PAN show report
kranky
Posts: 8,709 ✭✭✭
Was hanging out again at PTVETTER's table during the 3-day Spring show. The bourse was 99% sold out and the show space was slightly reconfigured this time. Instead of splitting tables between the large room and an adjacent smaller room, the bourse was all in the large room with the smaller venue devoted to exhibits, a "theater" for educational talks, and the tables for Coins4Kids where they can fill Whitmans from donated wheat pennies. This worked very well I thought.
Thursday was amazingly busy with dozens in line to get in when the show opened. It was the busiest first day I can remember. Friday was typical but Saturday was less attended than I expected. I believe part of the issue is the venue has two large halls (PAN uses one of them) and if there is an event in the other hall, there simply isn't enough parking. The show runs shuttle vans to a nearby parking lot but I think there are people who either don't know about the shuttle or they simply give up after seeing the parking lot at capacity - especially older folks who don't want to hoof it a couple hundred yards. And on Saturday there was an event in the other hall.
Met board members vam44, papabear, shortgapbob, Jfoot13, koolk2, and perennial board lurker Bob. CoinZip did a great job managing the PAN fundraiser auction and it's always a pleasure to chat with him. Manorcourtman, you long-time board member, wish you had stopped to say hello!
There was buzz about the 1916 gold Mercury dime and a couple dealers had buy/sell prices posted (probably so they don't have to answer the question 100 times a day). It was my opportunity to examine the coin and was surprised at the soft detail (not just on the bands).
PAN always has a bunch of cool exhibits. I particularly liked the collection of area National Currency and one that had some of the memorabilia of the Western Pennsylvania Numismatic Society - it's been around longer than the ANA! One item on display was a ledger that listed auction lots - some consigned by George Clapp, who was a founding member of the WPNS... at age 19. There were 14 exhibits in all which is impressive for a show that size.
PAN has great security and at one point one of the security guards was passing the word to dealers about an attendee who was selling counterfeit coins. With three of them on the floor at all times, they are very good at getting the word out.
Did see a slab that I had not encountered before - onthespotgrading.com was the issuer. One of my co-workers scored up a bunch of unused US postage for half of face and the denominations were all 20c and up - thought that was a good score.
One attendee stopped to offer some coins for sale. I felt bad for the gentleman because they weren't his coins, he was trying to sell them for a family friend. Unfortunately, they were all raw circ coins, two grades overgraded, and they wanted retail prices. Probably a long day ahead for that guy.
I suspect that you might get nicer raw silver eagles from dealers who don't submit them for grading. When they send in bulk deals with a minimum grade of 69, the only raw ones are going to be the ones that don't make the cut for 69.
Two anecdotes: a customer was considering a coin marked AU. The customer said he disagreed with the AU grade because the coin had a little bit of rub on the reverse. Really nowhere to take the conversation after that. Another customer asked the price on a key coin and was quoted $1,000. The customer's head snapped up and he stared at me for a moment. "A thousand! Is that an Egyptian red light?" he said. "What does that mean?" I asked. He said, "is the price just a suggestion?" Just when you think you've heard it all, there's a new phrase I can steal.
Thursday was amazingly busy with dozens in line to get in when the show opened. It was the busiest first day I can remember. Friday was typical but Saturday was less attended than I expected. I believe part of the issue is the venue has two large halls (PAN uses one of them) and if there is an event in the other hall, there simply isn't enough parking. The show runs shuttle vans to a nearby parking lot but I think there are people who either don't know about the shuttle or they simply give up after seeing the parking lot at capacity - especially older folks who don't want to hoof it a couple hundred yards. And on Saturday there was an event in the other hall.
Met board members vam44, papabear, shortgapbob, Jfoot13, koolk2, and perennial board lurker Bob. CoinZip did a great job managing the PAN fundraiser auction and it's always a pleasure to chat with him. Manorcourtman, you long-time board member, wish you had stopped to say hello!
There was buzz about the 1916 gold Mercury dime and a couple dealers had buy/sell prices posted (probably so they don't have to answer the question 100 times a day). It was my opportunity to examine the coin and was surprised at the soft detail (not just on the bands).
PAN always has a bunch of cool exhibits. I particularly liked the collection of area National Currency and one that had some of the memorabilia of the Western Pennsylvania Numismatic Society - it's been around longer than the ANA! One item on display was a ledger that listed auction lots - some consigned by George Clapp, who was a founding member of the WPNS... at age 19. There were 14 exhibits in all which is impressive for a show that size.
PAN has great security and at one point one of the security guards was passing the word to dealers about an attendee who was selling counterfeit coins. With three of them on the floor at all times, they are very good at getting the word out.
Did see a slab that I had not encountered before - onthespotgrading.com was the issuer. One of my co-workers scored up a bunch of unused US postage for half of face and the denominations were all 20c and up - thought that was a good score.
One attendee stopped to offer some coins for sale. I felt bad for the gentleman because they weren't his coins, he was trying to sell them for a family friend. Unfortunately, they were all raw circ coins, two grades overgraded, and they wanted retail prices. Probably a long day ahead for that guy.
I suspect that you might get nicer raw silver eagles from dealers who don't submit them for grading. When they send in bulk deals with a minimum grade of 69, the only raw ones are going to be the ones that don't make the cut for 69.
Two anecdotes: a customer was considering a coin marked AU. The customer said he disagreed with the AU grade because the coin had a little bit of rub on the reverse. Really nowhere to take the conversation after that. Another customer asked the price on a key coin and was quoted $1,000. The customer's head snapped up and he stared at me for a moment. "A thousand! Is that an Egyptian red light?" he said. "What does that mean?" I asked. He said, "is the price just a suggestion?" Just when you think you've heard it all, there's a new phrase I can steal.
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.
0
Comments
Glad that some board members were able to meet up.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
Glad the show went well!
Moving all of the dealers to the main room is a good idea!
This is a show I miss doing since I moved to Florida!
My best wishes to Kranky, Pat, and all of my friends at PAN!
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
I had one customer ask for a 1796 dollar, that I did not have, and came back the very next day and asked again.
Not a coin I have ever sold before.
Many of the dealers were talking about the gold Mercury dime and where it may end up at?
No one really knows that answer at this point.