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PCGS Las Vegas Coin Show Report
SethChandler
Posts: 1,722 ✭✭✭✭
I want to share with my fellow board members my thoughts on the PCGS Coin Show in Las Vegas. I love reading show reports – so I try to write one whenever I attend a decent coin show.
First off, I was really excited to go, partially because I planned it at the last minute – a pleasant surprise for me, and I have not jumped on an airplane to attend a coin show in over a year. I attended four big ones in 2013. Life gets in the way of coins from time to time, a new baby, and two other kids to raise, coaching their teams, work, etc etc, same stuff everyone deals with.
The was my second PCGS Vegas show. My first was in Dec 2012.
I live in San Francisco, and flew to Vegas yesterday in the morning and flew back at night. I had about 7 hours at the show. This show is great, no doubt about it. It is different and not for everybody. The best was to describe it is super casual, but if you are in the mood to buy, there are many hardcore coins to buy.
I was excited to see my great friend, Jim Essence – we were scheduled to arrive at The Bellagio at the same time, so we agreed to meet in the lobby. As I am waiting, tradedollarnut walks in – errrrr – limps in. Surgery on the foot. We have a really nice conversation and new babies, the show, his collection, and the Pogues. It was nice to catch up – haven’t seen him in a year or two.
My buddy Jim shows up – we proceed to track down the show. (The Bellagio is HUGE). Concierge didn’t know. They had to make a few phone calls, but it took a little while. (note to PCGS, makes sure the Concierge knows about the show).
When you walk in, what hits you is how small it is. 30 or 40 tables? At most. The large PCGS booth and the Legend Coin Auction Booth.
Immediately, Jim and I sat at one of the empty tables in front of the PCGS booth. We both had a few coins to submit, some for show grading others for regular submission. Then I see TahoeDale, I scream at him to come on over and hang out. We have known each other for over 10 years and I really like Dale. He knows his coins and I greatly admire the collections that he has built. His Bust Dollar set is really coming along! Congrats buddy! I proceeded to do a show and tell with some coins I brought. Dale and I were both pretty excited to see the Sunnywood toned dollars in the Legend sale.
Then Gregg Bingham walks by, I snag him. Now we got a little crew going, and the coin stories start flying. Actually half our discussions are about life in general. For those of you that do not know Gregg, he is very opinionated. He has a lot of thoughts. I told him he should have his own radio show in Houston. One of the big reasons I like Gregg, is that with my conversations with him, he is so pro-collector. He, as a collector, understands the biz side of coins more than most, and he just doesn’t want to see any type of injustice. Everyone gets a fair shake. Gregg had his Columbian Half PR68 on display – one of the best commems of all time! Spectacular!
As part of my show and tell, I had a somewhat recent purchase, a 1907 High Relief Twenty PCGS MS66+ CAC Flat Edge on the table. Another collector walks up, Gregg and Dale introduce us, and the collectors sees the High Relief and starts talking about Saints. I tell him to pick it and check it out – that’s why we are here! He starts to list how many were graded, prices, and mentions how many he owns. Turns out he has a complete set of Saints. Really a cool guy and passionate collector. You never know whom you are going to meet.
Next, Don Willis, walks over to our table. Now we really got a crew going. We all had a nice pleasant chat with Don. Grading, how’s biz?, crossovers, how show grading is done, just a lot of nice info that I have not heard before. The one big thing I like about Don, is that his is a coin collector first. He is really into coins. We had several conversations at the show about what he has collected and his current endeavor, colonials. The passion was all there. And this really shows when he is talking about PCGS, as his answers and observations are very frank and from a collector point of view. Just a great guy. That’s what makes this show special, imagine how busy he would be at the ANA, FUN, etc, shows?
I headed on over to the Legend Coin Auction lot viewing. What a neat auction this is, and congratulations to Julie and Laura, it aint easy, but I feel they are doing a great job. It is such a nichey, high quality, concentrated auction. Always great stuff. Laura was very kind to offer her observations on many of the coins in general.
The coins. The Sunnywood Dollars are better than what you would expect. Really. Then you start to think how rare many of the coins are with bag toning (or nice album toned), coupled with way less than average bagmarks – you really begin to appreciate how tough it was to put this group of coins together.
