Summer FUN Show Report
keyman64
Posts: 15,521 ✭✭✭✭✭
It seems I was not the only person that was looking forward to this show.
Hurricane Elsa caused issues for some people trying to fly in the day before. Besides some localized flooding, it seemed to be a non-event. The storm passed right by my home (off shore) around 1AM and the highest wind speed in my county was 58MPH. It was just big enough to cause issue with air travel. A friend was supposed to fly in from the mid-west on Wednesday at 8AM but the flight was delayed and they did not land until a little after noon on Wednesday. Not too bad. I guess it impacted some more than others.
For me, I had a typical 90min drive that turned into two hours due to traffic. No shock there. I accounted for it enough and was just outside the entrance of the show at 9:30AM. I got a nice big cinnamon roll and a water(because I know a lot of you really wanted to know), met a friend and chatted for about 30 minutes at a table. It was a really nice way to ease into the show. They did temperature checks before the show, wrist bands for those that passed and then name badges. They also required face masks to enter the bourse but then you could take them off. I'm still confused over this. I did not take one inside so they provided one to me that I wore for about 50 feet or so. Whatever, no complaints from me...I had a cool show to check out.
This was likely the largest Summer FUN in many many years! The bourse was packed. It was amazing to take in. I saw and visited with dealers from all over the country. I had a few goals for the day. I needed to pick up some coins from a dealer which I did. I had a few slabbed coins that I purchased over the last two months that I really should not have bought so I wanted to dump them. I sold three coins and that left me quite pleased. I consigned one coin with Great Collections. I was on the lookout for toned things that might catch my eye and I was also looking to Cherrypick high grade Mercury Dime Varieties. Although I did see some nice toned coins, I did not see a single nicely toned Mercury Dime. Other people must like them as well since I didn't see dealers selling them. I saw a couple of neat toners that I really liked but the dealers liked them A LOT FREAKING MORE and I was not going to bury myself in them. Here is one coin that I thought was neat and holdered reverse up but I just could not justify taking home. Sometimes the best deals are the deals that aren't done. A few coins that I liked would have just been distractions to my primary goals anyway.
As much as I tried, I was only able to Cherrypick one Mercury Dime variety. Had I seen something that was already attributed and that I needed, that would have been fine as well, assuming the price was right but I really just didn't see anything. If you saw my Lakeland,FL coin show report from last week, I remembered my checkbook for this show but never needed it. As for the coin that I Cherrypicked, it was in an OGH with 7 digit serial number.
For lunch I had an $11 personal peperoni pizza and $4 water. Ahhh, the joy of terrible coin show food. Burgers and hotdogs were not available. I was disappointed. Oh well. I had lunch with the same friend that I met prior to the show so that made lunch a good time,
After lunch, I finished covering the floor and retraced my steps to revisit things that had caught my eye earlier. Here again, sometimes the best deals are the deals that aren't done. 
I then went to spend about one hour and 45 minutes with PCGS where I submitted 21 coins across four submissions. By doing these submissions at the show, I saved hundreds of dollars in shipping/insurance. So happy about that! It's going to be exciting to get this stuff back in 6-8 weeks. I was able to take advantage of the Quarterly Special on two of the submissions so that was cool. I think this might be only the first or second time that I have been able to take advantage of a quarterly special over the last 11 years. The timing just seemed to be off in prior years. The OGH cherrypick from earlier in the day will be tried for a + upgrade which would make it a stand alone top pop for non-FB. We'll see what happens. I already have a FB top pop of this variety so it will just be an extra, not something I really needed. The PCGS employees were very nice and helpful.
Something else I noticed at this show. Most dealers that I interacted with seemed genuinely nice and happy to be there. I can't say this about prior years. There were a lot of people that just seemed thankful for the event. It was warm and refreshing. At the end of the day I was very pleased with my one purchase, my lack of other purchases, my sales, my auction consignment, submissions to PCGS and time spent with friends/visiting with dealers. Although there will be a couple of other nice sized shows in Florida over the next few months, I am already looking forward to Winter FUN. My drive home was pretty smooth and it was great to get home to my kids after a long day.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
Comments
Thanks for the report. Nice pickup as well!
Nice write up. I enjoyed it as Well. Met some new folks and some dealers I never met in person.
I also only made one purchase:
BHNC #248 … 130 and counting.
Nice write up of the show. I'm guessing after last year everyone is just happy to get back to something resembling normal.
@keyman64 just sent you a message about that toned Kennedy. Great show report as well!
https://youtube.com/channel/UC6XjGFyoSVFc8X4VhwuOY3A
@Pnies20
That is a wonderful half dollar. Congratulations.
I think I need a cinnamon roll and a hot dog
I'm not at all surprised at the strong attendance. Collectors and dealers want in-person contact.
You were wise to pass on the coins offered at "optimistic" prices. Don't overpay.
I drove down from GA yesterday and the I4 traffic was nuts like usual for Orlando. I was happy to see that the show was packed. The only downside I was saw that I was looking forward to stopping by the David Lawrence and Northeast Numismatics booths and they were both vacant, probably storm related.
I was very pleased to see a lot of Proof Seated coinage available. Lots of beautiful quarters and halves, and I found some with some great toning. I made a few purchases and sold some duplicates. I was very pleased with the competitive offers for my duplicates, prices definitely seem to have moved up on proof seated coinage. Went to the PCGS booth to drop off some submissions and they were packed with a line of customers too. It seems like business was very strong across the board.
