Denver coin show report - with pics!

RockyMtnProspector

Arrived at the show, a short 10 minute drive from my house, around 11:15 am. Not a big fan of the venue and the paid parking, but thankfully today there weren't a bunch of other events going on as there has been in the past, so parking wasn't an issue. We've had bad weather the past several days--some of you may have seen my hail picture--but today was pleasantly mild and sunny, which helped firm up the dirt and gravel lot.

Getting into the show was a breeze and while I immediately noticed a buzzing and active bourse, I noticed that several dealers who have done the semiannual show (it's in May and October every year) were not present, including both prominent local dealers and national outfits. The bourse was missing some quality coins that separate this show from the smaller local club shows, and the lack of that material left me underwhelmed. My speculation is a combination of dealer scuttlebutt about show planning turning off some folks, along with everyone gearing up for the August ANA show at the convention center.

However, the majority of the dealers that did attend seemed to be very pleased by turnout and two-way business and thought the coin market in Denver was strong heading into the summer. It didn't seem like recent bullion dives in gold and silver hurt too badly, but I admit I had a small sample size of opinion.

A local coin supply shop had some great bargains so that was a plus. They were offering used Allstate display cases at $60 each, and I strongly contemplated buying a few. May go back tomorrow morning and grab a couple at that price.

Overall, as @ricko suggested, there would be a few temptations. I did manage to avoid any large purchases, but I simply could not resist picking up this eclectic bunch. The old NGC fatties and PCGS rattlers were in excellent condition, and I even managed to snag an original PCGS rattler box. For every coin I purchased--8 in all--there were probably 5 or 6 I also coveted but could not pull the trigger on mostly due to budget and last month's tax man bill.

The Franklins all exhibited Mint set toning, and were fairly priced. Some easily look like upgrades, and a few had FBL designation potential. I am not into speculating and am not in a financial position to flip coins like some could, but these all will be CAC submissions here in the next month or so.

While Buffalo nickels are my current interest, and I'm not normally a Franklin/Peace collector, I simply could not pass these up. Like I said, there were probably 2 dozen more in similar condition, all in rattlers or fatties. I just did not have the budget.

As my tagline says, I also do unopened stuff, and bought an OBW roll of 1964P Washington quarters at melt, and several unopened proof sets at bid, from 1975, 1977, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1991, and 1997.

Finally, I snagged a Colorado centennial silver round from 1959 with its original packaging. I'll see if I can get a pic of this other material for the comments later tonight.

I also did my civic coin duty and spent an hour volunteering at the local club table. I feel it's important to welcome folks and especially newbies and YNs and get them to local club meetings and go beyond either just collecting or straight bullion purchases. We have plenty of materials to hand out and a nice club grading set of Lincoln sets for folks to study.

Wrapped up my tour of the bourse around 4:30, as some dealers were packing up for the night. The show has a Wednesday set up for dealers and early birds, so while it was the first day for the public, the dealers were already on day two and a bit tired. The show used to be Thursday-Sunday, but is now Wednesday-Saturday, with many dealers cutting out early on Saturday or leaving Friday. Kind of a bummer and I know that topic has been discussed elsewhere on these boards. But the show is always the same weekend as Mother's Day and has had some nasty weather in recent years, including snow in 2014 and 2015 (it can snow until June here). This week we got the hail, thunderstorms, and tornadoes out of the system early in the week.

Cheers!

A panoramic of the somewhat smaller Denver Rocky Mountain Coin Expo, as quite a few regular national dealers were not in attendance--there was a good turnout however:

Bob, the Denver Northside Coin Club president, and John, Denver Coin Club secretary, along with myself, kept the club table occupied for a few hours and talked to fellow numismatists and provided information on meetings and locations:

A hasty group shot of my newps, all in old holders and most with great toning:

Obverse toning on the 1958 Franklin:

1943 Mercury, dual-sided toner:

1955 Franklin reverse:

The only blast white coin, but a lovely frosty 1924 Peace dollar:

Reverse of the 1926 Buffalo nickel, the black spot on the hoof is on the holder, not the coin, and the other carbon spot is more or less non-existent head on, otherwise a well-struck coin:

Obverse 1926 Buff:

Reverse of the stunningly toned 1945-S Walker:

The first of two 1913 P Type I Buffs, with a hammered reverse and subtle toning I couldn't capture in the light and quick iPhone shot:

This one for toning, dual-sided:

TopographicOceans

Nice report and pictures - Thanks

Kccoin

Sounds like you had a good show. Nice coins.

