A brief Long Beach show report

ranshdow

Flew down from the SF bay area on Thursday AM, stayed the night, back this evening. I tend to get bored quickly at these things so I don't stay long.
Some trivia, b/c it interests me: The cost of the taxi rides from LB airport back and forth to the convention center (about $26 each on average) totaled roughly half of what the JetBlue flight cost ($120). And they were both dwarfed by the cost of one night in the Courtyard Marriott, which is not a swank hotel by any means (~$220). Just shows you where your money goes.

Anyway. Hit the bourse when it opened to the public Thursday at 10am, did quick rounds with the few dealers I have person-to-person relationships with, including CRO, Phil Moore (California exonumia), and Doug Winter. Doug's time is very much in demand; I would see him solicited by serious-looking folks the entire time I was there. Got to introduce myself to Ian Russell for the first time & placed a consignment. Got burned out scanning cases pretty quickly.

There is something about acres of 1904 and 1927 double eagles and blast-shiny Morgan dollars as far as the eye can see to make you question hard just what the heck you're spending your money and energy on. Realizing that there were maybe a half-dozen examples of your 'specialty' on the bourse also puts perspective on things. So when you get tired, you may find yourself wandering to your hotel, checking in, taking a brief nap. Or maybe you're a coin warrior and these things don't concern you.

Bruce Morelan's dollars were worth seeing in person. The 1795-1803 part of the set were an instructive high-dollar lesson in early dollar grading. Even through a LED-lit glass case where you can only see the obverses, it was pretty easy to get a sense of the differences in luster that distinguish a 64 from a 65 or a 66. I found myself bobbing like an owl trying to get the luster to roll, though. I must say the highlight of the set, the 1794, was done a tremendous disservice by it's case and lighting, which left it looking paradoxically both dull and glossy at the same time.

Interestingly enough not 10 yards from Bruce's display was the one thing of the whole show I was bothered to take a picture of- a ripped open safe that a safe company was using to sell their products. For some reason I found it interesting that the safe manufacturer had used a double layer of drywall as insulation.

The highlight of the show for me came on Friday when Regulated let me view in-hand the finest known 1849 Pacific Company $5 in AU58 (with a near million dollar asking price) and the 1850 Baldwin & Co. "horseman" $10. The former has great color and looks every bit like it's SecurePlus image. The detail in the horseman looked very 'proofy', and I'm pretty sure I could make out the initials "KUNER" at the base of the obverse relief. The Mormon $2 1/2 and the Oregon $5 they had were also quite cool to behold. One day, I will own a NG&N $5...

A massive storm was forecast to hit the LA basin on Friday, and sure enough it started raining around 11a when I was viewing lots at the Heritage auction- I could hear it hitting the roof during the viewing. Even though my flight was scheduled for 7:15 this evening, Doug advised me to get the heck out of Dodge when I told him there was an earlier 4:10 flight, so I left early. The airport was becoming packed with people as several flights were delayed:

I was put on standby and thankfully got on the delayed 4:10 flight back home. The tail of the plane was flapping like a fish swimming up through the clouds, or at least it felt that way from the very last seat in the back.

My loot, minor:
an 1841 $10 P55
two tokens, a Los Gatos merchant token and a Guadalupe CA mining token (quicksilver mine)
two Bruce Morelan Early Dollar pamphlets
one March ANA (Kagin's) auction catalog

ms70

I believe the drywall in the safe is actually what's used for fireproofing.

golden

Thanks for the report.

hchcoin

I always think about how pricey the hotel and cab fare is as well.

BryceM

Ja. The drywall material is basically gypsum, aka CaSO4, aka chalk. Each CaSO4 molecule forms a complex with two water molecules. In a fire, the water is driven off by the heat, but absorbs a tremendous amount of energy as it does so. When the water is depleted, temperatures start to climb. More drywall material = a higher fire rating and buys time for the fire fighters to get there.

The "safe" in the photo is constructed of cheap, thin steel panels. A quality safe uses heavy-gauge steel, which makes it expensive and heavy. 90% of what people buy & rely on is easily defeated with simple hand tools. The other 10% are better, but almost none can prevent eventual entry by a smart, well-equipped bad guy.

coinkat

Nice write up... Thanks for posting images of the safe. That something we do not see to much of around here

1tommy

Thanks for taking the time to post sounds like you had a Fun Time......

Enjoy Tom

ricko

Interesting report... though, I must say, I have never been bored at a coin show... Glad you got out before the major part of the storm...If one is to invest in a safe, one should not be bargain shopping. If so, a coffee can will suffice... otherwise, pay up and get a good safe.... Cheers, RickO