2025 Fun NEWPs: TONS of photos

johnny010 · January 12, 2025 8:39AM

Report posted *** see below. The show was too good of an experience not to share. Be back soon.

lermish · January 12, 2025 8:53AM

johnny010 · January 12, 2025 4:01PM

The report will cover the following for anyone not interested in reading the full book today

• Costs and arrival
• Early bird: worth it or not?
• Agenda and what did/did not work
• Members
• New approach to CAC stickering
• Show Acquisitions
• Resubmissions
• Post show purchase
• Other
• Closing

## Costs and arrival (Wednesday to Friday)
Going to any show out of state is a financial commitment, but I’ve found the experience is as good as any out there and well worth the investment. Outside of work and family, collecting coins has become my main hobby so the splurge felt worth it.

**All in travel: $2,885 **
Flight: $2000
77,200 miles plus $11.90. Looking at the equivalent price from miles to $ looks to be $2000 round trip out of IAH (Houston) to MCO (Orlando). I’m a big guy so flying up front is my preferred method.
Food: $435
Breakfast: no charge, ate at the hotel one day included
Lunch: bought one cold burrito off a dealer that had an extra at the show. My worst purchase: $10
Dinner:
Wednesday: some friends picked up dinner at Capitol Grille (no cost)
Thursday: I picked up dinner/drinks for friends $425
Friday: snack on the plane included, ate when I got home.

Hotel: $225
Spark by Hilton. Wanted to love the place but they ran out of hot water the first night. Cheap and 2.2 miles from the center
Uber: $101
$49 from airport to hotel to drop my bag to the convention center
$15 to dinner.
$37 to convention center next morning due to getting into the wrong uber that stopped in the middle of the bridge to let Carmel out?
Early Bird entry fee plus fees: $123.60 including the at show 3% electronic surcharge

• ## Early bird: worth it or not?
Absolutely, although at first blush no. The show as called by many a “dealer show” due to so much pre-dealer activity for days prior to letting the public in on Thursday, was excellent and was excellent for collectors as well. Early birds could spend $100 plus $20 to get in Wednesday at 2pm. Since I wanted to make the trip worth the $2885, I decided might as well pay to play. I entered the show
as you can expect it was empty but things got moving pretty fast. Dealers were not setup in the show yet, so all cases were empty and I entered at the same time as them. This show was going to be HUGE, rows were labeled to 1000+.

My initial trepidation about being an Early Bird was that no one wants a customer hoovering as they try and setup quickly, but fortunately I had an order that was prepared for me which turned out best. After spending an hour looking through the coins, dealers were mostly ready to go.

I will say I’ve never been treated so good by dealers at a show, and many acknowledged my badge. One dealer commented EB’s are the ones spending the money, and no idea if that played into it, but I’ve learned good discussion, a few stories and a purchase / move along is usually the approach that works best.

• ## Agenda and what did/did not work

My thought going into the show knowing how large it would be, was that I needed a plan in order to be effective. I created a checklist on my Iphone so I could knock the agenda out in what I had hoped would be a much more linear fashion. My total agenda had 20 items and I completed 18.35 of them (walk the bourse ended up being rather unsuccessful and I feel like I reached 35% of the tables at best).

What worked
Pre-show I was working on a large deal to acquire some Morgan rattlers to “finish” my date set as I continue with the full mm set. I walked over to CoinsXCollectibles (eBay) aka Elite Diversified Investments, met Allen and opened up my order of 13 coins he acquired on my behalf from the prior best known date set. This is my best acquisition all at once to date:
1879-S 67: 112/10
1881-P 64: 584/98/1 (be hard to find a 65)
1884-0 66: 61/0
1885-0: 262/7
1888-S 65: 28/0
1890-S 65: 118/23
1891-S 63 gold cac
1891-S 65: 69/5/3
1892-P 65: 30/0
1892-O 64: 233/16
1894-S 64: 86/21/2/1
1898-O 66: 110/2
1921-D 65: 224/13

Overall I do feel my agenda planning worked and going to future large shows I will repeat with adding table numbers and specific coins I know a dealer has. What did not work was helping six people virtually looking for coins and also taking a friend around showing him currency for near 5 solid hours (his interest). I did love helping those who could not make it, but working through finding coins, photos and negotiating for six people was just too much and when I do it again I have two select friends I’ll do this for only.

