Sarasota, FL Coin Show Report
keyman64
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They have this show twice per year and it is always a nice three day show to attend. This morning, I decided at the last minute that I would go so I grabbed my loupe on the way out the door to take the kiddos to school. Last week I went to a show with my kids but did not do a very thorough search for Mercury Dime varieties so I opted to hit this show and redeem myself a bit. 
The weather was beautiful with blue skies today...although a bit cool. Low around the upper 30s to about 40 this morning but it should hit close to 60 today whereas this weekend will be in the mid 70s with blue skies. Hard to complain about the weather. I dropped the kiddos off at school and made the 50 minute drive to the show. No problematic traffic so that was good! I got there about 20 minutes early, got a name badge and waited patiently to sprint in the doors with everyone else. There were 40+ dealers so I think that translates into close to 100-ish tables. It's always a good show to attend.
My focus was to search for Mercury Dime Varieties that I could make a bit of money on and also to do a thorough search of every 1919 Mercury Dime in the building. I searched three dozen plus 1919 Mercury Dimes while looking for the newly discovered DDO. I even asked each dealer if they were hiding any Mercury Dimes from me in books or boxes behind the table. They frequently said yes and kindly dug them out for me. I searched Good/VG all the way through AU and one MS63-ish example. I found nothing, as I reported in the 1919 DDO thread. I was also asked if dealers seem to know about the 1919 DDO. I of course did not advertise that I was trying to Cherrypick the dealers but one dealer was aware KINDA...he brought it up. He had attributed a few Merc Varieties that he was selling and he says that he tends to l"try" to look for things on "dates and mint marks." When he noticed I was looking with a 20x and looking at only Mercs he asked if I had heard about the "1919-S DDO"....to say the least I giggled a little but was kind enough to let him know it was the 1919-P. I was in no hurry and was looking through lots of his stuff and then he grabbed a box of Mercs I had not yet looked through so that he could examine them. He looked at his few 1919 examples, set the box back down on the counter in front of me, just as I was ready for it, and said that he checked all of the dates on the 1919 examples and did not see anything. I then laughed a little and told him that he was looking in the wrong place and I would be happy to let him know if he had one. He laughed and let me search. He was a nice guy and very easy going and I am happy to help some of the nice dealers out from time to time. So, one dealer brought up the topic to me as I was trying to Cherrypick Mercury Dimes for three hours.
I found a 1945-D/D FS-506...which would have been my 2nd or 3rd Cherrypick for the example I think but I passed on it. It was in a 2x2 and labeled AU58. It was ACTUALLY AU53/55 with a few "issues" like scratches/marks that I did not like. Had I actually liked it for a nice AU58 or better then I would have bought it. I am actually selling my Top Pop MS66FB example via the Great Collections auction this weekend.
I stopped by another dealer's table that I have actually done some buying with back in the day when I was working on MS V-Nickels...anyway, he always has beautiful stuff with lots of pretty stickers and always has great prices. He had a 1931-S Merc in MS65FB that I asked to look at. If you know Mercs, that is about $3,500 coin these days at auction and I believe that is what PCGS has for it in the price guide. Anyway, I checked the coin and it was THE VARIETY DDO FS-101!!! Holy Crap, that's a pretty good find. I know because I have my Top Pop MS66FB example up for auction at Great Collections this weekend...it currently has a bid on it for $5K (thankfully I bought it for $3.5K a couple of years ago before I got PCGS to revise their price guide to reflect the auction reality of all 31-S coins). I was quoted $2,500 which is an awesome price, even without the variety! Since I am no longer a high roller, I had to walk away from it. With variety attribution it is a no-brainer $3,500-$4,000 coin. Sucks when you have no choice but to walk away from making some nice money. Oh well, it is still fun to see stuff out in the wild.
By this time, I had walked 90%+ of the show, only had a few more dealers to check and had not yet found something nice for me that I could flip in my poor-man price range. FINALLY!!!! I found an all white 1940-S RPM FS-501 in a PCGS MS67 holder...UNATTRIBUTED of course!
