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Longacre's Baltimore Show Report–February 29, 2008
Longacre
Posts: 16,717 ✭✭✭
I. The Awakening
I set my alarm clock for 3:15 AM. I am not sure why, because my flight was not until 6:50 AM. If I had to get up at 3:15 AM to go to work reading the Internal Revenue Code while locked in my office provided by The Man, I would be exhausted. However, because I was going to a coin show, I was bright eyed and bushy tailed when the alarm rang, and I sprang out of bed. The drive up to Bradley Airport in Hartford, CT was uneventful, except for the fact that I blew by a state trooper at 75 MPH, but luckily I did not get stopped.
Due to the early hour, I stopped at the McDonald’s at the airport and ordered coffee. I typically do not like the Newman’s Own coffee that they switched to, but I suffered through it anyway. The flight to Baltimore was also uneventful, and I arrived at approximately 8 AM.
II. The Journey to the Convention Center
The previous day, I received an email from board member RYK. He was forwarding an email from someone on the PCGS boards who does not post, but has been lurking for the past few years. The email asked whether it would be OK for this person to pick me up at the airport and drive me to the convention center. Now Longacre isn’t the toughest guy in the world, so I try not to put myself in hairy situations to the extent possible. Because I didn’t know if this person was a CU Stalker™ , I very politely declined the offer, and decided to take the Baltimore Light Rail instead (more on this person later).
I think I made a bad choice. I don’t know if I have a kind face or what, but I always seem to attract the weirdos on the light rail who want to talk to me. Literally seconds after I got on, some guy with a blue checkered shirt, these weird Barney google eyeglasses, and an American flag lanyard (no loupe was attached as of yet, because I think this guy wanted to be incognito), gets on and asks me if this train is “going downtown”. I am a pretty good judge of people, so I immediately pegged this guy as a coin collector. I am not the coolest cat in the world, but this guy was an uber dweeb and made me look as slick as Billy D. Williams. I just could not let this opportunity pass me up, so I decided to ask this guy some questions (to which I already knew the answers). “Are you going to the Convention Center?”, I asked. “Oh, yes”, he replied (as if I didn’t already know).
The train pulled away from the airport, and we headed over to the Convention Center. Some Metro Police Office got on the train and asked to see my ticket, which luckily I still had. When we got to the stop, the Dweeb didn’t realize that he needed to get off, so I went up to him and said that this was his stop.
III. The Pre-Show
I got to the show fairly early and had some time to kill. I walked down to the Baltimore Harbor and found a Starbuck’s nearby. I thought I saw a Chinese junk anchored in the harbor, and my suspicions were confirmed when I noticed that Whitman had a brand new shipment of the new QDB Commemorative Redbook Series books in stock at the show. As I waited in line at the show, again I was accosted by some bizarre dude. This guy, in contrast to the first guy, probably hasn’t had a bath in several weeks, and his hair was like a rat’s nest. He was in this filthy trench coat, and tried to engage me in conversation as we were standing in line. I did my best “fiddle with my Blackberry and look annoyed at the emails routine” and he took the hint that I did not feel like talking. Finally, at 10 AM, the doors swung open, and I was set loose on the bourse.
IV. The Show
My first order of business is to genuflect toward Julian when I walk in, as he is the holy father of the bourse. I then made a beeline to the Coin Rarities Online table, and saw John and Dave already hard at work, with a few customers at the table. I engaged in some chitchat, when this guy who I never met before came up to me. He introduced himself as the guy who sent the email through RYK to me, offering to pick me up at the airport. Now I really started sweating bullets, because somehow the CU Stalker™ found me, and he even mentioned that he saw me in the lobby and I looked like a “Longacre”.
I feared that I would get whacked right in front of the CRO table (which, I assume, would provide some benefit in that CCU would have some fodder for his Road Report). Luckily, the CU Stalker™ was actually a really, really nice guy and we had a pretty good conversation for a while. Had I known that he was so normal, I would have agreed to bum a ride from the airport from him.