Thanks for the report @keyman64
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb, Ricko
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
Thanks for the great show reports. Seems like business is booming and collectors/dealers are happy to be back at shows. Any observations on how bullion is moving?? Cheers, RickO
Thanks for taking the time to do a show report. It's great to hear that dealers were happy and excited to be there.
Donato
Donato's Complete US Type Set ---- Donato's Dansco 7070 Modified Type Set ---- Donato's Basic U.S. Coin Design Set
Successful transactions: Shrub68 (Jim), MWallace (Mike)
Not something that I deal in much but I did witness one person buy 5oz of gold and a few other gold transactions in the works. Some shows are more active with bullion when dramatic changes have happened but prices for silver/gold have been relatively calm over the last few weeks as I understand it.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
neat half, i like
Yup, I tried multiple times but he liked his price where it was so I liked leaving the coin in his case.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
Fantastic report! Love the wonderfully toned '69 Kennedy. Wish I could have made it this year.
Dave
I'm in Montana walking my niece down the aisle in place of my brother who we lost years ago.
That's bittersweet. Hug her tight
Thanks for your report.
It sounds like you are doing something MUCH more important than most of us. All the best!
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
Tell her we all said congrats!
BHNC #248 … 130 and counting.
The show was really well done and well attended. I noticed that a event lacked attendance of major dealer personalities and this might have been due to travel (weather) issues, or simply that some folks decided to wait for the ANA as their major national post-Covid debut. I thought it was interesting that security required attendees to wear a mask to enter the bourse floor, but you could (and most did) take the mask off the moment you crossed the threshold.
We had a great time at the show seeing customers again for the first time since the Jan 2020 FUN show, which was our last event. Billie and Amanda will be there tomorrow as well. Please stop by and say hello if you are around.
Whitman Brands: President/CEO (www.greysheet.com; www.whitman.com)
PNG: Executive Director (www.pngdealers.org)
Good on you
m
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
Nice doubled die reverse on that 1820 half...the only doubled die in the series.
It’s been a couple of fun days at FUN despite heavy rain- definitely the best attended summer FUN I can remember, I think everyone is ready to get back to “normal.”
I saw lots of gold bullion being sold, for lots of cash, and learned a new trick. A dealer was going to count $10k but he weighed it first- I asked him why and he said a $100 bill weighs just under 1g. If $10,000 in $100 bills doesn’t weigh 99.4-99.6g then the count is likely to be off so he will count it more closely in front of the customer.
Legend and GC had some auction previews, whereas Stacks did not (no 1804 $, no 1794 $, no 1827 25c). HA was as omnipresent as ever and had the proof 1921 DE in display (in the lit case to the right of the Heritage table in the photo above).
I found a table with really nice toner commems (Oregon, Roanoke, etc., all 68 CAC) and briefly considered starting a set until I heard the prices (at 8-10x price guide I’m just not that into toners).
Probably the neatest coin I found at a table was a 1900-S $5 PCGS 69/CAC in an OGH.
Reconnected with some old friends, made some new ones, didn’t buy anything but still had fun and considered it a success. I did come away with a new pocket piece given out today- nice and heavy and about the size of a DE.
Thank you for the pictures of the show. Happy to see it's back to normal. No Masks!
My favorite purchase at the show.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
That works to
@Floridafacelifter... Thanks for the great pictures and report. Cheers, RickO
That’s a big holder
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
Work and family issues kept me grounded.
Maybe next summer.
Most certainly in January!
BST: KindaNewish (3/21/21), WQuarterFreddie (3/30/21), Meltdown (4/6/21), DBSTrader2 (5/5/21) AKA- unclemonkey on Blow Out
Thanks for posting this excellent report!
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
No sticker.
Wow, a PCGS69 1900-S $5 Lib. There are only (3) $5 Libs graded 69 by PCGS, (2) 1900-S and (1) 1902-S. In an OGH yet. Wonder what that one would bring at auction. Price guide is $40K for a 67 1900-S, anything higher doesn't show a guide price.
Coinlearner, Ahrensdad, Nolawyer, RG, coinlieutenant, Yorkshireman, lordmarcovan, Soldi, masscrew, JimTyler, Relaxn, jclovescoins
Now listen boy, I'm tryin' to teach you sumthin' . . . . that ain't no optical illusion, it only looks like an optical illusion.
My mind reader refuses to charge me....
The owner of the 21-P Saint (used to be a Specimen, is it now a Proof?) has 5 kids, the first of which will soon be racking up college tuition. May the Weitzman be with him
This is from a seriously nice hoard that Kenny Duncan and Jack Hertzberg bought and worked 12-15 years . Check the high-grade pops for this date.
Likely the 02-S is the Eliasberg example, which IIRC was in an NGC MS69 holder decades ago.
That looks like a beast of a crowd. An actually vibrant coin show! Is this the "new normal"?
Very lively crowd, but everyone is still closing up early on Saturday as usual- 60% of tables empty by 1pm. And yes the 1921 is a proof now.
Excellent report
Great read.
Major coin shows are back!!
Wahooo!
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso
Thank you Ffl.
My 1866 Philly Mint Set
Awesome Kennedy, dude!
Beautiful.
"Jesus died for you and for me, Thank you,Jesus"!!!
--- If it should happen I die and leave this world and you want to remember me. Please only remember my opening Sig Line.