ANA Report, NEWPs, Eye Candy
messydesk
Posts: 20,332 ✭✭✭✭✭
I arrived Wednesday late afternoon so I could set up my stuff at @alefzero 's table, say "Hi" to a bunch of the VAM collectors present, and make dinner plans -- The Clove for Indian food. Decent food, lots of it, no pictures.
Thursday I actually got doing a few pictures for people -- fewer than usual, but that gave me time to wander a bit. Took a look at the coins S-B had on display and got to handle the previously unknown and now finest known Class III 1804 dollar. I spoke with John Dannreuther about it for a little while (OK, one doesn't simply speak with JD for a little while) and he and John Kraljevich are determined to figure out some sort of provenance for it. Not sure how, but more power to them. Cool coin, for sure, though.
The "Augusta Saint-Gaudens" ultra-high relief $20 from the Tyrant collection was on display. Very cool coin. The edge engraving was unfortunately not visible.
Several of us went to Mickey Mantle's for steak Thursday night. I allow myself one steak dinner per coin show.
Friday started quite early. I got to the show at 8 so that I could take my photo gear to the GC table, where Ian graciously let me photograph the 1844-O $5 and $10 proof coins under the watchful and curious eye of one of OKC's finest.
I brought a coin with me to show fellow VAM collectors and anyone else I thought might be interested. Cuds on Morgan dollars are extremely rare. While this is technically a retained cud, as you can still see a couple denticles on it, it is the strongest cud on the reverse die of any Morgan dollar. The reverse die being the anvil, a broken away piece of die doesn't fall out like it would on the hammer, rather it sinks down into the arbor holding the reverse die. While all the VAM guys loved it, so did collectors of other varieties, error collectors, and aficionados of generally cool stuff. It's currently not for sale, but if it were, it'd have interest from far beyond the VAM community.
I did my shopping on Friday, purchasing a bust half and one and a half Morgan dollars. First the Bustie, purchased from David Kahn. A little dark, but fully lustrous:
The Morgan I purchased was an 1888-O Hot Lips (VAM 4) in AU50. These get really expensive fast above this grade. It's from the "California" collection of the late Lloyd Gabbert. The seller came to our table and was looking to sell a bunch of coins to help pay for his grandkids' college. He sold a few to the others at my table, too. These always look to have less detail than they're graded because the doubling is so strong.
Finally, the half Morgan dollar. During WWI, the Germans were telling the Indians that the paper rupees the British had circulating there were worthless and that India would be better served fighting alongside Germany. The Pittman Act of 1918 resulted in the melting of 270 million silver dollars, which were then sold to the British to back their paper. They were then coined into Rupees at the Calcutta mint in 1919, which are approximately half dollar sized. I bought this from Andy Lustig.
Dinner Friday at Rendezvous Pizza with a few VAM guys hit the spot. Again, no food pictures.
Saturday started with a walk across the parking lot from the MainStay hotel where I was staying to the Country Inn, because the breakfast person hadn't shown up yet. I chatted with someone who came to town to see what some errors they had were worth and to get them graded (uh oh). I didn't see the coins, but she said she had a Connecticut quarter with 90° rotated reverse, a 1941 cent with a cracked planchet (my terms interpreting her description) and something else. I tried letting her down a little bit by telling her they probably weren't worth grading and sent her to the ANACS table to get an assessment, where they'd finish the dream crushing.
There was a lot of public at the show on Saturday, and many had never been to a coin show before. This show was hyped up locally and they were excited to see what it was all about. Families that were filling folders with roll searching got a taste of other stuff that was out there and they were proud of their town being chosen, and for good reason. The convention center was brand new and conveniently located near a totally renovated entertainment district (Bricktown) that had been mostly dilapidated, abandoned buildings in the 1990s. The food at the convention center, was supposedly good and also fairly priced. There was a burger stand outside the bourse floor that could be smelled now and then from the front of the 1400-1700 aisles. Saturday there was a farmer's market in the park across from the convention center and a lot of food trucks. Had it not been so stinking hot outside, food trucks could have made a killing on the convention. I had some time Saturday at the airport to chat with Greg Allen, and he thought the despite the challenge posed by lack of direct flights from everywhere (he was going OKC-ATL-MSP), it would be a great venue for a Spring ANA show.
Finally, a food picture. Here you see me trying to figure out why Mrs. Freshly's donuts are so gross. I didn't buy them, but when offered one I obliged so that I could provide you, gentle reader, with an honest "do not put in mouth" recommendation. The ingredients list was longer than this post. I haven't found an MSDS online yet.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
Comments
Whose that gray haired guy? Great report, stunning images!
It's the lighting. If you look closely, you can clearly see on my badge that my hair is brown. Yeah, that's it.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
Excellent report!
Those 1844-O's have always struck me as medal press Proofs. Fascinating coins for sure.
Looks like you were trying to get a line on a grade for a submission of the package. 😀
Was thinking a special Mrs. Freshley's show label could be flipped for Obscene Profit™, but it would come back Artificially Flavored, Questionable Ingredients, so I didn't bother.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
always good to see you at a show. That Morgan Dollar with a reverse cud is outstanding, thank you for showing it to me in hand. I know some capped bust guys that would love to own it too!
Here's is actually a partial list of some ingredients from Mrs. Freshly's Donuts:
These are only a few of the wholesome ingredients within each and every package of Freshly Donuts.
jom
Great report and coin photos; thanks for posting!
Good seeing you, too. I didn't realize how popular that coin would be.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
Hi John, Thanks for the great photos of the 1804 dollar and the New Orleans gold half eagle and eagle. See you at FUN with a couple of coins for photos. Joey
Great report and I love the Morgan cud!
Great report!
Thanks for showing the cud Morgan - I’ve never seen a Morgan cud anywhere near that size!
AND - It’s a treat to have another image to view of the Spectacular 1804!
30+ years coin shop experience (ret.) Coins, bullion, currency, scrap & interesting folks. Loved every minute!
It was great seeing you, and that Morgan cud was incredible. I would've joined you and the VAM crew for dinner, but my steak at Mickey Mantle's the night before was not good and I didn't want to go there again...
Understandable. I think every steak place got both positive and negative reviews except Mahogany, which was heard to have been the best. Good seeing you, too!
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution