My PNNA show report for Friday 3/16/18 with pics.
jtlee321
Posts: 2,365 ✭✭✭✭✭
I have been looking forward to this show for months now. I had to miss it last year as my son was sick and the wife had to work, but everything worked out great this year. I was hoping to hit the road by 9:30 am and arrive right at the 12:00 pm opening, but I had a few loose ends to tie up first, so I got a bit of a late start. Traffic was light on the way up, so it only took 2.5 hours to drive there and I arrived just before 1:00 pm.
As I arrived, the parking was pretty full, but I managed to find a spot close to the entrance. Thankfully the parking is free at this event. I made my way to the entrance, where I was greeted with a smile and an offer to take an elongated cent to commemorate this particular PNNA Show. I asked if I could take a few as my kids enjoy them and I wanted to send one out to one of my east coast friends. 
I happily paid the $2.00 admission and entered the show. It was pretty crowded and everyone seemed to be having a great time. Lot's of dealers with fresh coins. I started over towards the left side and worked my way up and down each aisle. I was greeted with a lot of smiling faces from dealers which is always a good sign. My first stop was a dealer that had a couple of nicely toned Canadian coins. I didn't end up buying any as I had just arrived and the pricing was a bit more than I wanted to pay for raw.
My next stop was a larger dealer from the Seattle area who had a corner table. They had a lot of freshly graded coins back from PCGS, mostly Morgan's, so I took a peek. A couple grabbed my interest, but I had just arrived and didn't want to just start spending money without looking around a bit. But, as I rounded the corner I noticed an old NGC fatty with a bright almost baby blue green label looking up at me from the case. It was a 1938-D Buffalo, something that I have recently become addicted to buying. It was graded MS-67 and appeared to have pretty decent color to boot. So I asked to look at it. I didn't own an MS-67 yet, so this would be a great addition to the heard. After looking it over, I noticed the MM appeared to something going on with it. So I got out my higher powered lens and took a look. Sure enough, it was an unattributed FS-511 OMM-001 D/D/D/S. I handed it back to the dealer and asked how much? I was very happy with the price he offered, so I bought it. I was ecstatic that my first purchase was a home run. I've been wanting a D/S for quite some time, but I prefer to cherrypick my varieties. I didn't expect to find such a nice example to go unattributed by one of the big TPG's. I was also very happy as the holder appeared to be in pristine condition. It did have an old sticker over the hologram on the back, which I was a bit concerned about. But, it came off and the residue was easy to remove with a cotton ball and rubbing alcohol. The hologram is completely intact, which is great for my OCD.
My next stop was the other side of the aisle. There were a lot of customers sitting down with thick binders looking through pages of 2x2 flips. This is one of my favorite things to do, look through binders of coins. The binder or Mercury Dimes was available. The dealer gave me an extra chair and I shared a light with another customer. I started flipping through the binder not finding much. The earlier dates were all lower grade. But, once I got to the '40's, I started to find better material. I pulled (2) higher grade 1941-S FS-511 Large S Mercury Dimes. One is an AU and the other a low end Unc. I also found a really nice looking Gem 1942-S with full McDonalds Arches, FSB. The coin really jumped out at me. It had been struck with dies that had previously clashed and consequently were abraded from the repair work, leaving behind heavy die file lines. Remnants of the clash can be seen next to the Axe on the reverse, part of Liberty's neck is still there. The reverse shows most of the repair work. I also bought a 1929-S Buffalo with a nice sized lamination error on the reverse. I don't have any photo's of it as it's still soaking in acetone.
I walked around a little more and stopped to say high to Tom at Liberty Coin who is my favorite local dealer down here in Vancouver. I wanted to say hello to Jerry Bobbe, but he was busy with customers as was @ThePennyLady. I don't like to interrupt as business is the reason why they are there. So maybe next time.
My next purchase was an attractively toned 1885-O Morgan Dollar in an old ANACS MS-64 holder. It's the second generation holder that still used the 2 letter prefix. I negotiated with the dealer and we came up with a price we were both happy with.
After that purchase, I made my way around to the rest of the tables. I couldn't find anything that I just had to have. So I made my way back over to the Seattle dealer that I made my first purchase from earlier. There was a really nice looking 1921 Morgan in a PCGS MS-65 holder that I wanted to go look at again. I was happy to see it still there. So I asked to look at it again. I set it aside and asked to look at a few other Morgan's. An 1883-O in MS-64 that turned out to be an unattributed VAM-36a E clash made the cut. So I negotiated a deal and bought the 1921 and 1883-O.
