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Any reports from Summer FUN ?
thebeav
Posts: 3,888 ✭✭✭✭✭
thebeav
Posts: 3,888 ✭✭✭✭✭
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It seemed to be pretty active on dealer day. I was concentrating on my cent date set and found two of them. One more to go!
Heading over there in about an hour!
I was there this morning, to drop off a consignment to Great Collections and make a coin donation to Coins and Kids. The summer show seems to get larger every year. This is the first time I've ever been to a major show and stayed for less than two hours. Now that I am divesting myself of my collection the oomph has gone out of my sails when it comes to walking the bourse.
Anyhow, the traffic driving east on I-4 was the lightest it's ever been in the 13 years that I've been going to FUN. The usual parking lot a few miles before the U.S. 27/I-4 interchange was non-existent - sailed right through which was a total surprise. There was a minor backup around exit 62 but it didn't last long. When I was driving west after the show the eastbound cars were stacked up pretty good. It really is a timesaver to take exit 67 and access International Drive from there if you're driving east to the show on I-4. Note: The 45mph speed limit on International Drive seems to be strictly enforced.
Parking was $21.30 with the tax so it looks like the old $10 parking fee truly went the way of the dinosaur with the last winter show. I wonder if the venue kicks some of that back to the FUN Show. Hopefully they do.
The registration line was relatively sedate when compared with the last winter show. It was relatively quiet on the bourse when I finally got in around 10:20 AM. I accomplished my business in short order and wandered around the floor a little bit.
RGDS!
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
BOOMIN!™
Wooooha! Did someone just say it's officially "TACO™" Tuesday????
Flying up to Orlando tomorrow from Ft. Lauderdale. Spirit was $6o round trip…..35 minute flight. Going to Uber it to the convention center. Taking several coins to sell, several to grade, and some bills to get graded. Hope to buy a few coins off my want list…and then back home tomorrow evening.
was the us mint selling the army privy ase
$21.30 to park! I hate to think of how much the chili dogs cost!
welcome to florida!
How would they do that if they are still on pre-sale on the web?
D'oh
forgot they didn't ship yet
hasty in helpin'
Before I pitch them, does anyone want any of the FUN tokens over the past 10 years?
To put it context, I think I once paid $50 to park in Manhattan over 40 years ago, but yea, more than $20 in an open lot in the Florida sun is a bit much. The hotel where I am staying is charging almost $20 a day, which includes the FUN discount.
When I attended Baltimore, parking last month was 42.00 keeps getting higher and higher
Today was my one day at Summer FUN (I now attend for two days at Winter FUN). In addition to finding a special coin for my current endeavor of putting together a Proof Barber Dime set, I met and spoke with two wonderful people in our hobby: Joe O’Connor and T.H. Barrow.
Six years ago, Oliver Jung was selling coins from his #1 ranked Type Set, often referred to as “The Greatest Type Set Ever Assembled”. I was interested in buying his Silver Three-Cent Piece, MS67+ PCGS w/CAC. I was told to reach out to Joe O’Connor, who Oliver had chosen to handle the sale. I did, and bought the coin, which still resides in my Dansco 7070 Registry Set, which is my pride and joy, and can be seen by clicking on the hotlink in my auto signature below. Over the years I heard about Joe from some hobby friends with very high end collections. As I was walking the bourse today, a guy at one of the dealer tables saw my name badge, and asked me if I could give him a few minutes to answer some questions for him, which I gladly did. We had a wonderful and positive conversation for about 10 minutes, and at the end he stood up to thank me, and I then saw HIS name badge. Lo and behold, he was Joe O’Connor! We then spoke for at least another 10 minutes or so. What a joy!
About a half hour later I was at Shannon’s booth @ParadimeCoins. He’s a great dealer and an even greater person. At his booth at that time was another collector, and Shannon introduced us. His name is T.H. Barrow. We had a super enjoyable conversation, and as it turns out, we know of each other through the CAC Registry, where we are often neck and neck with each other in the rankings (most of the time he’s one spot higher than me). Again, what a wonderful conversation we had!
To me, as well as many other collectors, the value of attending a large coin show is not just the opportunity to buy and sell coins, but just as important is the opportunity to create and strengthen relationships with other collectors and dealers!
While Summer FUN is not considered a “major” show, they have over 260 or so dealers and tables, so it actually is quite large. I encourage others to attend!
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
@winesteven:
Steve - good read! I attended this one for the first time on Thursday. I knew we would miss one another by a day but I was only in town a short time & Thursday was my only day.
I think this show is underrated; there is plenty of participation from dealers & attendees alike. It actually surprised me!
I’m glad you had a good show. Enjoying seeing your PR Barber 10C saga unfolding. Very eclectic set!
I, too, spent some time with Shannon (& Nadiya) @ Paradime’s table. They’re handling the sale of my FE PR set & doing an outstanding job. I couldn’t be happier & like you mentioned - quality people! While not a PR, I bought this MS one from them out of the Jett Collection they’re selling:
Happy hunting with your Barbers!
