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Coin Show Report - White Plains, NY
DaveG
Posts: 3,535 ✭
I just got back from the first day of the three-day White Plains, NY show. This show advertises that is has about 160 dealers, although there are about 40 or so stamp dealers.
The show used to charge $3 admission, but they've stopped doing that. As a result, perhaps, I thought that floor traffic was a little stronger than it has been at past Thanksgiving weekend shows. It wasn't as crowded as Parsippany usually is, but it was more lively than usual for White Plains.
I had a really great time, mostly because I sat down with njcoincrank and went through his inventory and talked to him for more than an hour! For those of you who don't know him, he's been in the business for close to 20 years and has a really wide inventory and body of knowledge! He carries a lot of exonumia as well as some killer coins! (For example, today he had a Massachusetts 1652 silver two-pence! Now I've seen the shillings in person, but never one of the smaller coins!) Unfortunately, he has a lot of material for "show and tell" that's not for sale, so sometimes he's a tease! For example, today he showed me a 1904 St. Louis Exposition medal, designed by A.A. Weinman, in its original box, that was of a shape I've never seen before!
He did, however, have a lot of things for sale, including a full double-row box of comtemporary counterfeit coins and a roll of contemporary counterfeit Bust halves! Wow! A whole bunch of conterfeit V nickels, Seated dimes, Barber and Walker halves, etc.! I snagged a really cool counterfeit 1861 quarter eagle! (for a modest sum) It appears to be made of brass and is a pretty decent copy.
He also showed off a lot of very historical and interesting material, including two different printing plates for miniature broken bank notes - salesman's samples?
As far as interesting coins, he had about 20 California fractional gold coins in PCGS slabs as well as some pretty high end items.
I also stopped by a dealer who had a big pile of broken bank notes. I picked up an 1854 $5 issued by the Farmers' and Merchants' Bank of Memphis, TN. The bill is dated, signed and numbered, so I infer it was actually issued and isn't just a 'remaindered' bill. What makes the bill interesting is the central vignette, which shows a 'Daniel Boone'-type pioneer with a Kentucky rifle, an Indian maiden (baring one breast!) and three cherubs, all posing with the images of five gold dollars (Type I)! (As many of you may know, there is a sub-set of broken banknote collectors who collect banknotes with pictures of coins on them.)
Next, I finally satisfied my desire for an older NGC slab! I'm now the proud owner of an MS-62 1888-O Morgan dollar in an NGC4 slab (used late 1989 to 1992) for $25! The coin is mostly white, with some rust-colored toning around the periphery. (When I was a kid, the 1888-O Morgan was one of my favorites, because it had three 8s in the date and was minted in New Orleans, at a mint which didn't exist anymore!) I did see some older NGC slabs with green labels so perhaps I missed an NGC3 slab in my haste. Well, maybe next time!
Then I talked to Tom Hyland, who was evaluating a circulated no-motto 1866-S eagle! With a mintage of 8,500, this is one coin you don't see often! The reverse looked like VF, and the obverse was F, but the reverse had a big 'ding' and a portion of the reeding was missing - perhaps worn away or perhaps shaved off. All-in-all, the coin wasn't too bad looking for a F-15 sort of coin, especially an eagle!
As far as other no-motto gold goes, I only saw one NGC-45 O-mint half eagle and no slabbed and only one raw eagle, compared to seven to ten C- and D-mint half eagles. (When I remarked on this to njcoincrank, he observed that O-mint coins, being less expensive, were easier to sell than the more expensive C- and D-mint coins.)
What a great show!
The show used to charge $3 admission, but they've stopped doing that. As a result, perhaps, I thought that floor traffic was a little stronger than it has been at past Thanksgiving weekend shows. It wasn't as crowded as Parsippany usually is, but it was more lively than usual for White Plains.
I had a really great time, mostly because I sat down with njcoincrank and went through his inventory and talked to him for more than an hour! For those of you who don't know him, he's been in the business for close to 20 years and has a really wide inventory and body of knowledge! He carries a lot of exonumia as well as some killer coins! (For example, today he had a Massachusetts 1652 silver two-pence! Now I've seen the shillings in person, but never one of the smaller coins!) Unfortunately, he has a lot of material for "show and tell" that's not for sale, so sometimes he's a tease! For example, today he showed me a 1904 St. Louis Exposition medal, designed by A.A. Weinman, in its original box, that was of a shape I've never seen before!
He did, however, have a lot of things for sale, including a full double-row box of comtemporary counterfeit coins and a roll of contemporary counterfeit Bust halves! Wow! A whole bunch of conterfeit V nickels, Seated dimes, Barber and Walker halves, etc.! I snagged a really cool counterfeit 1861 quarter eagle! (for a modest sum) It appears to be made of brass and is a pretty decent copy.
He also showed off a lot of very historical and interesting material, including two different printing plates for miniature broken bank notes - salesman's samples?
As far as interesting coins, he had about 20 California fractional gold coins in PCGS slabs as well as some pretty high end items.
I also stopped by a dealer who had a big pile of broken bank notes. I picked up an 1854 $5 issued by the Farmers' and Merchants' Bank of Memphis, TN. The bill is dated, signed and numbered, so I infer it was actually issued and isn't just a 'remaindered' bill. What makes the bill interesting is the central vignette, which shows a 'Daniel Boone'-type pioneer with a Kentucky rifle, an Indian maiden (baring one breast!) and three cherubs, all posing with the images of five gold dollars (Type I)! (As many of you may know, there is a sub-set of broken banknote collectors who collect banknotes with pictures of coins on them.)
