Another Baltimore Show Report

1TwoBits · November 14, 2017 6:50PM

I always think about posting a show report on the rare occasion I go to one, but usually upon my return home I'm quickly consumed by other things such that the days trickle by and I don’t get to it. This time I’m giving it a try.

I left early Friday morning to head down to the show, hoping to avoid much of the traffic and make it to the Inner Harbor prior to the 10:00am opening. Everything went smoothly and I was in the convention center with time to spare for lot viewing and completing a couple PCGS submissions.

I lined up right before 10:00am and headed into the convention hall with everybody else on line (around 40 or so at that time). Once inside, I headed to two dealer tables to view coins I had seen on their websites and was considering for purchase. One could upgrade one of my current bust quarter varieties, and the other was a scarcer variety I was currently lacking. I got prices on both and then looked at the cases of a couple other dealers in the vicinity with early Federal coinage, looking for bust quarters I hadn’t already seen at other shows or on dealer websites. Seeing nothing of great interest, I headed over to Todd and Roger’s table to drop a couple pieces off for imaging (seems to be a common element in show reports).

Being on the other side of the room now, I checked on the PCGS line, which was too long. I figured I’d wait a while to check back in case I purchased anything I wanted to submit with the orders I already had filled out. I began looking at other dealer inventories searching for more bust quarters: Dave Kahn, CRO, Eye Appealing Coins, David Lawrence, Dave Wnuck, Jim McGiugan, Scarsdale Coin, JK, Mr Eureka, Sheridan Downey, Gerry Fortin, Dave Perkins, Jim Matthews, and many of the other regulars. There were a few things of interest here and there, but really not a lot of new pieces popping up aside from an AU 1806 Browning-9. I didn’t have to consider that one since I already have an AU 1806 B-9. I did look at the new bust quarters at WDP’s table, and the 1807 VLDS with reduced size stars from lapping on the left side was pretty interesting. I then continued to walk the floor searching dealer cases.

One nice thing about the Fall Baltimore show is the C4 Colonial Coin Club Convention that is held in conjunction with the show. It’s a very good reason to stay for more than one day due to their added seminars, study groups, and meetings. C4 has great camaraderie and their convention also brings out additional EAC members as well. I attended most of the 2:00pm talk by Chuck Heck about The Transition from Colonial to Federal Coinage. Chuck put together a great talk and slide show that was quite interesting, and I did note that every seat was taken in the room (we had to bring some more in from next door). QDB and others also gave talks on various topics, and QDB’s was Collecting Colonials Through The Decades.

After the seminar and lunch, I headed back around to look at the two coins I first examined when I entered the show. I decided to go for the first coin, worked out a price with the dealer and paid for it. Next I went to look at the other coin again. Despite an old light dipping, the coin had nice detail and was a scarcer early die state for the variety. The coin wasn’t harshly cleaned, and PCGS plus CAC didn’t seem to have a problem with it. I was able to work out a deal by trading a couple duplicates towards it, and added that one to my PCGS box. I then went back to Todd’s table and found he was finished photographing my coins and picked them up.

With time winding down, I headed back over to PCGS to add my new purchases to my submissions. I finished writing them up, and of course in the end wound up with more submissions than I thought I would have. When I was at the tables across from PCGS filling out forms, there was a collector showing Russian material to two buyers. It was interesting to note their remarks that prices were down on Russian material and that it was better to sell such material in the U.S. right now rather than Russia.
I shopped some material to a few dealers, but offers were a little low on some things. Aside from trading a few pieces, I did sell a condition census late date large cent to one of the copper dealers, a bust quarter to another dealer, and consigned a few pieces to Heritage. The show seemed to be fairly busy, and a couple times I found that I had to come back to a dealer a little later after they had finished working on a buy or sell deal with another customer.

In the security department, I’m sad to say that I heard a teenager got himself into trouble at the show and is probably now realizing how much trouble. Apparently he lifted a coin from one dealer, and sold it to another dealer. He took the check he got from the second dealer and went to a third dealer. He turned the check over to this third dealer where he received cash back, and also lifted a watch from him before leaving. Unfortunately the teenager pulled three dealers into this chain of events, but his identity was known and he should be hearing from the authorities. I didn’t have any trouble with anyone inside or outside the show. For those worried about crime in the downtown area, you can always stay at a hotel that is connected to the convention center so you don’t have to go outside to walk to your hotel.

Attending a large show like Baltimore, FUN, or the ANA World’s Fair of Money, I find myself crisscrossing the room, and missing some dealers because there are so many set up, and so many things going on at the show. This time I missed stopping by Steve Hayden’s table to look at lots for his upcoming auction, but thankfully he will have pictures of all the lots up on his website. I also missed another dealer because he was on a phone call when I stopped by and didn’t get a chance to make it back around to him. All in all it was a good show, seemed busy with a lot going on, and I was able to buy and sell a few things. It was also nice to talk to old friends, as well as make a couple new ones before heading back home.

1TwoBits