I then asked CCU to take a look at one of his early large cents, and I quickly bought it. I joked around that he should not drop my check on the ground because it would bounce down the aisle. The coin has been posted previously, and I am really happy with it.
I next tried to see Doug Winter about selling one of my coins. The problem with Winter is that there is an endless stream of people at his table. And I am not talking regular collectors. Usually there are some very important people (I can tell they’re important because they carry briefcases) and Winter always seems to be doing BIG deals. I was desperate to get to Winter to sell the coin, because I needed to deposit the cash so that the check I wrote to CCU would not bounce
. I could not get in with him, and by that time it was getting close to noon, so I went upstairs to hear Rob Rhue’s lecture on the Esoteric Items in the back of the Redbook.
The lecture was spectacular. Rhue did a great job, and talked about such things as territorial gold and Lesher dollars. I was a little disappointed because there were only about 8 people in the audience, however. I fail to understand how someone can go to a lecture like this, and just sit there like a bump on a log and not ask questions. I ended up asking Rhue three questions (two about territorial gold and one about Lesher dollars). He gave some pretty good answers. The lecture was videotaped, if anyone is interested, but for security reasons, I did not allow my likeness to be used in the video (you can hear my questions if you rent the tape, though). During the lecture, we were treated by Whitman to a free lunch consisting of a turkey and Swiss sandwich, a bag of potato chips, an apple, and an oversized chocolate chip cookie. I was very grateful for this, because this same lunch in the lobby would have cost me $8.
As an added bonus, we all got a free copy of the Redbook.
Back on the bourse, I finally got a chance to speak with Winter. My sale to him was quick and painless. He took a quick look at my coin (I bought it from him a while back), and he noticed it had a CAC sticker, and said, “oh, it even has a sticker”. For a minute there I think Winter might have cracked a smile, but I cannot say for sure. We chatted briefly, and I was honored when he asked me to sit down at his table for a minute. I asked him how long it takes to write his blogs (he said around 15-30 minutes) and we talked about how he likes to keep his website fresh. Incredibly, we spoke very briefly about our very own Sage of Southern Gold ™ – fc– and his collecting techniques. Winter actually complimented fc and said he understands fc’s approach to finding better date gold in collector grades for only slight premiums over melt. I almost fell off of the rickety chair at that point, so I bade farewell to Winter, and continued my hunt on the bourse.
The rest of the day involved wandering around and looking at a lot of coins. The PCGS Board Member meeting was a bust because only Too Tawl and I showed up to it (there may have been more people, but it’s so hard to identify board members if you don’t know them). I also visited some of my favorite dealers, such as Julian (always a pleasure to deal with him), and Rich Uhrich. Rich seemed to be selling tons and tons of coins, and was very happy with his auction results. Similar to the fact that people like to stare at car wrecks on the side of the road, I stopped and looked at some coins at that dealer who goes bankrupt every year like clockwork. As I was standing there, another dealer asked this dealer, “how many backers do you have this time?” The dealer in question responded, “four, and I am getting a few more.” What is that saying about “fooling me once”?
On the bourse, I looked mainly at gold, medals, and copper. On the gold front, I did not find much that was worth looking at. I also did not see many CAC stickered coins. The copper was spectacular, and I spent a lot of time looking at a lot of coins. With the medals, I viewed a lot at one dealer's table, and I am really excited to learn more about them.
I walked by John Kraljevich’s table a few times, but he was never there. Finally I saw that he was standing there and I stopped by. As always, he had a lot of really interesting stuff in his case. It was not just plain old federal issues. He had some really nice medals too, one of the nicest was an Andrew Johnson inaugural medal. If you see John at an upcoming show, ask him to show you his Johnson, which is rather large and very impressive.