Next, I finally satisfied my desire for an older NGC slab! I'm now the proud owner of an MS-62 1888-O Morgan dollar in an NGC4 slab (used late 1989 to 1992) for $25! The coin is mostly white, with some rust-colored toning around the periphery. (When I was a kid, the 1888-O Morgan was one of my favorites, because it had three 8s in the date and was minted in New Orleans, at a mint which didn't exist anymore!) I did see some older NGC slabs with green labels so perhaps I missed an NGC3 slab in my haste. Well, maybe next time!
Then I talked to Tom Hyland, who was evaluating a circulated no-motto 1866-S eagle! With a mintage of 8,500, this is one coin you don't see often! The reverse looked like VF, and the obverse was F, but the reverse had a big 'ding' and a portion of the reeding was missing - perhaps worn away or perhaps shaved off. All-in-all, the coin wasn't too bad looking for a F-15 sort of coin, especially an eagle!
As far as other no-motto gold goes, I only saw one NGC-45 O-mint half eagle and no slabbed and only one raw eagle, compared to seven to ten C- and D-mint half eagles. (When I remarked on this to njcoincrank, he observed that O-mint coins, being less expensive, were easier to sell than the more expensive C- and D-mint coins.)
What a great show!
Check out the Southern Gold Society
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Comments
Dan
It is indeed a treat to have the chance to spend some time with njcoincrank. In this hobby you don't meet too many people who are both extremely knowledgable and also generous with their time and willing to teach you something you didn't know.
Sounds like you really scoured that show floor!
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
Thanks for the report.I can't wait until next weekend.I'm sure there will be all kinds of reports.
Registry 1909-1958 Proof Lincolns
I'm sad to be missing Baltimore next weekend, but, to look on the brightside, since I didn't spend much money today, that means that I may be at Baltimore in March with a big pocketful of cash!
Check out the Southern Gold Society
I showed some coins to 3 dealers and sold about what I had hoped to. I sold a nice 1913 $10 eagle NGC65 to David Weinstein and 4 type coins to Brian Hendleson of Classic Coin. I sold Brian a killer colored gem 1858 3 cent silver that I was hoping to bring to FUN with me and ask about 10% more there for it. It didn't make it and I think I left some money on the table on that one. A bird in the hand is sometimes the way to go though.
I bought a nice PCGS MS64 Saint from Jon at Scarsdale coin (thanks).
I came back later for a 63 PCGS Saint he had but that was gone on the return trip. Really was nothing exceptional on the floor in the way of gem Barber, Bust, and Seated type coins. There was one no motto seated half in NGC65 as well as a NGC MS65 trade dollar but they didn't have that certain combo of eye appeal and technical merits. I met a close friend of EVP's here and we did a little horse trading. He got an old holdered MS65 PCGS 1880 seated quarter for a pair of slabbed MS63 $20 Libs (+misc cash). One of the Libs was a very flashy PQ first gen coin that I couldn't say no too.
There were plenty of moderns, classic commems, and dollars. What wasn't there was nice type. I don't even recall seeing a nice Barber proof there!
For the first time that I can remember it seemed like the stamp dealers outnumbered the coin dealers. I would have been surprised if the total # of coin dealers was more than 50-60. Still, it was well worth the trip, and I got to clear a bit of room for some future purchases.
roadrunner
Sounds like you both had a good time!
Anyone joining me?
Did njcoincrank have a 23D Merc in his counterfiet box of coins ? Any information will be appreciated.
Thanks Much.
Ken
I don't know. But I will check tomorrow for you.
njcoincrank
Ken
Steady flow of collectors today. Dealers reported very steady business. Easier to sell than to buy.
Met njcoincrank, Jon Scarsdale Coins, Ms. Dominick of Westwood as Bill was trying to buy stuff on the floor, and a few others. Saw a nice MS-67 PCGS $2 1/2 gold, aomw patterns, Calif Fractionals and a couple of nice 3CS.
Ended up buying a "Numiscap" (sic?) PCGS 1880-S MS-64 $1 and a 1944-S MS-64 25c in the PCGS first generation insert.
Also bought some raw coins as well!
I first stopped and talked to my usual error/variety sources: Bill Affanato of AN Enterprises, Rich Schemmer, and Glenn Berger. Glenn sold me a very nice UNC 1949-S Lincoln with a 15-20% clip, Rich sold me a double-clipped BU 1986-D cent, both very nice upgrades for my set. Rich had some unbelievable dollar errors, including a SBA struck on a Sac$ blank, and also a 1943 cent overstruck on a Mercury Dime. I also found out from him that a blank half planchet I bought as a "clad" is actually 40% silver clad.
I had a few things in mind looking around. I cherrypicked two early error Lincolns, a fine 1914-S with a rim clip and an AU 1932-D with a tapered planchet at K-12. The '32-D is missing from my clip set, so that coin will become my placeholder. I also grabbed an 1873 Indian in VF-30 with mild corrosion and what may be a 5% straight clip. The coin needs an olive oil bath and some further study, but at only $15 should be a steal either way. I also was looking at proof singles, and picked up a few nice pieces, including one knock-out 1969-S cent which I'm going to try and photograph later. I looked everywhere for 1872 seated dimes, trying to cherrypick one of the DDRs, but only found three or four in the whole bourse, none of which were the variety. This was also the first show in years where I didn't cherrypick even one two-feather Buffalo.
One last anecdote - one dealer whom I'd bought some nice Jefersons from in the past didn't have any out on his table. When I asked why, he said he was holding them back until next year, when the two new designs come out. Interesting strategy.
Sean Reynolds
"Keep in mind that most of what passes as numismatic information is no more than tested opinion at best, and marketing blather at worst. However, I try to choose my words carefully, since I know that you guys are always watching." - Joe O'Connor
Cameron Kiefer
We had a pleasant talk and enjoyed looking over some of his nice coins. My first time meeting him and it was worth it.
Thanks for the report!!
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