It was starting to get late and I knew I had a long drive ahead of me, especially with the rush hour traffic. So I left at around 5:30 and didn't get home until 9:00. I did have a great time and would have gone again, if it were closer. I look forward to the upcoming October PNNA here in Portland.
Comments
Great report and some really nice coin buys.
Your coin photography is outstanding.
Thank you! I had a great time up there. I want to make it to the Boeing show sometime.
Go Blazers! Great report and thanks! Gorgeous coins and images, love the old holders. Never fun to drive I5 from PDX to Seattle and back, and I haven't done it for 2 decades, I can't even imagine how bad that freeway is now with traffic.
Best, SH
Thanks for the report and nice pickups!
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
My digital cameo album 1950-64 Cameos - take a look!
Thanks. The traffic between Olympia and Vancouver is usually no problem, unless there is a big accident that shuts the freeway down. Between Olympia and Seattle it can usually be heavy, especially around rush hour.
I was on I5 in PDX a couple weeks ago in non-rush hour time between the junction with the Freemont and the Moda Center and it was frozen solid both ways. My siblings who still live there, told me that is the norm these days, traffic jams are common all times of the day. And in rush hour on 405 - fugettaboutit. And Sunset Hwy., the only corridor into Tualatin Valley, is a complete mess whereas it used to be only a normal mess.......
But back to coins. From your show report it sounds like there is a vibrant collector community in the PNW. Good to hear.
Best, SH
Great report and pics! You had some forum members looking for you...without success it seems....including Bochiman. I was also there Friday and went back today for more.
"My next stop was the other side of the aisle. There were a lot of customers sitting down with thick binders looking through pages of 2x2 flips. This is one of my favorite things to do, look through binders of coins"
For some reason I always liked the "other side of the aisle" and "2X2 flips"...Oh well!
Forgot to mention, Nice report JT!
Great report. Awesome pictures.
I especially like the '38 D/S Buffalo in the NGC fattie. It's a beautiful coin! I have OCD big time too and slab condition and intact holograms are important to me.
The 85-O Morgan in the old alpha-numeric ANACS holder is a winner too. Love those old ANACS holders!!
Jeff
I love those ANACS holders as well. I was really hoping to find an ANA one that had to come home with me. I didn't find one this time, but this is as close as I could get. LOL
I have a bit of a younger looking face, so I can sometimes be missed. I have no idea what any of the members here look like with the exception of two members on here. That was the reason I wore the bright blue polo. Maybe next time I'll wear some kind of identifying signage or a custom printed shirt. LOL. Someday I'll meet some of you, until then happy hunting.
Great report and awesome pics, thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing, Justin. Some great pickups there!
Kind regards,
George
Great pickups.... I also have an unattributed D/D/D/S...Thanks for the great show report.... love that show. Cheers, RickO
Terrific show report and really cool pickups @jtlee321 .
Like @SeattleSlammer I went back for more on Saturday and it was worth it.
I got to place a face with a name meeting forum members @carabonnair and @Nysoto, both of whom gave lectures in the PNNA Numismatic Theater. Thanks to those guys!
Saw @Bochiman friday and got a chance to add to my gold type set when I picked up this Saint,
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso
Thanks for the great report
Thanks for the very nice report.
It was my pleasure. I enjoyed writing up an actual report for once. I need to start doing more of these.
Sounds like some good pickin'. How funny to see the current elongated cent on this forum. These are always a must grab for me, since I was offered one at my first PNNA a few years back.
(hey @jtlee321 , you are not the only one who likes their fat holograms preserved)
Enjoyed your report. Would like to see a photo of the 29-S lamination as that is my primary collecting interest. Thanks in advance.
Thanks for taking the time to write up your experience at the PNNA Tukwila show. Saturday was jam packed and it was a very busy and successful show. I'm not able to prepare a report because I'm leaving for Baltimore tomorrow so it was really nice to read some of the other forum members' reports. Next time, please make sure to come back and say hi!
The Penny Lady®
I enjoyed the report and your s. Great picks too.
Edited for error
Great pictures, thanks for the show report.
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb, Ricko
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
Here is the 1929-S Buffalo with the laminated reverse. Nothing spectacular, but it was REALLY cheap and I thought it was interesting.
If you want to see the full resolution image and really take a look at it, you can see it Here.