I checked auction records for the 1940-S in PCGS MS67, also looked at the PCGS Price Guide and then verified the cert via the PCGS website. PCGS Price Guide has the coin at $120. The dealer offered it to me at $110 and I accepted. No reason to argue there, I am sure he made a little and I will do much better. My MS66 example is up for sale at GreatCollections this weekend (along with most of my other high end top pop Merc Varieties) and this one is nicer so I am excited about that.
After about three hours, I quickly wrapped things up and drove home without any traffic delays. The temps were in the mid-50s at this point and I even put the windows down a bit. Tonight is gymnastics practice with the kiddos. This weekend will be in the mid-70s and I have to photograph a couple of bikini models on the beach in the afternoon through sunset in order to make a little more money...and Sunday will be lunch with a couple of friends. I hope all of you fine people in coin land will be able to have a nice weekend, enjoy a coin show, cherrypick stuff, spend time on the beach with models and enjoy some good food.
The weather was beautiful with blue skies today...although a bit cool. Low around the upper 30s to about 40 this morning but it should hit close to 60 today whereas this weekend will be in the mid 70s with blue skies. Hard to complain about the weather. I dropped the kiddos off at school and made the 50 minute drive to the show. No problematic traffic so that was good! I got there about 20 minutes early, got a name badge and waited patiently to sprint in the doors with everyone else. There were 40+ dealers so I think that translates into close to 100-ish tables. It's always a good show to attend.
My focus was to search for Mercury Dime Varieties that I could make a bit of money on and also to do a thorough search of every 1919 Mercury Dime in the building. I searched three dozen plus 1919 Mercury Dimes while looking for the newly discovered DDO. I even asked each dealer if they were hiding any Mercury Dimes from me in books or boxes behind the table. They frequently said yes and kindly dug them out for me. I searched Good/VG all the way through AU and one MS63-ish example. I found nothing, as I reported in the 1919 DDO thread. I was also asked if dealers seem to know about the 1919 DDO. I of course did not advertise that I was trying to Cherrypick the dealers but one dealer was aware KINDA...he brought it up. He had attributed a few Merc Varieties that he was selling and he says that he tends to l"try" to look for things on "dates and mint marks." When he noticed I was looking with a 20x and looking at only Mercs he asked if I had heard about the "1919-S DDO"....to say the least I giggled a little but was kind enough to let him know it was the 1919-P. I was in no hurry and was looking through lots of his stuff and then he grabbed a box of Mercs I had not yet looked through so that he could examine them. He looked at his few 1919 examples, set the box back down on the counter in front of me, just as I was ready for it, and said that he checked all of the dates on the 1919 examples and did not see anything. I then laughed a little and told him that he was looking in the wrong place and I would be happy to let him know if he had one. He laughed and let me search. He was a nice guy and very easy going and I am happy to help some of the nice dealers out from time to time. So, one dealer brought up the topic to me as I was trying to Cherrypick Mercury Dimes for three hours.
I found a 1945-D/D FS-506...which would have been my 2nd or 3rd Cherrypick for the example I think but I passed on it. It was in a 2x2 and labeled AU58. It was ACTUALLY AU53/55 with a few "issues" like scratches/marks that I did not like. Had I actually liked it for a nice AU58 or better then I would have bought it. I am actually selling my Top Pop MS66FB example via the Great Collections auction this weekend.
I stopped by another dealer's table that I have actually done some buying with back in the day when I was working on MS V-Nickels...anyway, he always has beautiful stuff with lots of pretty stickers and always has great prices. He had a 1931-S Merc in MS65FB that I asked to look at. If you know Mercs, that is about $3,500 coin these days at auction and I believe that is what PCGS has for it in the price guide. Anyway, I checked the coin and it was THE VARIETY DDO FS-101!!! Holy Crap, that's a pretty good find. I know because I have my Top Pop MS66FB example up for auction at Great Collections this weekend...it currently has a bid on it for $5K (thankfully I bought it for $3.5K a couple of years ago before I got PCGS to revise their price guide to reflect the auction reality of all 31-S coins). I was quoted $2,500 which is an awesome price, even without the variety! Since I am no longer a high roller, I had to walk away from it. With variety attribution it is a no-brainer $3,500-$4,000 coin. Sucks when you have no choice but to walk away from making some nice money. Oh well, it is still fun to see stuff out in the wild.
