Early American Coppers (EAC) Convention Report
BillJones
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Each year the Early American Coppers Club (EAC) holds a convention at various sites around the country. This year it was held near Newark, Ohio, which is near Columbus. This is very much a collectors' show. It is run by and for collectors, and while the business aspect is important, as one dealer said it is not unusual for dealers to rate the social aspect of the convention as an "A" and the business aspect a "B." Learning and meeting and with old and new friends in the hobby is very much the order of the day.
The show attendees include members of EAC plus the Colonial Collectors Club (4C) and the John Reich Society, which includes those who collector early U.S. silver and gold coins. Most of the coins offered on the bourse floor include large cents and half cents. There are also a fair number of colonial coins and older gold and silver coins. Although few "dollars, walkers and commems" are seen, this is not the show for you if those areas are your specialty.
The first evening was marked by four "happenings" for large cents, half cents, colonial coins and early 19th century silver pieces. Prior to the show a list of varieties for each of the "happening" is listed in "Penny Wise" the official publication of EAC. Collectors bring examples of the coins listed and other collectors rate them according their eye appeal and state of preservation. This year for the first time in a long while I was able to display a half cent. I no longer collect by variety, but this year the 1793 C-2 half cent was on the list, and that is the coin in my type set.
The two most stunning coins of the evening for me were a 1793 C-2 half cent in PCGS MS-65, brown and a truly breath taking 1793 C-3 half cent in PCGS MS-66. I had never seen a 1793 half cent that was that nice, and it was a pleasure to see such an item. The MS-66 half cent is going to be auctioned later in the year, and some are estimating that it will sell for over $1 million.
The next day I hit the bourse. Since most of the bourse is dedicated to large cents and half cents, it took me a while to get my bearings. I always go with a list, but this year my big purchase was a coin that kind of fell off of my list because the prices had gotten too high IMO, the 1783 Chalmers shilling. Oddly a enough there were three coins on the floor, a VF-30, an EF-40 and an EF-45. The amazing thing was the EF-40 was priced below the highest price I would consider paying for this coin by a substantial margin. I actually thought that the EF-40 was nicer than EF-45, but given the fact that the price for the 45 for 30% less the decision became a "no brainer."
I attended two of the educational forums. "How the Old-Time Dealers Graded their Coins" by Mark Borckardt and a talk in Indian Peace medals by John Kraljevich. John's speech was in rhyme, I kid you not, and it was amazingly cleaver.
I spent quite a bit of time John Kraljevich's table. He always has some fascinating material, and this show was no exception. In the end I purchased two "dark side" items from him, a cut down 1 bit "pie slice" from an eight reale piece from the island of Curacao and a string of 17th century Iroquois wampum beads. These beads were legal tender for a while in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and other English speaking settlements during that period. I post stories about these items later.
The EAC auction was held on Saturday night, May 4th. Chris McCawley, Bob Grellman and Shawn Yancey run the auction, and all of the coins are graded by EAC standards. That means that to many collectors the coins are under graded, but don't let that fool you. The competition is strong and there are few pieces that slip by at bargain prices. This is strictly a private sale and you must be an EAC member BEFORE the convention to participate.
So far as the grading goes the majority of the coins are raw. There were some TPG pieces, and the EAC grades were almost always lower than the slab grades, sometimes by as much as 15 to 20 points. I had my eye on a few items, but was only able to buy one, a Talbot, Allum and Lee cent in PCGS AU-58. The EAC grade was "EF-45+."
There was a 1793 Chain AMERI. cent that grabbed my attention. It was uniformly porous and had rim problems on both sides, which met that it could never get more than a "genuine" slab grade, but all of the major details on the piece were sharp and clear. Given the historical importance of this piece as the first U.S. cent struck for general circulation, this piece really intrigued me. It sold for $16,500 including the buyer's fee, so I was out. There was also an 1804 large cent in the sale, but it went for very strong money in IMO. It too had surface issues and could not be graded by a TPG, but it sold for almost as much money as it would have had it been gradeable. I keep kcicking around the idea of a date set of large cents, but then I see results like this, and I get slapped back to reality.
The convention ended on Sunday, and it is always amazing to see how fast the time flies at these conventions. Next year's show will be in Colorado Springs, and I'm really looking forward to it.
The show attendees include members of EAC plus the Colonial Collectors Club (4C) and the John Reich Society, which includes those who collector early U.S. silver and gold coins. Most of the coins offered on the bourse floor include large cents and half cents. There are also a fair number of colonial coins and older gold and silver coins. Although few "dollars, walkers and commems" are seen, this is not the show for you if those areas are your specialty.
