My 2018 Iowa Numismatic Association show report

MorganMan94 · October 27, 2018 8:47PM

I did not plan on writing a show report with all the Baltimore reports but I have enjoyed reading them and had a better than expected show, I also bought almost all my coins from one dealer who happens to be a member here.
The show opened at 9 but I took my time getting ready and didn't rush myself so I showed up at 10. The location was literally in an amusement park which was interesting but the venue was a really good size with a lot of space so no complaints there. After getting a name tag I found the ANACS booth to submit some coins to them. I had four US coins and 7 German coins I wanted to have graded, I usually don't sub to ANACS but they weren't high dollar coins and it made things a little cheaper. They also gave me this pen.

After finishing the submission I checked out a few of the larger dealers tables I don't see too often, they were busy and I didn't see anything I was dying to have so I figured I would check back later. I usually try and take a lap around the bourse to see what I really need before I buy anything anyways so that was fine.
The third table I visited was fellow forum member @CyStater who had a really nicely toned 1849 half in PCGS53 which was speaking to me. After a bit of price researching I asked him what he needed for it and we quickly struck a deal. It is hard to photograph but looks great in hand!

I am really not a trade dollar guy either but he had an 1875-S in PCGS55 with some chop marks that I found too cool to pass up so I bought that too.

He had a few other nice pieces I was interested but beings I was on my third table there was a lot of show left so I continued on and decided to check back later. I made a few trips around and inquired about a few other pieces but couldn't make a deal. As mentioned in another thread there were a lot of dealers that were higher than EBay by a large margin and wouldn't work much. Out of the other 7/8 coins I looked at only two of them we were close on, and three the dealer was asking more than what I would consider two times retail! Can't make them all work I guess, I did see some higher dollar coins that weren't in the budget and had some good conversations. I saw a lot of people inquiring about coins but didn't see a lot of cash exchanging hands, I wonder if others were feeling the same way I was.
I did manage to make a deal with one of my favorite dealers who I don't see often on a gold $2.50. He had a great selection and all at a reasonable price, I almost bought more but I was feeling almost that I just had the cash to spend and wanted to spend it regardless of what it was on. I ended up with a $2.50 that has some dark orange toning on both sides which is a little different than usual. He gave me a good price so how could I say no? It does not photograph as well as I would like.

Shortly after buying that I looked around for a few minutes and had seen everything I needed. I did end up going back to cystaters table and picking up an 1853 half with rays and arrows. I have been looking for one for awhile now but haven't found one that satisfied me. I like this piece for now, although I will probably upgrade it in the future. Overall it was a pretty good show, a wide assortment of coins were available at all price ranges and the show was really well put together. Helped me kill a few hours of my weekend and I had a great time! Having a Culvers within 1/4 of the venue was nice too!