Helped a friend buy this:

and now he's working through a deal with the same dealer for this:

• **## Members **
Prior to the show, @PeakRarities had mentioned both here and on the phone how fascinating the Japanese Kobans and Obans are, and he shared a few photos. Seeing @abbyme24 who sells these was high on the list and I found myself mesmerized at her table very early on. The Oban is now on my list and as Abby explained, these were given as gifts from Emperors to Nobility (Abby please jump in if I jumbled this thought up). We discussed these great treasures at length and I planned to purchase a Koban, but her order had not yet arrived back from PCGS. Delightful conversation around a potential trip to Japan where the preference there is still “hands on at coin shows, and not in plastic”.

@Rarity7 Noah was also a first stop since we pre-discussed his 89-CC in F12 CAC that I needed to complete my F15 or below CAC set of Morgan dollars (was just for fun to see if it could be done: 91, 85, 84, 83 were hard but 81 and 85 were the hardest). While I was at Noah’s table (was there numerous times) we discussed how before Christmas my wife and I saw a toned coin and I tried to buy it for her after he was planning to send a video the next day. During the interim wait, my wife bought it for me off his website as a Christmas gift. Unbeknownst to Noah that my wife bought it, he apologized it sold prior to him having time to send the video. Quite funny and coincidental.

While I was @Rarity7 Noah also pulled out a “look at this” 1881-P proof Morgan in rattler. I have never owned a proof Morgan but when he put the coin in my hands it was very hard to hand back. I asked him to hold it for a few hours and he did. Before departing though, I knew it would end up being added to the collection. (insert photo). A few hours later I went back and bought the coin.

@Winesteven and I ran into each other at a table and he noticed my hat so he gifted me this gold $1,000 bill which is now displayed on my desk. Thanks Steve 😉

As I worked through isle 3 (300s) I ran into a very intelligent and interesting collector who wrote a book on Trade Dollars and had some amazing coins on display for sale. Although we did not reach a deal on a coin that I was very interested in @alefzero can explain all about type 1 and II Trade Dollars and the fingers from three to four and so on. (insert photo). This potential purchase would have been way off the beaten path for me, but I have thought about this coin several times post show.

• ## New approach to CAC stickering
Since I’m not a dealer and don’t care about “back of bid” or “grey sheet” I usually just buy coins I love for my rattler set that make sense (or very little to those of you that grew up with these things and see little value in the old holder game = save it for another time please 😊 ). Unfortunately, if I risk buying a non-CAC coin and submit and it does not pass, I end up selling the coin (going for the full mm set in CAC). I do not want to buy a lot of big coins that end up being sold at a loss so I tried a new approach and three of four dealers agreed to my suggestion. After closely looking at many rattlers, if I think the coin can CAC and the dealer said it’s never been, but the coin is on the more expensive side of the loss column if it doesn't CAC, I offered this: I’ll buy the coin at the price you have listed or more if you let me submit on my CAC account with your return address.... I can monitor the progress for you, and if it stickers, you have the coin pre-sold. If it does not sticker, you get it back with me carrying the cost since submitted on my account. Three of four dealers agreed to this approach and I went and submitted in the CAC line and took everyone back an invoice copy. The fourth dealer and I exchanged phone numbers and he’s sending the coin and calling me.

Coins tentative that have been sent to CAC obo dealers:
1878 7/8TF 65
1878 7TF Rev of 78 64 DMPL
1883-S 63
1885-S 63
1890-S 64
1900 O/CC 64
1903-0 65

Dealer submitting for me:
1878 8TF 64 DMPL

I was also able to secure a few rattlers at the right price that were sent in while there:
1878 7/8TF weak 64
1889-S 64
1898-P 66

• ## Show Acquisitions
This is where things get off the rails. So I’m trying like hell to get around the show, and thankfully numerous friends and I are texting photos and videos of coins in between trying to help others buy coins remotely and **work work **just would not stop. Such is life. Unfortunately I had to break for a while to have an end of employment discussion with someone and that put a damper on things, but such is life.