Ken
“The thrill of the hunt never gets old”
PCGS Registry: Screaming Eagles
Copperindian
Retired sets: Soaring Eagles
Copperindian
Nickelodeon
I attended the show on Thursday, arriving as they opened the doors, which seemed to be a little early. By then the sign in lines were short, but also well staffed, so it was quick.
Entering the show already had some buzz to it. The summer show is definitely getting traction and getting busier year by year.
I zipped over to the NGC tables for a small submission (I do PCGS submissions at the Winter show). Basically no line, but all the reps were busy. Since I’d already had my forms completed, I wasn’t relegated to “form filling purgatory”, so one of the reps squeezed me in immediately. I then trouped all the way back across the hall as I needed to drop of one coin at the ANACS table, which was ok as I wanted to start the bourse in the first aisle anyway.
Observations - the PCGS submission line was enormous by that time (10:30). Probably at least 30 people waiting, and others already seated submitting coins, and they were very well staffed and still inundated.
The bourse was pretty busy. The tables weren’t 3 deep like at Winter FUN, but I still had to wait to view cases at many of the tables, and there was less time for chit chat than used to be the case in the summer. Prices, at least the listed MSRPS, seemed quite strong, at least in the specialized areas I was hunting (large cents and walkers). And as others have reported, even the better stuff in Details holders was priced near retail.
I did spend some time chatting with dealers I know from Florida, so that was nice. The only forum member I recognized and talked with was the former Deplorable Dan, now owner of @PeakRarities. He has some amazing material that is rarely seen, even at these big shows.As he said, he likes to keep it interesting!
Young wheeler dealers - I saw less walking the floor, but more working behind tables now.
Everyone I talked to indicated the show was off to a good start, and as Bill reported, the dealer day on Wednesday had been pretty busy.
Biggest shame- one of my dealer friends showed me a coin he picked up from wholesaler Coleman Foster. A gorgeous original mint state 21D walker, with a small but unfortunate staple scratch on the obverse. Ugh! But he loves early walkers like I do, and he had to buy it.
It’s hard to be a dealer when incident- a couple were at a table shopping for a high grade 20 cent piece for their type set. I was looking at coins in the other case. They haggled and haggled on the price, finally offering $100 below the best price they were given. The dealer consulted with his partner, and reluctantly agreed to it. They then pulled out a credit card! The dealer said whoa, that’s a cash price. They said they don’t have cash or checks. Dealer says ok, but we’ll need a 3% additional charge. Oh no, you can also use it as a debit card! He said it’s still going to be 3%….wife was quite upset, dealer suggested they go find an ATM. No we’re not gonna do that…let’s just forget it.
NEWPS- I did find two coins on my list,
The 1844 has been an elusive cent to find in nice AU/unc. Surprisingly so since it’s a later date with a generous mintage.
The 1814 is one of the “common” Classic Head cents, but I’d been looking for one for awhile that was all there for the grade and had decent surfaces and a solid reverse strike. Many I’ve seen have reverse details at least one grade below the obverse. This one is solid strong VF all around. Courtesy of the good folks at The Reeded Edge.
I went to the Jan FUN show for the first time this year. I was blown away. What is the size of Summer FUN compared to the Jan show?
Winter FUN has roughly 675 dealers and tables, Summer 275. These are rough numbers off the top of my head, @stockdude_ .
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
Below is the current online floor plan for the 2025 Summer FUN and then a photo from the 2025 Winter FUN show guide of the floor plan. Keep in mind that some dealers or firms will occupy multiple tables (auction companies and larger dealers).
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Yq4KA0mUnC8 - Dream On (Aerosmith cover) via Morgan James & Postmodern Jukebox
https://youtube.com/watch?v=m3lF2qEA2cw - Creep (Radiohead cover) via Haley Reinhart & Postmodern Jukebox
RLJ 1958 - 2023
I flew from Ft. Lauderdale to Orlando on Spirit. They upgraded me into the large ‘first class’ seat (not sure why, but it was nice!)…$75 round trip…and Ubered from Orlando Int’l airport to the Convention Center 12 miles away. $45 round trip…. Sold/traded some of my modern gold and silver and came home with two new coins out of the five on my list. One I sent in to see if it would bean. Submitted several coins and several bills to PCGS, and a few to CAC. Waited at most two or three minutes before attended to at each organization’s submission table. CAC makes everything extremely easy as far as submitting and the vendor’s employees were extremely helpful. PCGS had no one in line when I showed up so I got right in, but there was approximately 10 folks in line when I finished my submissions. The hall was massive and there were coins of all kinds. Seemed pretty busy….and almost overwhelming…but I had a great time and saw a LOT of awesome coins! There and back home in nine hours….
Went Thursday afternoon and again this morning. This was my first show in 8 years, after I sold my collection at the start of medical school, and had only bought one coin in that time since. I have been interested in bust quarters for a while, and I was able to pick up two great coins at the show and excited to get back into the coin world. It was nice to see and say hi to some old coin friends. I was able to go through the entire heritage auction as well, to warm up my eyes, as I hadn't graded a coin in so long. Many dealers stated this had been a fantastic show, and general public traffic seemed to be hopping today.