The 1880-CC, 90-CC, and 91-CC in hand meets all the hype. Off the charts. The 90-CC and 91-CC have the most dramatic colors. The 80-CC is a completely different animal, you cant imagine a toned coin looking like this. A greenish blue color, its hypnotic- with very clean surfaces.
The 81-S, is hand down the finest toned Morgan around. It is the King. If you were going to create the most perfectly toned Morgan from scratch - this is it.
My favorite was the 1893-S in 65. Not really a toned monster, but the second finest 93-S. I could not put the coin down. Imagine a really nice 1880-S in 65 – that’s this coin – only a 93-S.
I sat next to David Hall at lot viewing. And as he his looking at the Sunnywood Dollars, he just screamed out “This is one of the coolest things I’ve every seen!” To no one in particular. I asked David what he is collecting now – since he sold his awesome set of $10 Liberties. He mentions LP (records?) and a certain type of baseball cards. What about coins???!!! There wasn’t really an answer – but I had the feeling he was working on something special. His passion and excitement were evident when he talked about his collecting.
I had a brief chat with Bill Shamhart. I regretted not spending more time with Bill. He is always one of the sharpest guys in the room, and will always offer to help in anyway he can. Plus, he is really into coins and the Americana that goes with coins.
Jim and had grabbed a quick buffet dinner at The Bellagio – one of the best around and I was off to the airport.
I really had a great time, my wife could clearly tell when I got home. I made one purchase, I will post when I get a better image of it.
Hopefully, you enjoyed my report.
Seth
First off, I was really excited to go, partially because I planned it at the last minute – a pleasant surprise for me, and I have not jumped on an airplane to attend a coin show in over a year. I attended four big ones in 2013. Life gets in the way of coins from time to time, a new baby, and two other kids to raise, coaching their teams, work, etc etc, same stuff everyone deals with.
The was my second PCGS Vegas show. My first was in Dec 2012.
I live in San Francisco, and flew to Vegas yesterday in the morning and flew back at night. I had about 7 hours at the show. This show is great, no doubt about it. It is different and not for everybody. The best was to describe it is super casual, but if you are in the mood to buy, there are many hardcore coins to buy.
I was excited to see my great friend, Jim Essence – we were scheduled to arrive at The Bellagio at the same time, so we agreed to meet in the lobby. As I am waiting, tradedollarnut walks in – errrrr – limps in. Surgery on the foot. We have a really nice conversation and new babies, the show, his collection, and the Pogues. It was nice to catch up – haven’t seen him in a year or two.
My buddy Jim shows up – we proceed to track down the show. (The Bellagio is HUGE). Concierge didn’t know. They had to make a few phone calls, but it took a little while. (note to PCGS, makes sure the Concierge knows about the show).
When you walk in, what hits you is how small it is. 30 or 40 tables? At most. The large PCGS booth and the Legend Coin Auction Booth.
Immediately, Jim and I sat at one of the empty tables in front of the PCGS booth. We both had a few coins to submit, some for show grading others for regular submission. Then I see TahoeDale, I scream at him to come on over and hang out. We have known each other for over 10 years and I really like Dale. He knows his coins and I greatly admire the collections that he has built. His Bust Dollar set is really coming along! Congrats buddy! I proceeded to do a show and tell with some coins I brought. Dale and I were both pretty excited to see the Sunnywood toned dollars in the Legend sale.
Then Gregg Bingham walks by, I snag him. Now we got a little crew going, and the coin stories start flying. Actually half our discussions are about life in general. For those of you that do not know Gregg, he is very opinionated. He has a lot of thoughts. I told him he should have his own radio show in Houston. One of the big reasons I like Gregg, is that with my conversations with him, he is so pro-collector. He, as a collector, understands the biz side of coins more than most, and he just doesn’t want to see any type of injustice. Everyone gets a fair shake. Gregg had his Columbian Half PR68 on display – one of the best commems of all time! Spectacular!
As part of my show and tell, I had a somewhat recent purchase, a 1907 High Relief Twenty PCGS MS66+ CAC Flat Edge on the table. Another collector walks up, Gregg and Dale introduce us, and the collectors sees the High Relief and starts talking about Saints. I tell him to pick it and check it out – that’s why we are here! He starts to list how many were graded, prices, and mentions how many he owns. Turns out he has a complete set of Saints. Really a cool guy and passionate collector. You never know whom you are going to meet.
