Baltimore Whitman Summer Expo

lkenefic · May 24, 2019 5:27AM

Anyone going today? I should be there around lunchtime.

TradesWithChops · May 24, 2019 9:14AM

went yesterday. looked at every table for trade dollars with chopmarks. only found 2 in the entire place. bought 1 of them. submitted to PCGS. went to see Aladdin. And panda express.

successful non-work day

specialist · May 24, 2019 9:21AM

They never should have had this show! The amount of West Coast dealers who came, you can count on one hand. Great timing-a holiday weekend-NOT!

No one had any earth shaking coins for sale. Attendance was sparse. Can only imagine how bad it will be today.

edwardjulio · May 24, 2019 9:36AM

@specialist - another point of view from GFRC:

Greetings from Baltimore and welcome to the Blog on a Friday morning. Your continuing patronage is appreciated.
Dan and I are back to the Days Inn hotel room after a long successful kick-off day at the Summer Baltimore show. Exhausted is the best term to describe the GFRC team after taking in a New York vs. Baltimore baseball game last evening followed by early start to the day. With the Summer Baltimore show bourse floor opening at 8:00 am, we were up early to catch breakfast followed by retrieving inventory from the security room and locating a front position for the floor open. Once on the bourse, there were ten cases to stage along with table covers, lighting, and wiring. With just Dan and I, the setup took a full 1.5 hours. We were ready for regular operations when the bourse opened to early birds at 10:00 am following by the general public at noon time.
The million dollar question for the Summer Baltimore show was attendance? Since the GFRC booth was adjacent to the show entrance, I watched the bourse doors open to public at noon time. I was pleased (and relieved) to see a strong flow of attendees enter the bourse. Within minutes, the bourse noise level increased to that healthy level that signifies active trading. The floor remained active until about 4:00 pm when the noise level decreased and aisles began to thin out. Overall, the first day of the Baltimore show brought collector attendance that was above my expectations.

ScarsdaleCoin · May 24, 2019 12:11PM

While we did not attend..... the old saying still applies a bad day of coin hunting is better than a good day at work. SPREAD POSITIVITY

lkenefic · May 24, 2019 4:03PM

Well, I'm back! I agree... sparsely attended. However, I actually like the summer show because I get to talk to people for a few minutes. There were a number of dealers selling raw gold at just above spot... a one other selling PCGS-slabbed gold Double Eagles for spot+$50 for MS62, and spot+$75 for MS63... I may go back tomorrow to see if he's still there. I met David Kahn from David Kahn Rare Coins, Inc. He's a local vendor... always nice to see some local people at this show! He had about the best run of Barber Halves I saw... an '03-O in 45 (PCGS) followed me home! ;-) I also picked up a raw FE Cent from another vendor for my type set. All in all... it was a good day, and YES... better than sitting in my office!

Elcontador · May 24, 2019 4:16PM

Baltimore is the birthplace of cult movie actor / actress, 'Divine,' and film producer John Waters. Some of its more infamous / famous residents have been Edgar Alan Poe and Madalyn Murray O'Hair

jgenn · May 24, 2019 5:35PM

I was there for an hour to drop off coins. Pretty quiet and quite a few empty tables. No waiting to get my business done.

lkenefic · May 24, 2019 6:00PM

@Elcontador said:
Baltimore is the birthplace of cult movie actor / actress, 'Divine,' and film producer John Waters. Some of its more infamous / famous residents have been Edgar Alan Poe and Madalyn Murray O'Hair

Also, HL Mencken lived here...

Jada Pinket-Smith, Tupac Shakur, and Christian Soriano attended the same high school my daughter graduated from... Baltimore School for the Arts...

amwldcoin · May 24, 2019 7:49PM

Figures you would show up at the 1 Baltimore show I refused to attend in years! If I was there you woulda seen the gambit in F-AU Barber Half's!

Edit to add and I know he just bought Jim's set!

@lkenefic said:
Well, I'm back! I agree... sparsely attended. However, I actually like the summer show because I get to talk to people for a few minutes. There were a number of dealers selling raw gold at just above spot... a one other selling PCGS-slabbed gold Double Eagles for spot+$50 for MS62, and spot+$75 for MS63... I may go back tomorrow to see if he's still there. I met David Kahn from David Kahn Rare Coins, Inc. He's a local vendor... always nice to see some local people at this show! He had about the best run of Barber Halves I saw... an '03-O in 45 (PCGS) followed me home! ;-) I also picked up a raw FE Cent from another vendor for my type set. All in all... it was a good day, and YES... better than sitting in my office!

ricko · May 25, 2019 5:45AM

Interesting reports.. different perspectives..... I appreciate all the reports though... and the different views help to make an overall picture of a show....@lkenefic....Good information about the gold coins prices.... I believe the signs are pointing to a dip in melt coming soon....However, I am almost always wrong Cheers, RickO

EastonCollection · May 25, 2019 2:27PM

Went to the show from Wednesday night until Friday. On Thursday, went to the show in the morning. then the Yankee Oriole game from noon until 4pm (yankees won) then back to the auction then afterwards went to dinner with about 8 folks from the show for hard shell crabs and beer. Does life get any better than that. Friday was spent at the show all day and had a great time.