Because it was getting late in the show, I got to the point that I had been dreading all day– a walk down the bargain aisles/low rent district. I held by breath as I rubbed elbows with the Numismatic Hoi Polloi, and looked at stacks upon stacks of books of 2x2s which contained circulated coins. I even went so far as to fish through some bargain bins, trying to find something for the kids. I ended up buying some common foreign notes for $2 each, which were pretty interesting (two from Germany and one from Russia).
V. The Trip Back
On the day before I attended the show, board member Coinkat requested a personal audience with Longacre, which I summarily granted because I met him last year. Coinkat was jetting into BWI from a business trip about 2 hours before my flight left, so the timing worked out well for us. Prior to his arrival, I had dinner at California Tortilla, and enjoyed a nice Havana Chicken burrito. My cell phone rang, and I feared it might have been the CU Stalker™ who somehow got my cell number. Rather, it was some tax partner at a firm that is trying to recruit Longacre to join. She then launched into a discussion of “financial terms”, and I tried to explain that I was just trying to enjoy my burrito, and I could not talk freely. Regardless, I said, the numbers she was talking about were a personal insult, and she should call back when she was willing to discuss the true Fair Market Value for Longacre .
My phone then rang again, and it was Coinkat, announcing that he had arrived. We decided to meet at the Godiva Chocolatier store, to ensure that we were the only guys there and it was easy to find each other in the crowd. We decided to have a beer and sit at one of the tables to chat. I proceeded to order a very nice imported beer. Coinkat, however, ordered a Budweiser. Now I realize that Budweiser is the best selling beer in the world, but I’ve never seen anyone actually drink one. I offered to pay, especially since I ordered an expensive import, but because it was “Coinkat’s town”, he insisted on paying.
For about an hour and a half, we had a freewheeling discussion on all things numismatic. I am amazed at Coinkat’s breadth of knowledge. Just between you, me, and the lamppost, Coinkat is a closet darksider, and knows quite a lot about English and Canadian coins. He is also a cherrypicker and very good flipper, and told me about a lot of his scores. We had a great conversation and the time flew by.
As it was getting close to my flight time, Coinkat and I parted ways, and I headed toward the gate. Unfortunately my flight was delayed because of snow in Hartford. I ended up arriving at Hartford at around 10:45 PM, and because of the snow, I didn’t get back to the Longacre Estate until midnight, around 21 hours after I got up to attend the show.
All in all, it was a very eventful day.
I set my alarm clock for 3:15 AM. I am not sure why, because my flight was not until 6:50 AM. If I had to get up at 3:15 AM to go to work reading the Internal Revenue Code while locked in my office provided by The Man, I would be exhausted. However, because I was going to a coin show, I was bright eyed and bushy tailed when the alarm rang, and I sprang out of bed. The drive up to Bradley Airport in Hartford, CT was uneventful, except for the fact that I blew by a state trooper at 75 MPH, but luckily I did not get stopped.
Due to the early hour, I stopped at the McDonald’s at the airport and ordered coffee. I typically do not like the Newman’s Own coffee that they switched to, but I suffered through it anyway. The flight to Baltimore was also uneventful, and I arrived at approximately 8 AM.
II. The Journey to the Convention Center
The previous day, I received an email from board member RYK. He was forwarding an email from someone on the PCGS boards who does not post, but has been lurking for the past few years. The email asked whether it would be OK for this person to pick me up at the airport and drive me to the convention center. Now Longacre isn’t the toughest guy in the world, so I try not to put myself in hairy situations to the extent possible. Because I didn’t know if this person was a CU Stalker™ , I very politely declined the offer, and decided to take the Baltimore Light Rail instead (more on this person later).
I think I made a bad choice. I don’t know if I have a kind face or what, but I always seem to attract the weirdos on the light rail who want to talk to me. Literally seconds after I got on, some guy with a blue checkered shirt, these weird Barney google eyeglasses, and an American flag lanyard (no loupe was attached as of yet, because I think this guy wanted to be incognito), gets on and asks me if this train is “going downtown”. I am a pretty good judge of people, so I immediately pegged this guy as a coin collector. I am not the coolest cat in the world, but this guy was an uber dweeb and made me look as slick as Billy D. Williams. I just could not let this opportunity pass me up, so I decided to ask this guy some questions (to which I already knew the answers). “Are you going to the Convention Center?”, I asked. “Oh, yes”, he replied (as if I didn’t already know).
