Southern Idaho Coin Show Report (Boise)

kalshacon · May 27, 2018 9:32AM

I made the drive to Boise, ID to set up for the Southern Idaho Coin Club Show over part of the Memorial Day weekend.
I think I'll break this down into sections to try to make it easier to read (and you can skip the parts you don't want to read about).

Disclaimer: I didn't take any pics (sorry!), I thought about it Thursday afternoon and I'll use the excuse that I was busy enough the rest of the show that it slipped my mind.

Dates and venue: The show was open to the public on Friday afternoon from 2-7 and Saturday 10-5. The show was in the Hilton Garden Inn conference room. The conference room was spacious and the parking was free. The Southern Idaho coin club was collecting attendance fees at the door (I didn't ask how much) and there was a raffle available for several silver dollars and a $5 modern gold commemorative.

Dealers and attendance: This was my first Boise show and it was smaller than I imagined, I counted 12 dealers total. The dealers in attendance ranged in size and location from Me (Montana) to California (McIntosh Coins). Of the 12, four are what I would term national circuit dealers including Infinity Coins from Idaho Falls, Coin Exchange (bourse chairman), McIntosh from Sacramento, and two guys splitting a table that I forgot the names of (one from Colorado and one from California). The remainder included the gentleman who runs the Spokane, WA Coin Show and either smaller shops or vest pocket guys/gals from the Idaho/Utah area. Attendance was moderate on Friday afternoon with approximately 200 individuals roaming through the isles and Saturday ended up having about the same number by my estimation.

Set-up and Buying/Selling Activity: Friday morning at around nine the doors opened for dealers with the public being allowed in at 2. The show started out slow for me on Friday and then really picked up steam on Saturday. I was one of the first dealers in the room at 9 on Friday and was set-up by 10-1030. Very little wholesale activity for me on Friday, I sold one 14-D Lincoln in an NGC holder prior to the doors opening at 2. The rest of the day I made several sales in the under $50 category of coins and currency. Saturday started off with much more activity for me with the Colorado dealer buying a nice wholesale deal from me for a certified 1910 MPL, five certified bust halves, and a classic head $5. I was also able to wholesale a 09-S VDB and 22 Plain, Weak Reverse (both had issues and were raw) to a different dealer. Retail wise I sold some diverse material, someone purchased a Modern $5 Gold Commemorative from me (!), someone else a certified $2 Confederate Note, and a 34 Coin Ike set in a Capital Plastic Holder moved on to different hands. I was able to clear out some certified world coins that I had in inventory for way too long. Other dealers in the room echoed most of what I said, attendance and buying activity were moderate.

Observations and Notes: This show proved to me again that I never really can predict what buyers are going to be after.

One dealer had 10 oz generic silver bars marked at $168/each and several $10-$100 face bags of 90% marked at 11.8x face and he told me he didn't have any 90% sales and it didn't look like he sold any 10 oz bars. I had three Engelhard 10 oz P-series loafs in the case at $200 each. I had two people ask about them but didn't sell any. I did sell a Hecla Mining 3 oz bar and two 1 oz Canadian Wildlife series Silver rounds. I also had a 90% sale, a flea market dealer came around and wanted to pick through my bags of 90%, he bought $4 face at 12.5X. Bullion (gold and silver) seemed very slow. Generic $20 libs and saints are also very soft, a gentleman was not happy at the offers he was getting on two uncertified Saints he was trying to sell around the room.

I had a nice little selection of certified GSA soft packs that did not get a single look. I saw a wholesale deal for some common hard packs go down dealer to dealer. Very soft prices in the GSA market right now I think. I was on the lookout for raw, lower grade CC dollars and did not find any worth spending money on. The GSA's and lower grade CC material go really well at gun and antique shows in Montana.

I sold only two Morgans, a 78CC and 83P, both raw. Among other sales were an FDR medal, $5 National, 62P Cameo Franklin in an old NGC Holder, a single OBW roll of 55D Lincolns, a partial Lincoln Set in a Dansco, and a French Hercules silver Piedfort. Very diverse sales.

I bought two $3 Gold Pieces, two Morgan Dollars, and some assorted Chinese coins/currency. I was not able to find a single C or D mint gold piece in any case, raw or certified. McIntosh and Infinity had some really nice certified CC $20's. I had the only MPL in the room and there was a Molitor gold piece in an old PCGS holder available at one of the tables. Some very nice rainbow toned Walker's in PCGS holders with what I would consider moon-money asking prices. Most dealers had a mix of CAC and non-CAC certified coins. No currency dealers or world coin dealers. One Ancient coin specialist with a large number of certified ancient coins available (four showcases). A single table with the majority of his coins being certified VAMs. Type, both certified and raw, was available across most series.

There were no security issues that I saw and no one mentioned any thefts or attempts. One dealer had security cameras set up on his tables. There was an older gentleman shopping around some late night coin infomercial products (NE Patriots Commem coin sets, copy early gold pieces, etc.) that was asked to leave after he started a pseudo-argument about the stuff he was selling at a dealers table. I think it was more of a misunderstanding than an argument but he was definitely an interesting fellow and was passionate about trying to sell his stuff.

Conclusion: I enjoyed myself and had a profitable show, it was a win-win. The next show up for me is Salt Lake at the end of June, I'll remember to take pics for the next one.

golden · May 27, 2018 10:23AM

Thanks for a really nice show report.

mkman123 · May 27, 2018 10:28AM

great report, loved reading it. Pics next time please!!

ElmerFusterpuck · May 27, 2018 10:29AM

Very nice report, sometimes the small shows are just as interesting as the large ones.

kaz · May 27, 2018 10:51AM

Thanks for taking the time to post an interesting and detailed report!

Smudge · May 27, 2018 10:59AM

Thanks for the report. Good way to see what is popular and where.

mannie gray · May 27, 2018 12:18PM

Smaller shows can be really really good.

tommy44 · May 27, 2018 12:19PM

Nice report, thanks for posting.

thisistheshow · May 27, 2018 12:55PM

Very nice report. I have not read any of your prior ones, so I can't say for sure, but perhaps because you did not have pictures you put some extra details in! You really painted a good picture. Thanks for taking the time to write this. I enjoyed it.

BLUEJAYWAY · May 27, 2018 1:05PM

That was a complete and varied report that was a nice read. Covered many bases in an orderly fashion. Thanks for your input.

Peace_dollar88 · May 27, 2018 1:10PM

Nice report. I have thought about driving up to this show for years... maybe one day will finally attend.

kalshacon · May 27, 2018 1:20PM

I made a mistake in my post, there were 15 dealers, forgot to count a couple.

DennisH · May 27, 2018 1:40PM

I bought more coins at the Boise show (and spent more) than I have at any show in 2+ years, all on Friday. I figured I'd better not even try to do anything on Saturday.

thefinn · May 27, 2018 1:48PM

I was set up there too. I love the Boise show. I was a bit worried about it being over the Memorial Day weekend, but the public came through for me. I have a lot of return customers that visit, some from Portland, and always ask if I am coming back. Dan does a good job hosting it. Small but nice. The extra time for dealer setup-exchange on Friday is nice too.