Next, Don Willis, walks over to our table. Now we really got a crew going. We all had a nice pleasant chat with Don. Grading, how’s biz?, crossovers, how show grading is done, just a lot of nice info that I have not heard before. The one big thing I like about Don, is that his is a coin collector first. He is really into coins. We had several conversations at the show about what he has collected and his current endeavor, colonials. The passion was all there. And this really shows when he is talking about PCGS, as his answers and observations are very frank and from a collector point of view. Just a great guy. That’s what makes this show special, imagine how busy he would be at the ANA, FUN, etc, shows?
I headed on over to the Legend Coin Auction lot viewing. What a neat auction this is, and congratulations to Julie and Laura, it aint easy, but I feel they are doing a great job. It is such a nichey, high quality, concentrated auction. Always great stuff. Laura was very kind to offer her observations on many of the coins in general.
The coins. The Sunnywood Dollars are better than what you would expect. Really. Then you start to think how rare many of the coins are with bag toning (or nice album toned), coupled with way less than average bagmarks – you really begin to appreciate how tough it was to put this group of coins together.
The 1880-CC, 90-CC, and 91-CC in hand meets all the hype. Off the charts. The 90-CC and 91-CC have the most dramatic colors. The 80-CC is a completely different animal, you cant imagine a toned coin looking like this. A greenish blue color, its hypnotic- with very clean surfaces.
The 81-S, is hand down the finest toned Morgan around. It is the King. If you were going to create the most perfectly toned Morgan from scratch - this is it.
My favorite was the 1893-S in 65. Not really a toned monster, but the second finest 93-S. I could not put the coin down. Imagine a really nice 1880-S in 65 – that’s this coin – only a 93-S.
I sat next to David Hall at lot viewing. And as he his looking at the Sunnywood Dollars, he just screamed out “This is one of the coolest things I’ve every seen!” To no one in particular. I asked David what he is collecting now – since he sold his awesome set of $10 Liberties. He mentions LP (records?) and a certain type of baseball cards. What about coins???!!! There wasn’t really an answer – but I had the feeling he was working on something special. His passion and excitement were evident when he talked about his collecting.
I had a brief chat with Bill Shamhart. I regretted not spending more time with Bill. He is always one of the sharpest guys in the room, and will always offer to help in anyway he can. Plus, he is really into coins and the Americana that goes with coins.
Jim and had grabbed a quick buffet dinner at The Bellagio – one of the best around and I was off to the airport.
I really had a great time, my wife could clearly tell when I got home. I made one purchase, I will post when I get a better image of it.
Hopefully, you enjoyed my report.
Seth
Collecting since 1976.
0
Comments
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 BC
Thanks for sharing your experience.
-KHayse
I hope to attend one of these shows eventually.
Thanks for writing and sharing.
Happy, humble, honored and proud recipient of the “You Suck” award 10/22/2014
Mike
We'll use our hands and hearts and if we must we'll use our heads.
Great report. Thank you for taking the time to write it up and post it.
To me, part of the best thing with coin shows is meeting up with online friends, in person, and just chatting. One meets some really great people that way.
Glad you had a great show!
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
The Penny Lady®
Great report - I can just imagine how animated the conversations were.
Thank you for taking the time to write a great report
Larry L.
US Civil War coinage
Historical Medals
Now listen boy, I'm tryin' to teach you sumthin' . . . . that ain't an optical illusion, it only looks like an optical illusion.
My mind reader refuses to charge me. . . . . . .
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
<< <i>Hopefully, you enjoyed my report. >>
Absolutely enjoyed it. Nice job and thanks.
"If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"
My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress
Having been to two of these myself, I'm surprised you didn't mention the food PCGS puts out.
My favorite part of your report was the David Hall quote ... now that makes my day !!!!!
His enthusiasm at the idea of the set was what pushed me over the line in deciding to pursue that project.
(And people say he only likes white coins, SO not true.)
What a great group of people were there, you mentioned some of the best guys in the hobby.
I'll have to come out of hiding and go to one of those someday.