The train pulled away from the airport, and we headed over to the Convention Center. Some Metro Police Office got on the train and asked to see my ticket, which luckily I still had. When we got to the stop, the Dweeb didn’t realize that he needed to get off, so I went up to him and said that this was his stop.
III. The Pre-Show
I got to the show fairly early and had some time to kill. I walked down to the Baltimore Harbor and found a Starbuck’s nearby. I thought I saw a Chinese junk anchored in the harbor, and my suspicions were confirmed when I noticed that Whitman had a brand new shipment of the new QDB Commemorative Redbook Series books in stock at the show. As I waited in line at the show, again I was accosted by some bizarre dude. This guy, in contrast to the first guy, probably hasn’t had a bath in several weeks, and his hair was like a rat’s nest. He was in this filthy trench coat, and tried to engage me in conversation as we were standing in line. I did my best “fiddle with my Blackberry and look annoyed at the emails routine” and he took the hint that I did not feel like talking. Finally, at 10 AM, the doors swung open, and I was set loose on the bourse.
IV. The Show
My first order of business is to genuflect toward Julian when I walk in, as he is the holy father of the bourse. I then made a beeline to the Coin Rarities Online table, and saw John and Dave already hard at work, with a few customers at the table. I engaged in some chitchat, when this guy who I never met before came up to me. He introduced himself as the guy who sent the email through RYK to me, offering to pick me up at the airport. Now I really started sweating bullets, because somehow the CU Stalker™ found me, and he even mentioned that he saw me in the lobby and I looked like a “Longacre”.
I feared that I would get whacked right in front of the CRO table (which, I assume, would provide some benefit in that CCU would have some fodder for his Road Report). Luckily, the CU Stalker™ was actually a really, really nice guy and we had a pretty good conversation for a while. Had I known that he was so normal, I would have agreed to bum a ride from the airport from him.I then asked CCU to take a look at one of his early large cents, and I quickly bought it. I joked around that he should not drop my check on the ground because it would bounce down the aisle. The coin has been posted previously, and I am really happy with it.
I next tried to see Doug Winter about selling one of my coins. The problem with Winter is that there is an endless stream of people at his table. And I am not talking regular collectors. Usually there are some very important people (I can tell they’re important because they carry briefcases) and Winter always seems to be doing BIG deals. I was desperate to get to Winter to sell the coin, because I needed to deposit the cash so that the check I wrote to CCU would not bounce
. I could not get in with him, and by that time it was getting close to noon, so I went upstairs to hear Rob Rhue’s lecture on the Esoteric Items in the back of the Redbook.The lecture was spectacular. Rhue did a great job, and talked about such things as territorial gold and Lesher dollars. I was a little disappointed because there were only about 8 people in the audience, however. I fail to understand how someone can go to a lecture like this, and just sit there like a bump on a log and not ask questions. I ended up asking Rhue three questions (two about territorial gold and one about Lesher dollars). He gave some pretty good answers. The lecture was videotaped, if anyone is interested, but for security reasons, I did not allow my likeness to be used in the video (you can hear my questions if you rent the tape, though). During the lecture, we were treated by Whitman to a free lunch consisting of a turkey and Swiss sandwich, a bag of potato chips, an apple, and an oversized chocolate chip cookie. I was very grateful for this, because this same lunch in the lobby would have cost me $8.
