Foley, AL Coin Show Report JAN 19-20
Hintonator
Posts: 95 ✭✭✭
I have been so busy lately with shows most every weekend, continuous updates and inventory turnover on my website and just general business that I have not had time to type this up and post it. This is my second show report to post on this forum. I specialize is US Philippine coins (1903-1945) but also deal in US Type coins as the US Philippine coins have a smaller collector base. For those of you who did not read my last report, I started dealing full time this month. I do not have a store front but I do have a website (JHRareCoins.com) and try to attend coin shows as often as possible.
Foley, AL Show JAN 19th, 20th
The Foley show is small, 20-30 dealers? I planned to set up with another dealer; I was told he had two tables. Turns out, we had one table so we ended up splitting it and only having two cases each. For many of you who have never been to the Foley show, there are a few good dealers there; a few “hobbyists” and about half are what I would consider “Flea Market dealers”. Needless to say, there was a lot of junk on the floor! I had at least four people tell me that they normally just walk through the show but hardly ever purchase anything due to the lack of better material and were pleasantly surprised to find my two cases.
I knew a few of the dealers there and we get along well. There were more than a few though (one’s I would put into the “Flea market Dealer” category) that had utter looks of confusion on their face when I refused to sell my choice coins near bid. Even when I showed a couple of said dealers what the coins were bringing in auction, I was told, “well this isn’t an auction” I replied with “well I don’t need to wholesale them”. It was annoying at the moment but I found it amusing later. I did in fact wholesale a few coins out but they sold for fair prices, which was still above bid for those coins. Let me emphasis here that in no way do I think all of my coins are worth multiple of “bid” or that they are all choice. When you buy collections you do end up with some dreck. The goal, at least my goal is to wholesale that dreck out as soon as possible. Those coins, common and lower grade or with problems, normally sell well under bid, no matter who is buying.
One trade of note was with a Proof 3 cent piece that I traded for a very nice Draped Bust Half. I was more than likely underwater in the Proof trime by about 200-300 dollars. It was purchased in a Stacks Bowers auction a little over a year ago and was more of an emotional purchase than a good business sense purchase. The coin had some amazing color, but when you start paying PR66 money for a PR64… your market of available customers shrinks considerably, not to mention that the market is already small for proof trimes! Anyway, a dealer who I get along with and who seems to have similar tastes in coins as myself, fell in love with the coin. He looked at it for literally hours… but we were still off by a few hundred dollars. I then noticed a very nice 1807 Draped Bust Half sitting in a PCGS EF40 holder. I had to add $70 to make the deal but I ended up with a very PQ 1807 with my total cost being $5 under bid. Not only will this coin be easier to wholesale if I need to, but every other dealer I showed it to (myself included) thinks it should be in a 45 holder to boot! End state: I am much more liquid in this coin, very good trade for me!
There were very few coins worth looking at during this show, so new additions to the inventory were scarce. I was able to pick up another nice draped bust that was raw. I paid EF money for it (what the dealer had it marked as) but there was no question it was a solid AU50-55. I also picked up a nice 1795 large cent and a few other misc. type coins in the $50-$200 range. Over all, I did well at the show. Not great but enough to come back next year. I was able to obtain a corner table so I will have a lot more room next time. One other instance I recall is at one point on Sunday; a man walked in with a ziplock back and was asking if anyone bought coins. I said I did and he told me he wanted $400 for the bag and said “you should be able to make $250 off of this deal” Anytime someone says that, red flags should be all over that…. Anyway, the bag contained a few silver eagles, some random one ounce rounds and a one gram silver bar… I totaled up the melt value and came up with around $439. I paid him the $400 and he walked away happy (where he got the $250 profit from I will never know…) Later when I was going back through the bag, I realized that I had mistyped on the calculator and I actually paid $100 too much… Not the end of the world but when you’re just starting out and trying to watch every expense... it hurts. No doubt about it, education is expensive no matter where it is obtained.
Lessons Learned:
Create a checklist of items needed for shows and check everything off before you leave (like lamp mounts 
Don’t be in a hurry, and run those numbers again!
Foley, AL Show JAN 19th, 20th
The Foley show is small, 20-30 dealers? I planned to set up with another dealer; I was told he had two tables. Turns out, we had one table so we ended up splitting it and only having two cases each. For many of you who have never been to the Foley show, there are a few good dealers there; a few “hobbyists” and about half are what I would consider “Flea Market dealers”. Needless to say, there was a lot of junk on the floor! I had at least four people tell me that they normally just walk through the show but hardly ever purchase anything due to the lack of better material and were pleasantly surprised to find my two cases.