My first actual stop was HLRC, and I really appreciate how Harry does business: listens, direct and doesn’t bs you. First actual cash exchange at the show for this 1900-S 64 (271/77/1)

I’m friends with Jason from DLRC and he had a 1921-D 62 Doily he was trying to secure for me and he did. Only second found in a Doily, so it had to join my collection. The reverse is a 65 so gold bean coming

My friend Nathan Owens @NPO messaged me prior to the show about an 1885-P 65PL (56/2) and even though I have one already this one looked better as a coin (less PL though) so I went to the dealer and bought it for the collection. Speaking of Nathan he dropped off a 35th anniversary nickel in a retro holder since he knows how much I like rattlers.

Prior to the show, I won a coin from Great Collections (my preferred auction site for Rattlers, thanks @IanRussell) so I asked if I could pickup at the show along with action proceeds. Smooth as expected.

My 1893-S doily came from Big Apple Coins, and we traded messages and caught up in person. I looked through his three boxes and found this fantastic stunner with gold patina. You can see this thing a mile away it’s so flashy. (Intended for my wife to see if this is something she’d like to collect together).

About a month to a month and a half ago a dealer friend texted me one night a photo of a 1886-S 61 gold CAC. I had to have it since 86-S in rattler is tough to find CAC. The story was the person was no longer employed by the dealer and no longer had access to the coin. I sent this coin to many asking them to search social media since I’m not on any of the sites FB/IG etc. Everyone came up dry and I accepted the coin was gone. While at the show I get multiple texts and a phone call telling me the coin popped up with a “who wants it?” message. All four people scrambled to help me, and the dealer took it to Allen at CXC. Allen calls me and says hey stop by the table and when I did he nodded towards his case and there she was:

Coincidentally, I ended up running by Bill Fry’s table less than an hour later and found out Ryan Lange who works with him sometimes and who was at his table when I stopped by to chat is the one that had the 86-S all along. Very coincidental how all that went down in under an hour. Bill then sold me an 1888-0 63 gold CAC:

The night before, Noah @Rarity7 messaged me “found a “you” coin”. I think to myself the spending is a bit out of control, but let’s see what a “you” coin is, and he messages back, “85-CC in rattler, 64 gold CAC.” You know what happened next:

• ## Resubmissions
Resubmitted two coins to CAC and I’ll explain this story when I get the results.

• ## Post show purchase
Presumably like many of us, there’s always a coin that got away or a coin you’re still thinking about post show and that happened to me as well. I shot a dealer a message Saturday morning asking about a coin and he replied back it had sold. The other coin I was thinking about was one for my daughter who collects toned Morgans. We joked that both her birthday and Valentines were coming up, so maybe I should get it for her. The challenge with toned coins is they can be expensive and she’s only 17 years old. I kicked it around and called Allen from CXC. He offered to walk over and just get it for me from Jeff Garrett at Mid West Rarities at no markup.

## Other:

Went to buy a coin from Park Avenue and was told Heritage Auctions bought it. That was new to hear. Bob guessed they would crack it and upgrade or possibly sell it in auction. I was not aware auction houses did this although it is business.

@Justindan of Precision Coin asked I pickup the new Numismy slab if i saw one. Numismy is a company not charging anyone fees to buy or sell. They do have add on packages with technology to help sellers for a fee if you want. Coincidentally (again?) I was sitting at Coin Rarities Online's table talking coins for a friend and a Numismy owner came up and gave his pitch. Noticed he was carrying two boxes of the demo slabs so he was kind enough to give me one for @Justindan and myself.