As an added bonus, we all got a free copy of the Redbook. Back on the bourse, I finally got a chance to speak with Winter. My sale to him was quick and painless. He took a quick look at my coin (I bought it from him a while back), and he noticed it had a CAC sticker, and said, “oh, it even has a sticker”. For a minute there I think Winter might have cracked a smile, but I cannot say for sure
. We chatted briefly, and I was honored when he asked me to sit down at his table for a minute. I asked him how long it takes to write his blogs (he said around 15-30 minutes) and we talked about how he likes to keep his website fresh. Incredibly, we spoke very briefly about our very own Sage of Southern Gold ™ – fc– and his collecting techniques. Winter actually complimented fc and said he understands fc’s approach to finding better date gold in collector grades for only slight premiums over melt. I almost fell off of the rickety chair at that point, so I bade farewell to Winter, and continued my hunt on the bourse.The rest of the day involved wandering around and looking at a lot of coins. The PCGS Board Member meeting was a bust because only Too Tawl and I showed up to it (there may have been more people, but it’s so hard to identify board members if you don’t know them). I also visited some of my favorite dealers, such as Julian (always a pleasure to deal with him), and Rich Uhrich. Rich seemed to be selling tons and tons of coins, and was very happy with his auction results. Similar to the fact that people like to stare at car wrecks on the side of the road, I stopped and looked at some coins at that dealer who goes bankrupt every year like clockwork. As I was standing there, another dealer asked this dealer, “how many backers do you have this time?” The dealer in question responded, “four, and I am getting a few more.” What is that saying about “fooling me once”?
On the bourse, I looked mainly at gold, medals, and copper. On the gold front, I did not find much that was worth looking at. I also did not see many CAC stickered coins. The copper was spectacular, and I spent a lot of time looking at a lot of coins. With the medals, I viewed a lot at one dealer's table, and I am really excited to learn more about them.
I walked by John Kraljevich’s table a few times, but he was never there. Finally I saw that he was standing there and I stopped by. As always, he had a lot of really interesting stuff in his case. It was not just plain old federal issues. He had some really nice medals too, one of the nicest was an Andrew Johnson inaugural medal. If you see John at an upcoming show, ask him to show you his Johnson, which is rather large and very impressive.
Because it was getting late in the show, I got to the point that I had been dreading all day– a walk down the bargain aisles/low rent district. I held by breath as I rubbed elbows with the Numismatic Hoi Polloi, and looked at stacks upon stacks of books of 2x2s which contained circulated coins. I even went so far as to fish through some bargain bins, trying to find something for the kids. I ended up buying some common foreign notes for $2 each, which were pretty interesting (two from Germany and one from Russia).
V. The Trip Back
On the day before I attended the show, board member Coinkat requested a personal audience with Longacre, which I summarily granted because I met him last year. Coinkat was jetting into BWI from a business trip about 2 hours before my flight left, so the timing worked out well for us. Prior to his arrival, I had dinner at California Tortilla, and enjoyed a nice Havana Chicken burrito. My cell phone rang, and I feared it might have been the CU Stalker™ who somehow got my cell number
. Rather, it was some tax partner at a firm that is trying to recruit Longacre to join. She then launched into a discussion of “financial terms”, and I tried to explain that I was just trying to enjoy my burrito, and I could not talk freely. Regardless, I said, the numbers she was talking about were a personal insult, and she should call back when she was willing to discuss the true Fair Market Value for Longacre . My phone then rang again, and it was Coinkat, announcing that he had arrived. We decided to meet at the Godiva Chocolatier store, to ensure that we were the only guys there and it was easy to find each other in the crowd. We decided to have a beer and sit at one of the tables to chat. I proceeded to order a very nice imported beer. Coinkat, however, ordered a Budweiser. Now I realize that Budweiser is the best selling beer in the world, but I’ve never seen anyone actually drink one
. I offered to pay, especially since I ordered an expensive import, but because it was “Coinkat’s town”, he insisted on paying.For about an hour and a half, we had a freewheeling discussion on all things numismatic. I am amazed at Coinkat’s breadth of knowledge. Just between you, me, and the lamppost, Coinkat is a closet darksider, and knows quite a lot about English and Canadian coins. He is also a cherrypicker and very good flipper, and told me about a lot of his scores. We had a great conversation and the time flew by.
