Belated Central States Report
uscoinguy
Posts: 150 ✭✭✭
I apologize for the belated show report. Also sorry if the report is too windy, but I live in the Chicago area, I can’t help it. I took Thursday off work for the show, then went to work Friday and flew out late in the afternoon to Las Vegas with my wife for vacation. On the flight back Tuesday evening I had to stand up the whole time- I could not sit down because I lost my arse at the casinos.
I got to the show Thursday at 11:30. I had to park in the second to the last row of parking spaces so to me that made me think the show was well attended. There was a steady stream of people on the bourse but it seemed like some tables had little traffic while others had a steady stream of customers.
My report will be from a little different perspective. I mainly go to the shows to look through raw coins for my 19th century date/mm raw sets. I don’t look at certified coins at shows. As previously mentioned on the other CS show reports the dealer prices seem to be full retail+. I understand they have a lot of overhead for these shows so I am not complaining, it is just that for the certified coins I am looking for I can find better coins/prices at other venues like Great Collections or even eBay.
Speaking of Great Collections I had my annual nice chat with Ian Russell. He is such a friendly gentlemen, easy to talk to, and very enthusiastic about coins and making his auctions a great experience. I basically buy most of my coins from GC these days, very rarely anywhere else. He is very aware that keeping his buyer premium significantly lower than the big auction is important to bidders. He also has a great memory too, just by looking at my name tag he remembered where I work based on my GC email address.
The show looked busy for what I would label full service dealers. My local b/m Morton Grove Coin had 5 tables and he was constantly busy. But he brings a wide selection of coins. He brings lot of UNC coins like Franklins, Rosies, and Washington Quarters, slabbed coins, gold coins, bullion, proof/mint sets, old currency, plus he has all types of raw coins in his cases and raw boxes for searching. Obviously it is a big advantage to be able to load up a van instead of what can only be brought in a suitcase on a plane.
Conversely it seemed like the smaller specialty tables had little traffic. I was sitting at one if the aforementioned empty tables waiting for a buddy to finish a purchase. I noticed Mr. Eureka’s table was across from me. I was going to introduce myself but he was absorbed in doing some research so I did not want to bother him. I am sorry to say that at that time he did not seem to be bothered by very many customers either.
My favorite dealer at the Central States show is B.U.S.T out of Washington State. His table is my first stop every year. His coins are always priced and graded (accurately graded in most cases) and he is a very friendly. I was mainly looking for bust half dimes and dimes. I picked up a Fine 1833 bust half dime and a Fine 1831 bust dime. I also picked up 3 common date seated HD for my one per year raw set. These ended up being my only purchases for the day as I could not find any other problem free circulated half dimes in the dates that I needed. I was looking for 1809-1814 bust dimes but there were few to be found that I liked and could afford (or I just did not find them) so I went home with money in my pocket.
I do not understand why some show dealers do not have prices on their coins. Maybe the old axiom “if you have to ask the price you can’t afford it” may apply. But at a big show like this I just skip the tables that do not have prices. Sure I might miss out on something by skipping them, but I could also waste valuable time standing there waiting for a price that usually ends up being too high anyway. Of course this is part of each collectors’ strategy of how to use the limited time at larger shows. I left at 4:00 to beat the rush hour traffic home (about a 30 minute drive) and I still did not get anywhere near looking at all the tables.
One last point- it sure would be nice if the shows had signs for the dealers to list what they specialized in. Not all dealers have websites, so pre-searching the dealer list on the web prior to the show is hit and miss and very time consuming. Just a thought anyway.
Comments
Thanks for the report!
I agree that B.U.S.T. always has a good selection of raw coins. Last time I saw him, he had an AU small capped bust 25 that I still sometimes dream about.
Glad you were able to pick up a few coins
Thanks for the nice report.
Nice report
Nice report... sorry you lost your butt in Vegas.... next time spend the excess cash at the show and you will not lose as much...
Cheers, RickO
Nice report....we probably passed each other several times and did't know it.
Great report. Thanks for posting it.
Great report. I have always wondered why the dealers with "nice" raw coins would not simply walk over to the PCGS table and submit them? PCGS is grading at many shows they attend. In my mind I believe they already have and don't even look. (Talking relatively expensive coins here)
Nice report!!! I could easily spend the day at the larger shows and it would not be enough time for me. I just love looking at coins, even ones I don't currently collect. As you said every person has a different strategy at walking the floor. I usually do a quick first pass at every table to see what the dealer has and then go around a second time focusing on what I collect.
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