Went to Baltimore today...
Stork
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and didn't even get nearly what I thought I would. Undoubtably this was partly because my time was limited to a little under 4 hours while my husband took the two boys to the toy museum and the sports museum. It was funny, what I thought would be easy to find wasn't, and what .did grab me came from unexpected places. I had a lot of fun spotting the darkside in the liteside cases which was entertaining too.
Overall, traffic seemed light with quite a few empty tables and dealers starting to pack up as lunch neared. The only non-dealer forum member I saw that I know of was TooTawl. I got to say a quick hello to him, but that was when the hubby and offspring found me so we went to go off and do the kiddie grab bag. TooTawl seemed a little disappointed in the quality and quantity of the offerings of the show, but had a really cool old piece of military script. I had fun looking at some of the dealer forum members...talked to a few even. Drooled over some coins on Anaconda's table among others. Poked around Wayne Herndon's table. Plus I now know what Laura Sperber looks like. My life is complete.
I knew I wouldn't really have time to sit and really look through boxes and boxes so I don't know if I just wasn't looking or what, but it didn't seem like there was quite as much around to paw through anyway. I only sat at two tables to go through the boxes, and one guy had misplaced Japan, so I ended up leaving empty from there. The other one was a suprise--one of the tables way back by the information booth with liteside but I spotted a few 'foreign' boxes. The half off sign was a plus too
. I sat long enough to confirm no Albania, but picked up a few from G-J (a couple of low cost but very nice aluminum Greek coins, three or four Italians including a decent 5 L, a Vatican--aluminum but with great luster--a bit of a scratch on the poor Pope, but the reverse was what I was after with the ?Charity figure - a seated woman draped in children--right up my alley. Plus a couple Japanese coins of course including a minor upgrade for my album.
I did get to look at Groll's conders though I didn't get to spend much time there. Beautiful quality and a really friendly guy.
Okay, I admit it, a conder did end up in my pile (a really cool one regarding 'sugar plums for worms and the anondyne necklace for teething'--someone had given me a really neat old holed one once and when I spotted a pristine one with a ton of red still, I had to grab it).
The medal dealers let me down. My last trips there I had to really try hard not to buy everything in sight, this time I didn't get a single mommy or any other kind of medal. That part was disappointing.
A big plus, I stopped at Julian Liedman's table on the way in and unexpectedly found a really cool Meiji 4 50 sen. Looked at straight on it appears a little dull, but with any sort of angle it has a bunch of neat, subtle colors and almost looks prooflike under the old toning. Looks great in the album, especially next to the pasty, over-dipped coin in the slot next to it
.
I fully intended to buy some bullion, but never did. I also intended to buy a coin for my 7070, and in the interests of time I decided to focus on either a Roanoke or Elgin commemorative (they each have a baby on them). I struck out there too. Either the coins were in slabs so high I'd never crack them out--like one at Anaconda's table in particular..or for the few 64s I spotted they ended having a hit on the baby.
I tried to get some pictures, but they sucked (not in the good sort of way), so maybe later.
A fun day, and the kids had fun for the half hour they were there too, though my 9 year old insisted on spending $3 to get 2 presidental dollars. Oh well, I'll work on him. It was pleasant to see how many parents and dealers were encouraging the children. Alot of the grab bag coins are darkside and he seemed intrigued. Even looked over my shoulder at my Krause for at least 3 seconds when we got home.
Overall, traffic seemed light with quite a few empty tables and dealers starting to pack up as lunch neared. The only non-dealer forum member I saw that I know of was TooTawl. I got to say a quick hello to him, but that was when the hubby and offspring found me so we went to go off and do the kiddie grab bag. TooTawl seemed a little disappointed in the quality and quantity of the offerings of the show, but had a really cool old piece of military script. I had fun looking at some of the dealer forum members...talked to a few even. Drooled over some coins on Anaconda's table among others. Poked around Wayne Herndon's table. Plus I now know what Laura Sperber looks like. My life is complete.
I knew I wouldn't really have time to sit and really look through boxes and boxes so I don't know if I just wasn't looking or what, but it didn't seem like there was quite as much around to paw through anyway. I only sat at two tables to go through the boxes, and one guy had misplaced Japan, so I ended up leaving empty from there. The other one was a suprise--one of the tables way back by the information booth with liteside but I spotted a few 'foreign' boxes. The half off sign was a plus too
. I sat long enough to confirm no Albania, but picked up a few from G-J (a couple of low cost but very nice aluminum Greek coins, three or four Italians including a decent 5 L, a Vatican--aluminum but with great luster--a bit of a scratch on the poor Pope, but the reverse was what I was after with the ?Charity figure - a seated woman draped in children--right up my alley. Plus a couple Japanese coins of course including a minor upgrade for my album.I did get to look at Groll's conders though I didn't get to spend much time there. Beautiful quality and a really friendly guy.
Okay, I admit it, a conder did end up in my pile (a really cool one regarding 'sugar plums for worms and the anondyne necklace for teething'--someone had given me a really neat old holed one once and when I spotted a pristine one with a ton of red still, I had to grab it).
The medal dealers let me down. My last trips there I had to really try hard not to buy everything in sight, this time I didn't get a single mommy or any other kind of medal. That part was disappointing.
A big plus, I stopped at Julian Liedman's table on the way in and unexpectedly found a really cool Meiji 4 50 sen. Looked at straight on it appears a little dull, but with any sort of angle it has a bunch of neat, subtle colors and almost looks prooflike under the old toning. Looks great in the album, especially next to the pasty, over-dipped coin in the slot next to it
. I fully intended to buy some bullion, but never did. I also intended to buy a coin for my 7070, and in the interests of time I decided to focus on either a Roanoke or Elgin commemorative (they each have a baby on them). I struck out there too. Either the coins were in slabs so high I'd never crack them out--like one at Anaconda's table in particular..or for the few 64s I spotted they ended having a hit on the baby.
I tried to get some pictures, but they sucked (not in the good sort of way), so maybe later.
A fun day, and the kids had fun for the half hour they were there too, though my 9 year old insisted on spending $3 to get 2 presidental dollars. Oh well, I'll work on him. It was pleasant to see how many parents and dealers were encouraging the children. Alot of the grab bag coins are darkside and he seemed intrigued. Even looked over my shoulder at my Krause for at least 3 seconds when we got home.
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My wife and I are planning to be at the ANA show in August, I'm hoping there are lots of Darkside coiins, tokens and medals to enjoy.
Collecting:
Conder tokens
19th & 20th Century coins from Great Britain and the Realm
It really is far more interesting to have a wide interest, including interest in some inexpensive series as there will usually be a greater probability of finding something that is satisfying
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
myEbay
DPOTD 3
Which variety is it?
As for the coin...I'll attempt a picture either today or over the weekend...I think I just need to take it outside. The 50 sen is the larger diameter version, but the more common of the two varieties--without the extra serif on the character (if I'm interpreting that correctly).
Cathy