The Mercy and Walker look pretty sweet

morgandollar1878

Nice report, and nice pick ups too.

Kyle

Great report and I love the NEWPS!

Do you have the obverse shot of the '46-S Walker?

Dave99B

Great report, and all of your pickups are flat awesome. Nice picking!

Dave

mkman123

this is what a show report should be like...........lots of pics! Thanks!

OldIndianNutKase

Great report and well written. I was there from about 200 to about 4:00 P.M. which was enough time to scour the bourse looking for toned IHC proofs and Lincoln MPL's. Did find one 1883 PR66RB but the toning was very faint. And found a 1935 P$ in 66+ CAC but the price was a little high. So there were some good coins at the show, but LOTS of RAW coins.

OINK

golden

Thanks for the very nice report.

sparky64

Thanks for the report.
Enjoyed reading it and seeing your newps.

U1chicago

Great report. It sounds like a fun show with some good material. The Walker is my favorite.

clarkbar04

That 46-s Walker is especially nice and I also dig the 26 buff.

RockyMtnProspector

@Kyle said:
Great report and I love the NEWPS!

Do you have the obverse shot of the '46-S Walker?

I'll try to take some better pics tomorrow.

ricko

@RockyMtnProspector...Really great report...those '13 Buffs have great strike/definition.... Thanks for the pictures and details.... I knew you would find stuff to take home... Cheers, RickO

oih82w8

They were offering used Allstate display cases at $60 each, and I strongly contemplated buying a few. May go back tomorrow morning and grab a couple at that price.

I was not familiar with these...had to look it up...did you go back and grab a few?

grip

Enjoyed your report! Thanks.

HighRelief

Great report and nice coin pictures.

Jackthecat1

Thank you for the interesting show report. Great pick-ups.

bestday

Nice report ...noticing more dealers, at more shows pulling out... leaving Friday evenings

alohagary

great report and i enjoyed the pics with the narrative on why you picked them, much etter than the pics alone

Walkerguy21D

Nice report - and I like the look of that 46S walker too!

RockyMtnProspector

First up is the requested obverse of the 46-S Walker:

Next is an original roll of 64-P Washington quarters (the other side is cardboard plug), bought at melt:

I received this PCGS rattler holder box as a bonus for the coin purchases:

And finally a 1959 Rush to the Rockies Colorado commem piece, BU, but with it's original marketing paper holder and cello wrap:

RockyMtnProspector

@oih82w8 said:

They were offering used Allstate display cases at $60 each, and I strongly contemplated buying a few. May go back tomorrow morning and grab a couple at that price.

I was not familiar with these...had to look it up...did you go back and grab a few?

I may try to swing by and see if any are left this afternoon. Had to work today.

KollectorKing

"Then we have the various unopened mint proof sets from various years"

I'd be ticked off if my name and address were posted in a public forum w/out my permission.

RockyMtnProspector

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Boosibri

You did well!

RockyMtnProspector

Thanks!

I'll also repost the proof set pics with post-it covers over the addresses, as I do not care to mark up or destroy the original packaging.

Mark

@RockyMtnProspector Thanks for the report. It was fun to read about the show and especially about your reasoning behind your purchases. Hopefully you post a similar report for the ANA show!!

Walkerfan

Great Report! And that's a nice group of newps!!

hchcoin

Looks like a fun show.

thisnamztaken

Enjoyable report. Thanks.

RockyMtnProspector

@oih82w8 said:

They were offering used Allstate display cases at $60 each, and I strongly contemplated buying a few. May go back tomorrow morning and grab a couple at that price.

I was not familiar with these...had to look it up...did you go back and grab a few?

I did go back and get one of the nicer cases with a carrying handle. Couldn't pass it up at $60.