As it was getting close to my flight time, Coinkat and I parted ways, and I headed toward the gate. Unfortunately my flight was delayed because of snow in Hartford. I ended up arriving at Hartford at around 10:45 PM, and because of the snow, I didn’t get back to the Longacre Estate until midnight, around 21 hours after I got up to attend the show.
All in all, it was a very eventful day.
Always took candy from strangers
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
0
Comments
<< <i> If you see John at an upcoming show, ask him to show you his Johnson, which is rather large and very impressive. >>
That is a very interesting statement
Great report!
This was one wonderful and neat tale to ponder.
Thank you for taking the time to assemble and type
this massive missive. Well done indeed.
Camelot
Sorry we did not get a chance to meet at CRO's table. Seems we just missed each other.
Maybe next time...
As always, it was pleasure to spend a bit of time with you. Hope to see you at the ANA show in Baltimore!
I keep tellin' you man... I can pick you up from the airport and hit any Starbucks you want within a 15 mile radius on the way to the show... I know where they all are.
so when i win the lotto i will buy from him :-P
great report. i always enjoy your writing style.
Naturally he was fast asleep well before I finished.
I needed two cups of coffee myself just to recover as well.
Fun report. I assume you read the IRC to your kids at night?
You are a master reporter/journalist(Newsday comes to mind here)
I just wish I could have met you today.
Julian, TooTawl, Brandon Kelley)poorguy) and Newsday were a real treat for me.
You would have been the icing on the cake!!!!
Maybe the next Baltimore show!!!
I can't remember the dealer, but he had one entire case of coins with CAC stickers!!!!!!!!!
Should I consider this an alarming trend????
<< <i>BTW, just a Baltimore after thought here.
I can't remember the dealer, but he had one entire case of coins with CAC stickers!!!!!!!!!
Should I consider this an alarming trend????
That was the infamous Laura Sperber from Legend.
Legand was the only dealer that I saw that had CAC stickers.
<< <i>... made me look as slick as Billy D. Williams. >>
!
<< <i>
<< <i> If you see John at an upcoming show, ask him to show you his Johnson, which is rather large and very impressive. >>
That is a very interesting statement
I agree, this statement by Longacre had me laughing out loud.
BTW, if you make it a habit of driving 75 MPH, check out this site: radar detector.
It has saved me many a time.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
myCCset
<< <i>I did walk by the PCGS table at 2, man there were some weird people there. I just kept walking.
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
Check out my current listings: https://ebay.com/sch/khunt/m.html?_ipg=200&_sop=12&_rdc=1
<< <i>I just returned from our coin club meeting at which MrHalfDime told me that the Longacre Report had hit the boards. I sped home afterwards to savor your literary stylings. And, of course, I readied for the moment by first changing into my smoking jacket and slippers. Very nice and well worth the wait. I'm glad that you weren't put in the position of describing the Johnson of the guy with the "Barney google eyeglasses." >>
<< <i>I did walk by the PCGS table at 2, man there were some weird people there. I just kept walking.
yep. That was Longacre and myself.
<< <i>
<< <i>BTW, just a Baltimore after thought here.
I can't remember the dealer, but he had one entire case of coins with CAC stickers!!!!!!!!!
Should I consider this an alarming trend????
That was the infamous Laura Sperber from Legend.
Legand was the only dealer that I saw that had CAC stickers. >>
He's not referring to Laura. I'm certain of this as there were several other dealers who had cases full of CAC certified slabs.
Authorized dealer for PCGS, PCGS Currency, NGC, NCS, PMG, CAC. Member of the PNG, ANA. Member dealer of CoinPlex and CCE/FACTS as "CH5"
What about the brandy and cigars? Did you retire to your numismatic library, or did you just settle into MrsIGWT's new kitchen? We need details!