I knew a few of the dealers there and we get along well. There were more than a few though (one’s I would put into the “Flea market Dealer” category) that had utter looks of confusion on their face when I refused to sell my choice coins near bid. Even when I showed a couple of said dealers what the coins were bringing in auction, I was told, “well this isn’t an auction” I replied with “well I don’t need to wholesale them”. It was annoying at the moment but I found it amusing later. I did in fact wholesale a few coins out but they sold for fair prices, which was still above bid for those coins. Let me emphasis here that in no way do I think all of my coins are worth multiple of “bid” or that they are all choice. When you buy collections you do end up with some dreck. The goal, at least my goal is to wholesale that dreck out as soon as possible. Those coins, common and lower grade or with problems, normally sell well under bid, no matter who is buying.
One trade of note was with a Proof 3 cent piece that I traded for a very nice Draped Bust Half. I was more than likely underwater in the Proof trime by about 200-300 dollars. It was purchased in a Stacks Bowers auction a little over a year ago and was more of an emotional purchase than a good business sense purchase. The coin had some amazing color, but when you start paying PR66 money for a PR64… your market of available customers shrinks considerably, not to mention that the market is already small for proof trimes! Anyway, a dealer who I get along with and who seems to have similar tastes in coins as myself, fell in love with the coin. He looked at it for literally hours… but we were still off by a few hundred dollars. I then noticed a very nice 1807 Draped Bust Half sitting in a PCGS EF40 holder. I had to add $70 to make the deal but I ended up with a very PQ 1807 with my total cost being $5 under bid. Not only will this coin be easier to wholesale if I need to, but every other dealer I showed it to (myself included) thinks it should be in a 45 holder to boot! End state: I am much more liquid in this coin, very good trade for me!
There were very few coins worth looking at during this show, so new additions to the inventory were scarce. I was able to pick up another nice draped bust that was raw. I paid EF money for it (what the dealer had it marked as) but there was no question it was a solid AU50-55. I also picked up a nice 1795 large cent and a few other misc. type coins in the $50-$200 range. Over all, I did well at the show. Not great but enough to come back next year. I was able to obtain a corner table so I will have a lot more room next time. One other instance I recall is at one point on Sunday; a man walked in with a ziplock back and was asking if anyone bought coins. I said I did and he told me he wanted $400 for the bag and said “you should be able to make $250 off of this deal” Anytime someone says that, red flags should be all over that…. Anyway, the bag contained a few silver eagles, some random one ounce rounds and a one gram silver bar… I totaled up the melt value and came up with around $439. I paid him the $400 and he walked away happy (where he got the $250 profit from I will never know…) Later when I was going back through the bag, I realized that I had mistyped on the calculator and I actually paid $100 too much… Not the end of the world but when you’re just starting out and trying to watch every expense... it hurts. No doubt about it, education is expensive no matter where it is obtained.
Lessons Learned:
Create a checklist of items needed for shows and check everything off before you leave (like lamp mounts 
Don’t be in a hurry, and run those numbers again!
I actively collect, buy and sell US minted Philippine coins from 1903-1945. I am interested in anything during this period, Albums, Proof sets, collections, original rolls and bags, Cullion Leper colony coins etc.
Also a big fan of liberty seated coins.
Also a big fan of liberty seated coins.
4
Comments
Also a big fan of liberty seated coins.
If anther dealer comes up and disparages your coins remember to not take it personally. Everybody sees coins differently and "beating down" a coin is a clever psychological negotiation tactic.
Authorized dealer for PCGS, PCGS Currency, NGC, NCS, PMG, CAC. Member of the PNG, ANA. Member dealer of CoinPlex and CCE/FACTS as "CH5"
Complete Set of Chopmarked Trade Dollars
Carson City Silver Dollars Complete 1870-1893http://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/showcase.aspx?sc=2722"
When will there be another coin show?
+1
January 29-30, 2021 Wasatch Winter Coin Show Sandy, Utah. About 50 dealers.
Thanks for an interesting show report. Good perspective. Hold on to the silver, spot is going up... you may easily make up that miscalculation in the near future. Cheers, RickO
Thanks for your insight and good luck with your business venture. I also have contact with flea market vendors. They are cut from a different cloth. Peace Roy
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This was an old show report, but full of good info.
Donato
Donato's Complete US Type Set ---- Donato's Dansco 7070 Modified Type Set ---- Donato's Basic U.S. Coin Design Set
Successful transactions: Shrub68 (Jim), MWallace (Mike)
Thanks for that heads up. I hate when old threads are resurrected without any mention of the thread age. Looks like the dealer's website is out of commission too.
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
Dang! I thought this was a new report!