ANA Final Show Report - Newp Images Added, Separate Post Below
Desert Moon
Posts: 6,470 ✭✭✭✭✭
Hi Folks. Friday started off very relaxing. Most of the big dealers didn't show up until after 9 am (doors open at 8 am). Since no customers yet, I started roaming the floor and searched for coins as the tables began to wake up. I even got to the far reaches of the room, but most of the tables having what I do were more towards the center. I came up to one table which carries ultra uber pq stuff (name will be withheld to protect the innocent). They had a very nice but pricey coin that was of interest, kind of hidden as the last coin taking up the upper left corner of the case. Not the focal point of the case and most eyes would miss it, especially since it was teeny and almost hidden. But my eyes went right to it - a nice little gold piece, very rare, but with the kind of deep and original toning I just love. I asked to see it, price was on the back. I told the guy behind the table I liked it and had to go get my phone to vet out pricing, and check book in case I bought it. Came back, excited thinking I just found a truly great coin and was ready to pull the trigger. I told him though I needed to do my due diligence and look at it under a loop and had alas, left mine at my table. He pulled out one with the company logo on it, said 'keep it', and I took this little gal under the lens and 'Oh No, there is a big gash on her chin! I apologize but I just can't buy it'. Of course he said no worries but still, I was bummed. On my way back, Doug Winter had arrived and I told him I looked at that coin, saw the gash and did not buy it. Doug said I made the right call as he had already looked at it. So that was good...........
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By 10 am when people started populating the floors, activities started. I had no expectations for sales. My records show that I did not sell a single coin on Friday last year in OKC so who knew what was going to happen. While the crowd looked a little different - more tire kicker types than the previous days, there were still what appeared to be serious collectors walking the aisles and a fairly good amount of people. As Laura Sperber had noted, last year at OKC by that time, you could bowl down an aisle and never hit anyone. So that was good. People were still asking to see coins from my case, and I can't count how many times people examined my 2 1909-S VDB's, and my 2 1955 DD's, and stated how lovely they were. But then asked for price and just cringed. Hey there, er, getting the better examples means paying more so you have to pay more +10%. Just the way the coin market rolls. 
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In either case, through the day, I had multiple visits from collectors and dealers with coins to sell and to inspect our wares in the cases. I bought a couple coins, @Kliao raced through all of the boxes of coins put on our table, picked out coins for him to inspect, and occasionally pulled one for me. He ended up buying a few and I probably bought about 3 that way. Sometimes folks wanted way too much and I or @Kliao could not pull the trigger, sometimes the coins (actually most) were just, Yucky. I also had some chances to go to dealers tables and bought a few (Cool Coin Showcases coming your way soon folks), and one very young dealer came over with 3 stunning gold coins and asked if I was interested. He knew they were for me, I knew they were for me, we both knew he loved them too (the right coins after all), and we knew I would somehow work with him to get them. I think it took about a half hour to pry them reluctantly from his small hands, and it was when his father got involved to help out the interchange between us. As the YN was writing out the invoices, his father was doing mobile deposit of my checks, and I was concocting how I was going to do a CCS with a couple others soon. But I get it, I don't want to sell them either they so so nice, but that is what we do eh?
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In the end, I did sell 4 more coins through Friday, all Bust Halves, with the last sale around 4:30 pm to @Davidk7 for his collection. He eyed it for several days (as did several others) and at the end of the show finally decided he had to pull the trigger. All 4 were extreeeeemelllllleeee nice, but it still leaves me an ample amount of Bust Halves with the added newps going forward. The good news is, looking back at my OKC records, that this ANA my sales were 32% higher in Pittsburgh, although not quite reaching this years FUN and CSNS shows, which btw, are shorter shows. I sold about 30% of my inventory. So a very good result, not nuclear, but very good and am not complaining for sure.
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Some other thoughts and happenings at ANA:
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On Thursday afternoon, one of the 3 senior graders for CAC, John Butler, stopped by to chat. He is a real nice guy and he likes to drop by tables of folks he knows to chat and just enjoy the show. We talked about 30 minutes, with John, @Kliao, and I going back and forth on various topics. One of things he noted is that they are seeing more and more submissions of both classic and modern coins. They just hired a young guy to add to the grading room, and he looked straight at @Kliao and said 'you want a job as a grader?' as they are looking to add some more in the near future. So you young guys - if you can grade and want this as a career, CACG is hiring it seems.
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Another YN I know, Ely, who was working with Grand Rapids Coin, just turned 18 (or was it 17), and was scooped up by DLRC and added to their staff. DLRC is getting a great guy. He already has an eye for great coins. The past several shows Ely would come by my table, see the coins they were looking for, buy up quite a few, I would net the price to where I could, and Ely would just say fine and right the check. He knew that the goal was to get great inventory, and not to quibble about a dollar or two. So with DLRC, he is going to really take off as a professional numismatist and has many decades of great work ahead of him. But the point here is that there are alot of YN's going into the buis, with walking great coins on the floor, going to work for the big firms, and I think this is a very good thing for the future as just a decade ago, coins shows looked like a geriatric ward. Not any more folks as things have really changed.
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I had a couple nice chats with @messydesk when there were pauses in his and my activities at the same time. Got caught up on his 2 PhD's (Chicago and Caltech) and talked coins. He was taking coin photos at his booth and imaging some legendary coins for his calendars throughout the show. He told me he has all of the images he needs for the 2027 calendar, and is now working on 2028. So stay tuned for that. He also told me he is doing alot more attributions for CACG including going to CACG in Virginia when he can. He said they had some confusion in the grading room as boxes would come to him with a 'JB' already on the box (he is John Baumgart) and he was thinking 'but I haven't seen these yet'. But those initials were for John Butler, so yes two JBs in the building seeing the coins for different purposes was sometimes adding confusion. All part of the grading work I guess, LOL.
