FUN Day 1

Desert Moon

Hi Folks,
So my day started at 4 am CT, hopped on the road to the airport to catch an early flight. My flight seemed to be full of folks going to FUN - local dealers and those that connected through. Had a nice chat with some of them at the gate before boarding. Got off the plane in Tampa, got a Taxi within 5 minutes and was lot viewing the Heritage auction lots in 20 minutes of getting off the plane - Tampa is a pretty easy place to get around. I went through pretty much all of the bust, seated, and barber silver in 3 hours. I started with around 40 lots I was tracking on my Ha page, by the time I was done, I was down to 6, 3 of which were newly added during lot viewing. I bid on 1 bust dollar in tonite's auction, I will have to see if I won it. Everything else is in the online only auction later in the week, except for a bust quarter as noted in the next paragraph.

After lot viewing I came back to the Marriott - and I ate at the sports bar, and then went back to the room to study the lots I was interested in and put in some bids. I also put in a bid for one interesting bust quarter a 31 B7 (R5) in VF20 - it was, okay in hand, that was also up for tonite. By the time I viewed it online before the auction, my aggressive bid of 2x the PCGS price was blown out of the water - pre-auction it was up to >5x PCGS price. I need that die marriage, but not that bad, it was not that nice of a coin, but it just goes to show that there are some serious bust quarter die marriage collectors out there and that this is a hard coin to find. But if I am going to bid 5x the market price for an R1, the coin has to be all there R5 or not. I have done that for some R5 die marriages, but they were also amazing coins for eye appeal and originality - all there in other words. Hopefully I will find one some time.

Some of the gossip I picked up talking to some of the dealers is that they all agree that the market is picking up - each month for the last few has been better than the past month. So there was alot of optimism at the show today. We will see what the collector buzz is like on the bourse tomorrow.

This evening I then went down to the lobby bar for a beer (yes they have a sports bar and a lobby bar), and got a pint of the local Hazelnut Porter. Really. hazelnut. porter. And.... Wow! This alone makes the show worth it. ldhair came by. Larry also ordered the Hazelnut Porter. We had a pretty long chat about coins and other things. We made plans to show each other coins we brought and do some searching on the bourse tomorrow. This evening the Marriott lobby bar was packed with show attendees.

So that was it for Day 1. Tomorrow will be where the real action begins. I will write about it here.

Best, SH

bsshog40

Sounds like the start of a good time! Glad ya already ran into a good member!!

blu62vette

Always good to see you in our traditional preshow lobby meeting!

Justacommeman

Great report! Keep them coming!!!

m

amwldcoin

Stop by and introduce yourself! I'm at table 1729 in the cheap seats!

alohagary

Looking foward to your next reports

mvs7

Nice report! Have fun... (or should I say FUN?)

Desert Moon

@blu62vette said:
Always good to see you in our traditional preshow lobby meeting!

Hey Todd, always fun to have the pre-game chat with your dad and you!

Best, SH

Desert Moon

@amwldcoin said:
Stop by and introduce yourself! I'm at table 1729 in the cheap seats!

Definitely will be - Barbers are part of my interest now....

Best, SH

Desert Moon

What I forgot to add about the bust quarter a 31 B7 (R5) in VF20 in the Ha auction last nite is that is in an old ANACS holder, on a good day at PCGS might go 25 but that is really not the goal for this coin for whomever bought it - it is the die marriage. So it probably if an R! marriage would have gone .6x PCGS prices. It ended up closing 5.6x PCGS price with the juice. So you can see what the value is of a rare die marriage to the specialists. Now there are some R6 and R7's out there - imagine what they will go for if the specialists catch drift of it?

Best, SH

Edit: Oops I stand corrected. The 31 B7 (R5) closed at 14x PCGS price for the R1. Somehow my computer did not refresh the Ha site this morning until I opened it up again after closing so the info I had on last nite auctions were not correct. I also found that the bust dollar that I 'won', in fact I was outbid 1 increment. Very strange, my computer must have cached the site from last nite so until I actually quit the browser it just came up again.

This price on the 31 B7 really sets the tone for true rarities in the market right now, even those that are kind of unassuming in eye appeal and grade. Expect to pay up..........

amwldcoin

Yes, Die marriages will bring quite the premium! I sold an 1822...25/50 Quarter that was a harshly cleaned G-Vg on ebay. It hammered for over $5,000!

Treashunt

Good report, thanks for posting

giorgio11

@spacehayduke thanks for the report. Hope all of you have a great show.

Kind regards,

George

thebeav

Have a good time down there and good luck with your bids.
I was a regular attendee during the 70's and 80's. That was a profitable show for me in the pre-slabbing days. After all, who agreed on all grades ? It was fun to flip raw stuff around the floor....

Broadstruck

@amwldcoin said:
Yes, Die marriages will bring quite the premium! I sold an 1822...25/50 Quarter that was a harshly cleaned G-Vg on ebay. It hammered for over $5,000!

That sounds more like a die divorce than marriage

ricko

Great report.... Sounds like a FUN evening in the sports/lobby bar....I look forward to your next installment... Cheers, RickO

oih82w8

Nice report...I miss visiting the bourse...can hardly wait for Arlington, TX Mar 2018.

ElmerFusterpuck

Thanks for the report! One day I'll make a return to that show, but I will be at the Feb. 2018 Long Beach show!

RogerB

Interesting!

TwoSides2aCoin

I'm stuck in the deep freeze, but at least we got the Frost out of Florida before FUN.

msch1man

@spacehayduke said:
What I forgot to add about the bust quarter a 31 B7 (R5) in VF20 in the Ha auction last nite is that is in an old ANACS holder, on a good day at PCGS might go 25 but that is really not the goal for this coin for whomever bought it - it is the die marriage. So it probably if an R! marriage would have gone .6x PCGS prices. It ended up closing 5.6x PCGS price with the juice. So you can see what the value is of a rare die marriage to the specialists. Now there are some R6 and R7's out there - imagine what they will go for if the specialists catch drift of it?

Best, SH

Edit: Oops I stand corrected. The 31 B7 (R5) closed at 14x PCGS price for the R1. Somehow my computer did not refresh the Ha site this morning until I opened it up again after closing so the info I had on last nite auctions were not correct. I also found that the bust dollar that I 'won', in fact I was outbid 1 increment. Very strange, my computer must have cached the site from last nite so until I actually quit the browser it just came up again.

This price on the 31 B7 really sets the tone for true rarities in the market right now, even those that are kind of unassuming in eye appeal and grade. Expect to pay up..........

Makes the 1806 B-8 that sold in the same sale seem like a steal!

bestday

@spacehayduke said:
Hi Folks,
So my day started at 4 am CT, hopped on the road to the airport to catch an early flight. My flight seemed to be full of folks going to FUN - local dealers and those that connected through. Had a nice chat with some of them at the gate before boarding. Got off the plane in Tampa, got a Taxi within 5 minutes and was lot viewing the Heritage auction lots in 20 minutes of getting off the plane - Tampa is a pretty easy place to get around. I went through pretty much all of the bust, seated, and barber silver in 3 hours. I started with around 40 lots I was tracking on my Ha page, by the time I was done, I was down to 6, 3 of which were newly added during lot viewing. I bid on 1 bust dollar in tonite's auction, I will have to see if I won it. Everything else is in the online only auction later in the week, except for a bust quarter as noted in the next paragraph.

After lot viewing I came back to the Marriott - and I ate at the sports bar, and then went back to the room to study the lots I was interested in and put in some bids. I also put in a bid for one interesting bust quarter a 31 B7 (R5) in VF20 - it was, okay in hand, that was also up for tonite. By the time I viewed it online before the auction, my aggressive bid of 2x the PCGS price was blown out of the water - pre-auction it was up to >5x PCGS price. I need that die marriage, but not that bad, it was not that nice of a coin, but it just goes to show that there are some serious bust quarter die marriage collectors out there and that this is a hard coin to find. But if I am going to bid 5x the market price for an R1, the coin has to be all there R5 or not. I have done that for some R5 die marriages, but they were also amazing coins for eye appeal and originality - all there in other words. Hopefully I will find one some time.

Some of the gossip I picked up talking to some of the dealers is that they all agree that the market is picking up - each month for the last few has been better than the past month. So there was alot of optimism at the show today. We will see what the collector buzz is like on the bourse tomorrow.

This evening I then went down to the lobby bar for a beer (yes they have a sports bar and a lobby bar), and got a pint of the local Hazelnut Porter. Really. hazelnut. porter. And.... Wow! This alone makes the show worth it. ldhair came by. Larry also ordered the Hazelnut Porter. We had a pretty long chat about coins and other things. We made plans to show each other coins we brought and do some searching on the bourse tomorrow. This evening the Marriott lobby bar was packed with show attendees.