BillJones · May 25, 2019 2:33PM

If the "Star Trek" transporter were avaliable, I would love to have gone to this show because of a couple of local foreign coin dealers who were probably there. Otherwise it's not worth the plane flight and hotel room to go to thsi show.

jgenn · May 25, 2019 3:18PM

@BillJones said:
If the "Star Trek" transporter were avaliable, I would love to have gone to this show because of a couple of local foreign coin dealers who were probably there. Otherwise it's not worth the plane flight and hotel room to go to thsi show.

Would you please share these dealers names? Since I'm a 1-1/2 hour drive from Baltimore, this is the show I frequent the most and I am a world coin collector.

Zoins · May 25, 2019 3:44PM

@TradesWithChops said:
went yesterday. looked at every table for trade dollars with chopmarks. only found 2 in the entire place. bought 1 of them. submitted to PCGS. went to see Aladdin. And panda express.

successful non-work day

Would be nice if there were more but interesting to think you bought 50% of the available inventory!

jkrk · May 25, 2019 5:30PM

@lkenefic said:
Well, I'm back! I agree... sparsely attended. However, I actually like the summer show because I get to talk to people for a few minutes. There were a number of dealers selling raw gold at just above spot... a one other selling PCGS-slabbed gold Double Eagles for spot+$50 for MS62, and spot+$75 for MS63... I may go back tomorrow to see if he's still there. I met David Kahn from David Kahn Rare Coins, Inc. He's a local vendor... always nice to see some local people at this show! He had about the best run of Barber Halves I saw... an '03-O in 45 (PCGS) followed me home! ;-) I also picked up a raw FE Cent from another vendor for my type set. All in all... it was a good day, and YES... better than sitting in my office!

I;ve never been to a coin show so forgive if if I am asking a very naive question.

How does a buyer pay for his purchase? Meaning.... does an MS62 $20 gold piece sell for $50 over spot if paying by CC or Paypal?

lkenefic · May 25, 2019 7:24PM

@jkrk said:
I;ve never been to a coin show so forgive if if I am asking a very naive question.

How does a buyer pay for his purchase? Meaning.... does an MS62 $20 gold piece sell for $50 over spot if paying by CC or Paypal?

I either pay by cash or debit card for most purchases. Many are set up for credit card or paypal transactions too. It also depends upon the rapport you build with specific dealers. Some will take a personal check.

edited to add: I'm not sure how dealers figure in the fees (paypal fees~3%... credit card fees about the same...)

EVillageProwler · May 25, 2019 7:35PM

@jgenn said:

Would you please share these dealers names? Since I'm a 1-1/2 hour drive from Baltimore, this is the show I frequent the most and I am a world coin collector.

Andy Singer is local. CNG had a table too but not sure how far away they are. (I wasn’t there so can’t tell if Andy or others were there.)

lkenefic · May 25, 2019 8:37PM

One was
John & Sandy Gulde
PO Box 5595
Scottsdale, AZ 85261

I'll have to look around for the others...

TradesWithChops · May 26, 2019 8:16AM

@Zoins said:

@TradesWithChops said:
went yesterday. looked at every table for trade dollars with chopmarks. only found 2 in the entire place. bought 1 of them. submitted to PCGS. went to see Aladdin. And panda express.

successful non-work day

Would be nice if there were more but interesting to think you bought 50% of the available inventory!

I go to every show. Some of them I find zero. Others, @ChopmarkedTrades beats me to them.

ChopmarkedTrades · May 26, 2019 11:19AM

I have no idea what this man is talking about, your honor.

Soldi · May 26, 2019 3:54PM

This is my favorite show to travel to, but having it this weekend is the most hair brained idea since, since, since, I don't what.

TPRC · May 26, 2019 5:47PM

@EVillageProwler said:

@jgenn said:

Would you please share these dealers names? Since I'm a 1-1/2 hour drive from Baltimore, this is the show I frequent the most and I am a world coin collector.

Andy Singer is local. CNG had a table too but not sure how far away they are. (I wasn’t there so can’t tell if Andy or others were there.)

Andy was there, I saw him on Saturday morning, and for the first time in the last 10 shows, even his table was quiet. I wish I knew that CNG was there. I agree that it was very quiet, especially on Saturday, but I also like the relaxed atmosphere. Plus, I was able to see Andy Lustig, and visit ANACS, NGC, and PCGS to give them submissions.

jgenn · May 26, 2019 9:58PM

I walked the bourse twice but couldn't find @MrEureka at a table.

MrEureka · May 27, 2019 1:10AM

@jgenn said:
I walked the bourse twice but couldn't find @MrEureka at a table.

I didn't take a table this time. I was coming directly from Zurich, and returning to Europe directly from Baltimore, so I had no practical way to bring my inventory. All set for November though!

Baltimore Whitman Summer Expo

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