Boeing Employee Coin Show Report
slothman2000
Posts: 952 ✭✭✭
I apologize for the length of this...I live just over the hill from the show (Des Moines) so traffic was not a problem for me. A nice pleasant 10 minute drive and the wife and I were there (right around 11:00AM or so). The first thing I noticed when I parked in the Kent Commons Justice Center, I realized that I forgot my stupid camera, I really wanted to post some pics of the bourse floor for you all, but alas.
The first thing I noticed after I walked into the hall is that there was some re-arranging of the dealer tables from years past. I have come accustomed to where certain dealers that I have had better luck with in the past have set up. More of an adventure to seek out some treasures.
Business was brisk at most of the tables as I ventured around the perimeter of the bourse floor. Most tables had at least 2 or 3 browsers but I saw more than one that had several people waiting to scan the displayed wares. Want lists and greysheets were everywhere. I saw one gentleman seated at a table that was going through boxes of Morgans in 2X2's and he had an impressive stack of purchases, and he wasn't done yet. I did see a few tables that were pretty stagnant, and I realized that their inventory was not only slim, but the owners of the tables apparently were not very interested in selling what they had....One interesting observation was the abundance of 1913-S variety 2 Buffalo Nickels. At one table, the dealer had no less than a dozen of them ranging from G-4 to AU-55 all PCGS graded. all problem free. I remember that when I was working on my set years ago it took me quite a long time to find the right coin of that year and variety...and here was a few dozen at one show to pick from....
I did see an elevation of both the club sponsored numismatic exhibits and young numismatic participation. The club encourages YN's to participate in treasure/scavenger hunts and competitions to acquire merit badges for scouting. This is the future of the hobby.
A few observations about the makeup of the different dealers. It seemed to me that the majority of the US Coin dealers had an abundance of bullion products displayed for purchase, I saw copper bullets, bars, rounds (this one dealer had a pretty impressive 3 or 4 ounce round which depicted a wheat cent obverse and reverse, he stated that he wish he would have bought more because they were a really hot item). I also saw quite a few dealers with silver bullets, rounds, SAE's and foreign bullion with a ton of Canadian. Actually, I did notice a significant amount of dealers that emphasized more on darkside content. There also seemed to be a bump in token and medal dealers.
My emphasis as to what I was looking to purchase was Boeing CC commemorative silver medals and any 1893-CC or 1875-CC higher circulated graded Dollars (I saw a few of the dollars but none interested me). I am a aircraft mechanic by trade (the preferred title is aviation maintenance technician) and I am employed by Boeing (only for a few years though, I have worked in quite a few arenas' within aviation). I look for both designs that I like, and for aircraft that I have worked on through the years (my sights were on the 1979 727 medal and the 1983 757 medal). the Boeing show is really the best place to find these medals (low mintage and apparent interest), so I eventually made my way to Greg Smith's table. Greg is the President of the Boeing Coin Club and Bourse and Award chair. picked up the 757 medal, but had a little problem finding a single silver 727. Greg said to email him and promised that he could hunt one down for me and we could finish the deal. I enquired about whether or not any of the current year medal (CH-47 Chinook) were still available and he sent me over to Alan Van Horn's table. Alan is the medals chair of the BECC. I filled out a purchase form and had the medal in hand.
In closing, a few inside facts that I procured from some officers within the club. There was a total of 57 dealers present at the show (60 signed up and 3 bowed out because of sickness). I was told that the club is aggressively seeking new dealers to attend with emphasis to east coast dealers. I was also told that there was more aggressive advertising this year to attract buyers. There were roughly 1000 registered guests last year and the club was hoping to meet or exceed that number. Again, like last year, it seemed warm on the bourse floor (I dressed accordingly this year, and it was a beautiful sunny day in the Seattle area on Saturday). I wish they could address and solve that problem.
The first thing I noticed after I walked into the hall is that there was some re-arranging of the dealer tables from years past. I have come accustomed to where certain dealers that I have had better luck with in the past have set up. More of an adventure to seek out some treasures.
Business was brisk at most of the tables as I ventured around the perimeter of the bourse floor. Most tables had at least 2 or 3 browsers but I saw more than one that had several people waiting to scan the displayed wares. Want lists and greysheets were everywhere. I saw one gentleman seated at a table that was going through boxes of Morgans in 2X2's and he had an impressive stack of purchases, and he wasn't done yet. I did see a few tables that were pretty stagnant, and I realized that their inventory was not only slim, but the owners of the tables apparently were not very interested in selling what they had....One interesting observation was the abundance of 1913-S variety 2 Buffalo Nickels. At one table, the dealer had no less than a dozen of them ranging from G-4 to AU-55 all PCGS graded. all problem free. I remember that when I was working on my set years ago it took me quite a long time to find the right coin of that year and variety...and here was a few dozen at one show to pick from....
I did see an elevation of both the club sponsored numismatic exhibits and young numismatic participation. The club encourages YN's to participate in treasure/scavenger hunts and competitions to acquire merit badges for scouting. This is the future of the hobby.
A few observations about the makeup of the different dealers. It seemed to me that the majority of the US Coin dealers had an abundance of bullion products displayed for purchase, I saw copper bullets, bars, rounds (this one dealer had a pretty impressive 3 or 4 ounce round which depicted a wheat cent obverse and reverse, he stated that he wish he would have bought more because they were a really hot item). I also saw quite a few dealers with silver bullets, rounds, SAE's and foreign bullion with a ton of Canadian. Actually, I did notice a significant amount of dealers that emphasized more on darkside content. There also seemed to be a bump in token and medal dealers.
My emphasis as to what I was looking to purchase was Boeing CC commemorative silver medals and any 1893-CC or 1875-CC higher circulated graded Dollars (I saw a few of the dollars but none interested me). I am a aircraft mechanic by trade (the preferred title is aviation maintenance technician) and I am employed by Boeing (only for a few years though, I have worked in quite a few arenas' within aviation). I look for both designs that I like, and for aircraft that I have worked on through the years (my sights were on the 1979 727 medal and the 1983 757 medal). the Boeing show is really the best place to find these medals (low mintage and apparent interest), so I eventually made my way to Greg Smith's table. Greg is the President of the Boeing Coin Club and Bourse and Award chair. picked up the 757 medal, but had a little problem finding a single silver 727. Greg said to email him and promised that he could hunt one down for me and we could finish the deal. I enquired about whether or not any of the current year medal (CH-47 Chinook) were still available and he sent me over to Alan Van Horn's table. Alan is the medals chair of the BECC. I filled out a purchase form and had the medal in hand.
In closing, a few inside facts that I procured from some officers within the club. There was a total of 57 dealers present at the show (60 signed up and 3 bowed out because of sickness). I was told that the club is aggressively seeking new dealers to attend with emphasis to east coast dealers. I was also told that there was more aggressive advertising this year to attract buyers. There were roughly 1000 registered guests last year and the club was hoping to meet or exceed that number. Again, like last year, it seemed warm on the bourse floor (I dressed accordingly this year, and it was a beautiful sunny day in the Seattle area on Saturday). I wish they could address and solve that problem.
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Comments
Tom - since the 2014s weren't out yet, the SAEs that I saw were sparser than normal. I did see some that were still priced at $28-$31
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
<< <i>Nice report. Thanks.
Tom - since the 2014s weren't out yet, the SAEs that I saw were sparser than normal. I did see some that were still priced at $28-$31
Yikes!
One dealer was selling them for 23 and change early in the day. $3 over spot or what I get them for at his shop whenever I stop in.
There wasn't as much bullion activity as past shows. Just my observation.
Edit to say thanks for the good report slothman2000.
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