So that was it for Day 1. Tomorrow will be where the real action begins. I will write about it here.

Best, SH

Strong auction bidding ?? up trending market??

Dealer friend had best holiday season since 2006.... he even took a pre Fun vacation to Aruba...

Interesting .. he has a Heritage auction buy list of coins totaling over 7 figures... up nearly 50 % from 2017...
Including several coins to win ... at any cost

Dow crosses 25,000 today .......money to money
.Nice report .. stay warm in FL

Gazes

always enjoy reports like these. thank you!

asheland

Great report!

scubafuel

I was surprised the 1831 B-7 went so low. Not all R5 quarters are created equally, and this is a variety that rarely comes gradable, let alone nice. Most of the population is in very low, damaged grades.

The 1806 B-8 also seemed to sell cheaply. I didn't see the coin in hand, but I would have thought the price would be higher especially when you consider it was a Browning plate coin. Definitely the highlight from the collection that just sold! But bust quarter varieties have been soft for a while now, so not a huge surprise.

BAJJERFAN

@TwoSides2aCoin said:
I'm stuck in the deep freeze, but at least we got the Frost out of Florida before FUN.

Good one Joe!

kaz

Thanks for the report, hope you find some nice coins over the next few days.

breakdown

@spacehayduke said:

@blu62vette said:
Always good to see you in our traditional preshow lobby meeting!

Hey Todd, always fun to have the pre-game chat with your dad and you!

Best, SH

Haven't been to a show in awhile but when I get back, one of my first stops will be to see Todd and Roger.

Appreciate the report. i have banned myself from shows for the time being in the fear that I might start buying or even worse, attending auctions so reports like these are great to see.

golden

Thanks for your report. Keep them coming.

1630Boston

Thanks for sharing the show with us not in attendance
I appreciate it

Treashunt

Thanks, up in NY we are still digging out of the snow storm

ugh

1TwoBits

I'm with you @Treashunt, I shoveled out from the foot of snow yesterday.

I agree with @Scubafuel on some of the rarer varieties. I also thought the 1831 B-7 (R5) in old ANACS VF20 went cheap at $2,640.  Same reasons as you, on of the rarer reduced size quarter varieties which normally come low grade and with problems such as harsh cleaning or damage.  I was really tempted to bid when watching it live, but it would just be another duplicate for me.

The NGC F15 1806 B-8 (R6) Browning Plate coin at $8,400 was also a good buy on one of the rarest draped bust varieties.  I'd also say that the AG3 1804 B-2 (R5) in the old ANACS holder was also a decent buy to me at $1,800.

If anyone starting on bust quarters by variety bought any of these, it was a good day. I will say that these rarer varieties don't always come nice and that less rare varieties that are very nice for their grades still seem to do well price-wise (at least the ones I'm trying to bid on or buy).

1TwoBits

Desert Moon

Yup I was pretty bad at pricing these two - I did not think an R5 small bust quarter was that much. The 06 B8 R6, I was thinking about half that. This was a good learning experience as both were keepers for sure, good coins..... Now I know what I should expect in bids to get these.

Best, SH

Treashunt

@1TwoBits said:
I'm with you @Treashunt, I shoveled out from the foot of snow yesterday.

I agree with @Scubafuel on some of the rarer varieties. I also thought the 1831 B-7 (R5) in old ANACS VF20 went cheap at $2,640.  Same reasons as you, on of the rarer reduced size quarter varieties which normally come low grade and with problems such as harsh cleaning or damage.  I was really tempted to bid when watching it live, but it would just be another duplicate for me.

The NGC F15 1806 B-8 (R6) Browning Plate coin at $8,400 was also a good buy on one of the rarest draped bust varieties.  I'd also say that the AG3 1804 B-2 (R5) in the old ANACS holder was also a decent buy to me at $1,800.

If anyone starting on bust quarters by variety bought any of these, it was a good day. I will say that these rarer varieties don't always come nice and that less rare varieties that are very nice for their grades still seem to do well price-wise (at least the ones I'm trying to bid on or buy).

1TwoBits

You must be on LI?

Paradisefound

HYPERDRIVE me PLEASE! I am so jealous....
Thank you for sharing