because despite the seemingly light floor traffic, most dealers report they're very happy with the show and come back year-after-year.
I mostly spent today talking to people I know, so I didn't really get around to see what was available. I can say that floor traffic was much heavier than normal for Saturday and the aisles actually felt crowded around noon.
Book dealer John Burns was present, with a really nice inventory, I might add. He had copies of Birdsall's book on Charlotte gold coins, Breen's Encyclopedia, Bowers' Silver Dollar Encyclopedia, Awash's book on Seated dimes, Miller's book on half eagles, a set of Akers' books on gold coins, etc.
I also spent some time with Bill Shamhart of Numismatic Americana, who, as usual, had some really stunning and esoteric material.
As you can imagine, Thursday and Friday are mostly for the dealers and a few hard-core collectors. People who go on Thursday and Friday usually report that floor traffic is very light.
Saturday is the big day for the public, but even then, floor traffic is usually light, especially when compared with the monthly Parsippany show.
However. . .
Tom Hyland, the show manager, does a tremendous job getting dealers who don't usually come to New Jersey, so it's not just the same old dealers and material and it seems like a number of collectors save up all year for this show, because despite the seemingly light floor traffic, most dealers report they're very happy with the show and come back year-after-year.
I mostly spent today talking to people I know, so I didn't really get around to see what was available. I can say that floor traffic was much heavier than normal for Saturday and the aisles actually felt crowded around noon.
Book dealer John Burns was present, with a really nice inventory, I might add. He had copies of Birdsall's book on Charlotte gold coins, Breen's Encyclopedia, Bowers' Silver Dollar Encyclopedia, Awash's book on Seated dimes, Miller's book on half eagles, a set of Akers' books on gold coins, etc.
I also spent some time with Bill Shamhart of Numismatic Americana, who, as usual, had some really stunning and esoteric material.
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Comments
Good to see you today. You need to get out to more shows!
Don't forget to do your homework!
njcc
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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.
It was good talking to you and Bill today. I always learn some numismatic history listening to the two of you. I only had an hour so i didn't get much of a feel for the show but i like the nice wide aisles. At Parsippany, i always feel like I'm in Times Square at rush hour trying to negotiate the tables. The GSNA has more space, which is much appreciated. I agree that it is nice to see some out-of-state dealers attend.
Thanks for the report.
Jeff
"Look up, old boy, and see what you get." -William Bonney.
https://pcgs.com/setregistry/showcase/2819
Attendance for the show seemed to be way down when I was there, and Saturday was a huge letdown. Keep in mind the weather was real nice.
The GSNA charges $25.00 per head to get into the show for dealers without tables from 9AM-1PM on Thursday before the bourse opens to the public. Although I had to leave at 12:30 from being tired and a bit ill, I am sure the activity that day was solid - even after 1PM.
I am also a 27-year member, and a 26-year Life Member. The guys who run this show are great, and they are my friends. Seeing copper dealers such as Doug Bird and Tom Reynolds was a treat, even though I saw them two weeks prior in Buffalo at the EAC Convention.
With that said, the turnout for the show seemed disappointing, and there were a lot of dealers twiddling their thumbs for much of the show. It is a bit enigmatic that a show with such a cherry Central NJ location shouldn't be bustling a bit more.
It's no secret that I have been very critical of the GSNA's policy to charge admission, even though the $3.00 per person charge for non-member adults is good for all three days. If you join the GSNA for $10.00, then there is no admission charge, but frankly most people could care less about clubs. There were dealers on the bourse who did not even know about the charge. There is no reason why they need to do this, for it does not help.
Oh, did I mention the food is awesome, reasonably priced, and their facilities are spotless? I just did.
Greg
Highlight of the show for me was sitting and talking with TOMB for close to an hour about everything from coins to life to coinlife to life with coins. (as well as getting a PHD and not ending up using it...)
2nd highlight of the show was purchasing Tom's 1964-d 25c pcgs ms64 cac. It didnt bother me at all paying 50x+ greysheet bid for a coin that to me was absolutely beautiful.
<< <i>Personally I find the GSNA show to be better than the larger parsippany show that takes place once a month.
Highlight of the show for me was sitting and talking with TOMB for close to an hour about everything from coins to life to coinlife to life with coins. (as well as getting a PHD and not ending up using it...)
2nd highlight of the show was purchasing Tom's 1964-d 25c pcgs ms64 cac. It didnt bother me at all paying 50x+ greysheet bid for a coin that to me was absolutely beautiful. >>
Trust me, I like the show too with regards to the open space and the wider selection of dealers.
Despite the traditional seemingly-low attendance at the show, the concensus reported tonight at the NJNS meeting was that the dealers were happy with the show.
One member reported that he didn't hear of any dealer who said he had a bad show.
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1840 Bergen Iron Works, Lakewood, New Jersey, HT-205 / Low-142, Brass, Rarity-2.
I've been looking for a nice eye appealing Bergen in higher grade that wasn't spotted or darkly stained for about 4 years.
1837 Henry Anderson, NYC, NY, HT-219 / Low-107 R-2.
This was just lovely in hand red brown obverse trace red reverse and is also a early die stage with well struck centers on both sides.
Here's my 1942 PR67+ CAC Walker I picked up. Better HA pictures.
Here's my own terrible pictures of a really nicely toned 1946-S MS65 Walker
My wife almost stabbed me
I had a really great time at this show. Met a ton of great people that I hope to meet again.
Successful Transactions With: JoeLewis, Mkman123, Harry779, Grote15, gdavis70, Kryptonitecomics
<< <i>I dunno guys. . .
Despite the traditional seemingly-low attendance at the show, the concensus reported tonight at the NJNS meeting was that the dealers were happy with the show.
One member reported that he didn't hear of any dealer who said he had a bad show. >>
Than they must have not heard what I did, because there were several dealers who did not.