The first evening was marked by four "happenings" for large cents, half cents, colonial coins and early 19th century silver pieces. Prior to the show a list of varieties for each of the "happening" is listed in "Penny Wise" the official publication of EAC. Collectors bring examples of the coins listed and other collectors rate them according their eye appeal and state of preservation. This year for the first time in a long while I was able to display a half cent. I no longer collect by variety, but this year the 1793 C-2 half cent was on the list, and that is the coin in my type set.
The two most stunning coins of the evening for me were a 1793 C-2 half cent in PCGS MS-65, brown and a truly breath taking 1793 C-3 half cent in PCGS MS-66. I had never seen a 1793 half cent that was that nice, and it was a pleasure to see such an item. The MS-66 half cent is going to be auctioned later in the year, and some are estimating that it will sell for over $1 million.
The next day I hit the bourse. Since most of the bourse is dedicated to large cents and half cents, it took me a while to get my bearings. I always go with a list, but this year my big purchase was a coin that kind of fell off of my list because the prices had gotten too high IMO, the 1783 Chalmers shilling. Oddly a enough there were three coins on the floor, a VF-30, an EF-40 and an EF-45. The amazing thing was the EF-40 was priced below the highest price I would consider paying for this coin by a substantial margin. I actually thought that the EF-40 was nicer than EF-45, but given the fact that the price for the 45 for 30% less the decision became a "no brainer."
I attended two of the educational forums. "How the Old-Time Dealers Graded their Coins" by Mark Borckardt and a talk in Indian Peace medals by John Kraljevich. John's speech was in rhyme, I kid you not, and it was amazingly cleaver.
I spent quite a bit of time John Kraljevich's table. He always has some fascinating material, and this show was no exception. In the end I purchased two "dark side" items from him, a cut down 1 bit "pie slice" from an eight reale piece from the island of Curacao and a string of 17th century Iroquois wampum beads. These beads were legal tender for a while in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and other English speaking settlements during that period. I post stories about these items later.
The EAC auction was held on Saturday night, May 4th. Chris McCawley, Bob Grellman and Shawn Yancey run the auction, and all of the coins are graded by EAC standards. That means that to many collectors the coins are under graded, but don't let that fool you. The competition is strong and there are few pieces that slip by at bargain prices. This is strictly a private sale and you must be an EAC member BEFORE the convention to participate.
So far as the grading goes the majority of the coins are raw. There were some TPG pieces, and the EAC grades were almost always lower than the slab grades, sometimes by as much as 15 to 20 points. I had my eye on a few items, but was only able to buy one, a Talbot, Allum and Lee cent in PCGS AU-58. The EAC grade was "EF-45+."
There was a 1793 Chain AMERI. cent that grabbed my attention. It was uniformly porous and had rim problems on both sides, which met that it could never get more than a "genuine" slab grade, but all of the major details on the piece were sharp and clear. Given the historical importance of this piece as the first U.S. cent struck for general circulation, this piece really intrigued me. It sold for $16,500 including the buyer's fee, so I was out. There was also an 1804 large cent in the sale, but it went for very strong money in IMO. It too had surface issues and could not be graded by a TPG, but it sold for almost as much money as it would have had it been gradeable. I keep kcicking around the idea of a date set of large cents, but then I see results like this, and I get slapped back to reality.
The convention ended on Sunday, and it is always amazing to see how fast the time flies at these conventions. Next year's show will be in Colorado Springs, and I'm really looking forward to it.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
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Comments
I knew it would happen.
Another report said that you gave a pretty good presentation yourself!
Thanks for the very informative report. Although I've been a memeber of EAC for years I have yet to attend one of their conventions/auctions...one of these days...
Thanks for the report Bill!
I have wanted to go to one of these conventions, but have not made it happen yet.
......I collect old stuff......
Thank you for a great report
I hope to attend one of these sooner rather than later. I have been a member of EAC for years but have never made it.
Excellent Chalmers shilling also.
Choice Numismatics www.ChoiceCoin.com
CN eBay
All of my collection is in a safe deposit box!
We'll use our hands and hearts and if we must we'll use our heads.
Greg
It seems any decent chain cents have dried up over the last few years.
PCGS Registries
Box of 20
SeaEagleCoins: 11/14/54-4/5/12. Miss you Larry!
<< <i>Is it true they do miniature curling with a new jersey cent and camel hair brushes? >>
That's too funny.
<< <i>I so wish a great show like this would come to Lexington (KY). >>
There have been EAC shows in recent years in Kentucky.
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