By this time, I had walked 90%+ of the show, only had a few more dealers to check and had not yet found something nice for me that I could flip in my poor-man price range. FINALLY!!!! I found an all white 1940-S RPM FS-501 in a PCGS MS67 holder...UNATTRIBUTED of course!
I checked auction records for the 1940-S in PCGS MS67, also looked at the PCGS Price Guide and then verified the cert via the PCGS website. PCGS Price Guide has the coin at $120. The dealer offered it to me at $110 and I accepted. No reason to argue there, I am sure he made a little and I will do much better. My MS66 example is up for sale at GreatCollections this weekend (along with most of my other high end top pop Merc Varieties) and this one is nicer so I am excited about that. After about three hours, I quickly wrapped things up and drove home without any traffic delays. The temps were in the mid-50s at this point and I even put the windows down a bit. Tonight is gymnastics practice with the kiddos. This weekend will be in the mid-70s and I have to photograph a couple of bikini models on the beach in the afternoon through sunset in order to make a little more money...and Sunday will be lunch with a couple of friends. I hope all of you fine people in coin land will be able to have a nice weekend, enjoy a coin show, cherrypick stuff, spend time on the beach with models and enjoy some good food.
"If it's not fun, it's not worth it." - KeyMan64
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
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Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
Good thing we are into different series - I mainly stick to Lincoln cents and Jefferson nickels, and have always had a good show here in Sarasota.
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<< <i>So, you "have to photograph a couple of bikini models." Man, who is putting you through this hell???? Forcing you to photograph bikini models? Is there no human kindness left anywhere???
It's terrible!
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
<< <i>I'll be going to the show tomorrow. If you're going back, send an email this evening - maybe we could sit and talk varieties for a little while. cd at coppercoins dot com.
Good thing we are into different series - I mainly stick to Lincoln cents and Jefferson nickels, and have always had a good show here in Sarasota. >>
that would be cool but I can't this weekend. Maybe for the next Sarasota show in the fall of the big Clearwater show around July 4th if you make it to that one.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
<< <i>Very nice report - Thanks....and some pictures of your beach photography would be appreciated....
PM sent.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
<< <i>
<< <i>So, you "have to photograph a couple of bikini models." Man, who is putting you through this hell???? Forcing you to photograph bikini models? Is there no human kindness left anywhere???
It's terrible!
Maybe I need to take a jog down the beach tomorrow afternoon to see this so called "photography" thing
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Landmark Buffalo Collection
"I stopped by another dealer's table that I have actually done some buying with back in the day when I was working on MS V-Nickels...anyway, he always has beautiful stuff with lots of pretty stickers and always has great prices. He had a 1931-S Merc in MS65FB that I asked to look at. If you know Mercs, that is about $3,500 coin these days at auction and I believe that is what PCGS has for it in the price guide. Anyway, I checked the coin and it was THE VARIETY DDO FS-101!!! Holy Crap, that's a pretty good find. I know because I have my Top Pop MS66FB example up for auction at Great Collections this weekend...it currently has a bid on it for $5K (thankfully I bought it for $3.5K a couple of years ago before I got PCGS to revise their price guide to reflect the auction reality of all 31-S coins). I was quoted $2,500 which is an awesome price, even without the variety! Since I am no longer a high roller, I had to walk away from it. With variety attribution it is a no-brainer $3,500-$4,000 coin. Sucks when you have no choice but to walk away from making some nice money."
You don't have any collector / dealer connections who could have bankrolled you on the premise that you would offer a split in the upgrade in attributed value ?
If the figures you've given are reasonably accurate, I think a lot of players would jump at the chance to make a quick $500+ on a $2500 outlay. And you would've had an easy $500 in your pocket too.
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.americanlegacycoins.com
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
<< <i>Nice report.....wish I could find a nice Merc variety in the wild in PCGS67! >>
It is a lot easier when just focusing on one series. When you focus on every dime known to mankind like you do it becomes a bit more difficult I imagine.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
Yeah, sure, thanks...