Great to see back in the hobby and posting again!
Was it raw or straight graded? Sometimes, the grading companies will overlook a small staple scratch but, other times, it gets the details grade.
I once saw a '35-S in a 65+ holder that was perfectly original and even had a CAC sticker with a staple scratch. I passed on it but now I wish I hadn’t. But, I still like my white example in 65 with sharp strike and good luster. 😉🙂
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
You did good with a good education. Welcome back 🙏
I was on a grade and sell mission, with grading stops at PCGS (Newfoundland halves) and CACG (all US coins), and a fast 14-coin drop-off with Great Collections. After that was complete, I tried wandering the floor looking for some common date seated halves (56, 56-O, 57, 63, 63-S, 64, 65, 70, 70-S, 72) in XF and not finding anything that I liked. I probably wasn't looking in all the right places, but it is difficult to find anything other than type material for seated halves at shows when major seated dealers don't attend the show.
@Barberian . Couple dates in there like 64, 65 and 70-S that might be stretching the word "common" for. james
It was raw, in a 2x2, when I saw it. Not sure if he bought it that way, but I’m sure it wouldn’t have been straight graded, as he wouldn’t have cracked it out. It was maybe 3/8 inch long, between the R and T, wider and deeper than a light pin scratch. Otherwise it was well struck, lustrous, with light toning. The reverse was a lock 64. He had two people waiting to show him boxes, and another deal going on, and was trying to eat lunch, so I couldn’t get any more to the story on it.
Saw an amazing group of early Bust $ in PCGS holders including both 1796 varieties and several with CAC stickers at Eye Appealing Coins table. They let me hold any of them I wanted for a closer look.
Thanks. That’s really interesting.
What was he asking for it?
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
Thanks for the reports guys !
I appreciate everyone that helped to make this an interesting thread......
I drove my usual 3 hours to get there on Friday and had a great time. I didn't buy much of anything, just a few varieties I was searching for, but I did look at a lot of stuff. I went by @PeakRarities table, but Dan wasn't there, and I didn't have unlimited time.
Theere were three kind of interesting things that happened, and one really embarrassing one.
The interesting ones were:
1. that the orange bags they gave out in January said July 11-13, while the show actually was open to thw public July 10-12. I am not sure why this occurred.
2. There was some massive graduation going on in a nearby area of the convention center, and the whole West Concourse parking was full of these people. I had to park in the South Concourse lot and get a bus ride there.
3. I got a free Papa Johns pizza because the first one they gave me had green paint on the edge of one slice, so they told me to take another one and keep the first. Free food made up for the parking!
The really embarrassing thing is that I accidentally became a thief. I had been searching through a pile of cull morgans at IDC Clearwater's table, and a bunch of them fell off the edge when someone else messed with the glass case. I picked them all up and put them back on the table, and ended up taking four at $28 apiece(varieties I wanted). When I got home and cleaned out my bag, I found out that I had an extra Morgan that I didn't remember purchasing. Apparently when that stack fell off the table, one landed in my bag and I didn't see it. Those guys are always nice, so I'll make sure to get it back to them at the next show. It is a VG/ dented 1878-S by the way, nothing good or that I would want to buy.
I wouldn't have believed you if you would have told me I'd steal $28 at the show!
In all, another nice experience, all the dealers I met seemed in good spirits, so I assumed that good business must have been going on.
God bless all who believe in him. Do unto others what you expect to be done to you. Dubbed a "Committee Secret Agent" by @mr1931S on 7/23/24. Founding member of CU Anti-Troll League since 9/24/24.
I agree. They are on my want list along with a dozen common dates. The 64, 65, and 70-S are scarce, and hard to find in midgrades. They all seem to be difficult to find right now.
great seeing everyone, and thank you @winesteven and @Copperindian
some exciting news coming soon for proof flyers,
Shannon
ParadimeCoins.com PCGS NGC CAC InventorySign up for our exclusive NEWPs mailing list - Subscribe
The Summer FUN was more active than I have ever seen it before. The bourse was even full on Saturday, and not that many dealers had left.
I finished my one a year cent collection from 1793 to 2024. No, I don't have a 2025 yet. That will have to wait until the silver Proof sets are issued. I had three more coins to go, and I found them all. Two, the 1806 and 1830, were higher grades than than I had planned (Mint State), and the 1809 was a VF which was what I had planned, but didn't think I would find there.
I am thinking about doing a series of posts on the cent. It will take some time, and I'm still in the planning stage.
Here's a short blog post about the FUN show, that I posted yesterday. https://sullivannumismatics.com/blog/summer-fun-coin-show-report-2025/
One of the dealers I see regularly at the shows made the comment that he thought that Summer FUN had gotten bigger than Baltimore. I have not been to a Baltimore show in a long time, not since the riots. I don't know if the size comment about the shows is true, but it was interesting.