Best,
Sunnywood
Sunnywood's Rainbow-Toned Morgans (Retired)
Sunnywood's Barber Quarters (Retired)
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
5$ bills are WOW with the numbers - wanted:
02121809
04151865
Wanted - Flipper notes with the numbers 6-9 or 0-6-9 ON 1$ 2$ 5$ 10$ 20$
Wanted - 10$ Sereis 2013 - fancy Serial Numbers
My 1866 Philly Mint Set
Lance.
10-4,
My Instagram picturesErik
My registry sets
Check out some of my 1794 Large Cents on www.coingallery.org
Your report was very insightful and you make a great case that this is a show not to miss. I like the idea of a small show in a great hotel. That way I can interact with with many more dealers, as at large shows I just search out a few dealers that I know and rarely meet any new contacts. I will certainly put this show on my must attend list next year.
OINK
Thanks everyone for the kind words. I had a fun show and really enjoy sharing my experiences with my fellow board members.
MDWOODS
<< <i>Excellent report. Is there an image of the PR68 Columbian anywh >>
I think there might be an image on the NGC website. It really is a special coin.
TWQG
<< <i>That was a fun read! Thank you.
Having been to two of these myself, I'm surprised you didn't mention the food PCGS puts out. >>
Yes the food is pretty good, but I didn't take a bit - I saved myself for the buffet at THE Bellagio. My favorite. And at $35, your stomach better be on empty.
BIGMOOSE, sounds like you had a wonderful show! You did it right. Congrats on the upgrades. Hopefully the toned Morgan collector you mentioned will start posting some of their winnings!
Seth
Check out some of my 1794 Large Cents on www.coingallery.org
Seth: <<My favorite was the 1893-S in 65. Not really a toned monster, but the second finest 93-S. I could not put the coin down. Imagine a really nice 1880-S in 65 – that’s this coin – only a 93-S>>
I, too, very much like the Eliasberg-Sunnywood 1893-S. I have examined it in the past. I just wrote an article about it. Is it the second finest known? Was the price reasonable? What are the thoughts of forum members? How many of you have personally examined other 1893-S dollars that have been graded MS-65 by PCGS?
PCGS graded MS-65, Eliasberg 1893-S Morgan Silver Dollar for $646,250 at auction in Las Vegas
<< <i>Seth: <<My favorite was the 1893-S in 65. Not really a toned monster, but the second finest 93-S. I could not put the coin down. Imagine a really nice 1880-S in 65 – that’s this coin – only a 93-S>>
I, too, very much like the Eliasberg-Sunnywood 1893-S. I have examined it in the past. I just wrote an article about it. Is it the second finest known? Was the price reasonable? What are the thoughts of forum members? How many of you have personally examined other 1893-S dollars that have been graded MS-65 by PCGS?
PCGS graded MS-65, Eliasberg 1893-S Morgan Silver Dollar for $646,250 at auction in Las Vegas >>
constantly linking your articles is...well..... SPAM
<< <i>
<< <i>Seth: <<My favorite was the 1893-S in 65. Not really a toned monster, but the second finest 93-S. I could not put the coin down. Imagine a really nice 1880-S in 65 – that’s this coin – only a 93-S>>
I, too, very much like the Eliasberg-Sunnywood 1893-S. I have examined it in the past. I just wrote an article about it. Is it the second finest known? Was the price reasonable? What are the thoughts of forum members? How many of you have personally examined other 1893-S dollars that have been graded MS-65 by PCGS?
PCGS graded MS-65, Eliasberg 1893-S Morgan Silver Dollar for $646,250 at auction in Las Vegas >>
constantly linking your articles is...well..... SPAM >>
Delicious Spam!
<< <i>
<< <i>Seth: <<My favorite was the 1893-S in 65. Not really a toned monster, but the second finest 93-S. I could not put the coin down. Imagine a really nice 1880-S in 65 – that’s this coin – only a 93-S>>
I, too, very much like the Eliasberg-Sunnywood 1893-S. I have examined it in the past. I just wrote an article about it. Is it the second finest known? Was the price reasonable? What are the thoughts of forum members? How many of you have personally examined other 1893-S dollars that have been graded MS-65 by PCGS?
PCGS graded MS-65, Eliasberg 1893-S Morgan Silver Dollar for $646,250 at auction in Las Vegas >>
constantly linking your articles is...well..... SPAM >>
Not when someone replies to requests to see a picture of the coin.