As I was preparing to leave, I stopped by a table and saw this beautiful coin. Although their $2 million dollar asking price is high, I though you all might still like to see:

An associate asked me to find him an 1856 proof in CAC. @ThePennyLady (thank you) helped me find FIVE. Although the deal did not happen, Mr Snow was very nice to show me his coins and talk 1856.

I've been thinking about a coin @PeakRarities had, but I'm glad it was already reserved and recently sold. I went by the table to look at this spectacular coin again because I love it, but it's off the table. Congrats to the new owner:

Random photos:

I was trying to meet up with several other forum members and just couldn't pull it off, but will plan to see you all at the next show.

## In conclusion, I'm tired of typing at this point. 2025 FUN show ended up being phenomenal. There were so many fantastic coins, the energy and enthusiasm at the show was very high, moral and vibes were positive everywhere. Just can’t tell you how great it was. Thank you to all the dealers that made this so FUN.

Thanks for reading.

Desert Moon · January 12, 2025 4:22PM

Great report and insight to how you do the FUN show. Thanks for posting it!

MFeld · January 12, 2025 4:27PM

That was an excellent, extremely well organized and detailed report! Apart from that, I especially liked the part about the coin your wife bought for you.

justindan · January 12, 2025 4:32PM

Thanks for the sample slab and connection on the 1/2 cent pieces.
Great report!

golden · January 12, 2025 4:47PM

Thanks for your super report.

winesteven · January 12, 2025 4:50PM

Fantastic report, probably the best I’ve read! Congratulations on each of your NEWPS!

It was great getting to meet you in person!

Steve

TomB · January 12, 2025 4:55PM

Terrific show report! It's obvious you had a blast and managed to acquire some great pieces. The written descriptions were wonderful, but to couple them with so many quality images was really nice.

Copperindian · January 12, 2025 5:01PM

Hey Johnny - now that’s what I would call a great FUN show report. I’m just sorry we kept missing one another!
Ken

mattniss · January 12, 2025 5:19PM

Dang, now that's a show report! Congrats on the new acquisitions and good luck finishing that rattler set!

P0CKETCHANGE · January 12, 2025 5:23PM

Wow! Incredible show haul. Congrats on all the new additions.

lermish · January 12, 2025 5:36PM

Terrific report! No surprise to me you had a good time hanging out and talking coins with some of my favorite people. We'll cross paths someday!

divecchia · January 12, 2025 5:58PM

That was one of the best, if not the best show report I have ever read. I read every word of it and it was like I was there with you making all your purchases. This show is definitely on my to do list.

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.

Donato

alaura22 · January 12, 2025 6:11PM

Great report MJ
Some really nice coins you were able to add to your collection

breakdown · January 12, 2025 6:20PM

Great report. You packed a lot into your trip.

You mention a good point about meet with dealer, ask how they are doing, tell a quick story, transact and then move on. It’s just good business sense and appropriate etiquette at a big show.

johnny010 · January 12, 2025 6:39PM

Thanks everyone!

Kliao · January 12, 2025 6:49PM

Great report! Congrats on the many new pieces and potential future new additions

bretsan · January 12, 2025 7:09PM

That’s an awesome write-up. Thanks for sharing. You picked up some great coins at the show. I especially like the story about the coin your wife got you. The rattler proof and gold CAC rattlers are amazing.

etexmike · January 12, 2025 8:00PM

That was a great show report. Thanks so much for taking all the time and effort to post.

coinguy82 · January 12, 2025 8:40PM

Hmm...That slab case looks familiar....you didn't happen to purchase a 21-S in a rattler at the show did you?

johnny010 · January 12, 2025 9:52PM

@coinguy82 said:
Hmm...That slab case looks familiar....you didn't happen to purchase a 21-S in a rattler at the show did you?

I do not see the case I purchased the 21-S from; however, I did buy one that I thought was excellent. After I walked away I did see it has active pvc in the ear. I asked a good friend if it would be right to take it back, but before completing the discussion I knew it was my problem for missing it so I decided against trying to return it.

**edited to add: the dealers case I bought the 21-S from is not pictured.