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Overall just a great and fun show. Got to see alot of people, including many on these chat boards - @PeakRarities, @davidk7, @Copperindian, @golden, @drddm, @pursuitofliberty, @1TwoBits, @ParadimeCoins, @Sunshine Rare Coins, @MEJ7070, @sedulous, @pcgscacgold, @Bikergeek, @messydesk, @Dscoin, @burdell, @Pnies20 and many others on and not on the boards here. The interactions with people are just as important as selling the coins.
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A big thank you to @kliao and @usararecoins for sharing a table and we worked and coordinated our activities well. Good team, yay!
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I did pick up 3 coins for my different collections and once imaged will post them here. I was fortunate to obtain some really amazing examples, one of the perks of being at the big coin shows.
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Just a dinner pic by some of us to end below.
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Best, DM
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Comments
Thanks for your informative show reports. Looking forward to seeing you at FUN.
Did the Penny Lady have a table?
She has been somewhat quiet lately.
Was good to see you and chat a little further at the airport!
See you at FUN
BHNC #248 … 140 and counting.
Thanks for the report, that was a fun read.
Great show report! It was an absolute pleasure hanging with you, and thank you for the lovely 1811-106 in P53 CAC for my PC!
Collector of Capped Bust Halves, SLQ's, Commems, and random cool stuff! @davidv_numismatics on Instagram
To quiet acually
I saw her setup at a local show last month in SoCal. By far she had the best cases of solid coins at the show. I walked by twice and saw her as well as her table-helper. There was definitely something going on with her that was visible and palpable. I don’t have any professional or personal relationship with her. I didn’t want to be the nosy-collector. It is a coin show. And in no way do I want to open what could’ve been a very emotional conversation. Maybe it was all due to being a slow show. Or she stubbed her toe that morning. But it was by no means the Charmy energy I have seen and heard in person several times before and that is shown for us here on the forum.
Chance favors the prepared mind.
Hope she's well with a warm smile
And a wonderful classic vintage wine.
Great report(s), DM, thanks for taking all the time to write up and share your experiences with us!
Great reports. It was good to meet you at the ANA.
It was finally great to meet you Mr. AU58+...............
Penny Lady had a table at the show.
Nice seeing you as always Alan! Great talk, hope to see you at FUN!
Ethan
Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici
BHNC #253
Great report Al. It was nice seeing you at dinner on Monday and then several times at the show. Will see you in Rosemont in September if you are going. This ANA was my single best show ever. Came away with 19 coins in all and grabbed one last night for an even box full.
Completed All CAC approved Classic Head $5 set https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/mysetregistry/album/344241
CBH Set https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/everyman-collections/everyman-half-dollars/everyman-capped-bust-half-dollars-1807-1839/album/345572
Er, guys, do you mind? This is NOT Penny Lady's thread so can you start one on her if you want to discuss her?
Thanks, DM
E - great doing buis back and forth and our negotiating is always fun. You made another collectors decade by selling me the 1815/2. Thanks!
Wow that is almost as many as me as a dealer! Gotta sell me some of those Tom
. But yes enjoyed seeing you!
Best, DM
I hope he enjoys, he is partially the reason I could afford my set piece, which in turn just upgraded and received the plus which is the best news I've gotten all year. Tell him thank you and enjoy a beautifully toned example!
Ethan
Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici
BHNC #253
Here is the image when you get it just right in the light to bring out the color near the rims:
Here are the 3 coins I picked up for my collection below. The 8 Escudo piece, like almost all foreign gold from 18th to early 19th Centuries was a bargain, just a bit above melt. The key to getting them is getting the right piece with largely un-manipulated surfaces. I know one dealer I trust to get this right, so I buy 1 or 2 a year to build a country set of that era.
The other 2 have super eye appeal so I had to pay ridiculous money. But they fit my BQ and HD small sets really well. I need to clean the slab and re-shoot the HD as you can see.
Best, DM
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Those are 3 beautiful coins.
That quarter is killer. Glad you were able to get it!
Nice score Al! Especially love the H10C!
“The thrill of the hunt never gets old”
PCGS Registry: Screaming Eagles
Copperindian
Copperindian II
Indy Eagles
Gold Rush
Bust Caps
Retired sets: Soaring Eagles
Copperindian
Nickelodeon
Early Walkers
Successful transactions: redraider, winesteven, renomedphys, splitaces, oreville, ajaan, Cent1225, onlyroosies, justindan, blitzdude, DesertMoon, johnnyb, Heubschgold, SunshineRareCoins, ParadimeCoins, ndeagles, Southern_Knights, pcgsregistrycollector, BruceS
Great reports and awesome NEWPs! It was a pleasure to help you at your table.
Collector
Over 100 Positive BST transactions buying and selling with 57 members and counting!
instagram.com/klnumismatics
Love them all but that 8 Escudos is really a killer piece.
Thanks everyone for your nice comments. Makes me motivated to continue doing these posts!
Best, DM
Appreciate the show reports.
I absolutely love the 8 escudo you selected DM.
As I had a chance to tell you in Pittsburgh, I really enjoy your photography.
Awesome coins and awesome shots!
That blue DBQ is da bomb!
"She comes out of the sun in a silk dress,
running like a water color in the rain...."
Great report and wonderful pickups. Love the blue on that bust quarter and the 8 escudos has fantastic eye appeal. Look forward to when your newps post.
Great talking to you at the show! Thanks for posting the report.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution