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Colorado Springs show report
zrlevin
Posts: 734 ✭✭✭
Hey Everybody,
Last Friday I attended the Colorado Springs show, hosted by the Colorado Springs coin club. It was a nice show, with 60-80 dealers or so. This was my first major show in quite a while, probably since Baltimore two years or so ago.
As many of you know, I have been selling off a large portion of my collection, focusing of the few "keepers" that I have in what is now my core collection, as well as my Mercury Dime and Circulated Commemorative sets. I had much more funding at this show than I usually do, due to this fact. I was ready and able to buy a big coin, if there was one that really spoke to me. I had my eyes open as a small time dealer as well. I did not take a table at the show as I had considered doing, but I was on the lookout for coins to add to my inventory on my site.
After the ninety minute drive to the show, I entered the expo center, which had a small lobby with a food vendor, tables and restrooms. Security dividers separated the lobby from the bourse floor, which appeared to be about the size of Baltimore. Once I entered, however, I saw that the floor was further blocked off to a much smaller area. I began at the perimeter of the floor and started working my way around the floor. I stopped at a dealer who had a nice assortment of toned coins, especially Morgan dollars. I have always wanted a toned Morgan, but as it never fit my collecting goals before now, I had never indulged. I wasn't ready to bite the bullet on a really gaudy Morgan, but I picked out a more humble reverse crescent toner. It is certified MS64 by NGC.
The dealer and I couldn't quite come to an agreement on pricing, so I told him that I would return later for it. I liked the coin, and the price wasn't bad, but I was hesitant to commit a portion of my available funds to a coin I didn't need for one of my sets at the sixth table or so. We had a very nice conversation about the toner market and some recent coins that had come up for sale at auction before I moved on.
At the back of the bourse, a dealer had a large series of tables covered in cases filled with coins in flips and Kointains. They mostly didn't seem to be high dollar coins, probably for the most part in the $25 - $250 range. I took a careful look at their available inventory, as it was at these tables that I usually found coins I needed for my set. My stereotyping was correct, and I found a nicely circulated Illinois commemorative in EF, listed for $125. I asked to see the coin, and the dealer's younger associate handed it to me. As I examined it, I asked for the best price he could do on the coin. He told me that he could do $105. I considered the coin, hesitating somewhat, knowing that this was reasonably common in circulated condition and that I could get a VF for a bit cheaper. The associate correctly interpreted my initial hesitance and further dropped the price to $100 even. I immediately bought the coin.
I overheard the conversation between the dealer and his associate as I continued to peruse their inventory. The dealer seemed very happy to see this coin sold. My circulated commemoratives are not a set I plan on selling, so I certainly do not mind buying coins out of a stagnant area of the market. It seems to get me very eager dealers and much better prices, allowing me to buy fantastic coins for sheet. Before I left, I also purchased an earlier date Mercury dime from them, in a nice VF. I will spare you the pics of all of the Mercs I bought that day, because even I can't stand that many images of them, and I collect the things.
Further along the back wall of the bourse was the dealer offering all sorts of supplies that seems to be present at all shows. I decided that it was finally time to buy a Dansco album for my circulated commemoratives, as I now owned 21 of the fifty. I had neglected purchasing one until now due to the large shipping prices that online supplies dealers charge. This one cost me $22, and I was pleased with my new purchase. I continued until I found a dealer with a large binder of Mercs for sale. I sat for about twenty minutes and perused them, choosing seven that I needed for my set.
At this point I would like to go on a brief tangent. With me to the show I brought a copy of the Graysheet that was a few weeks old as I usually do, both to check price ranges and to keep track of the coins that I need, as I highlight all of the dates that I already have before I go to the show. I found that pulling my sheet out of my pocket to check either dates or prices is met by a cold attitude by many dealers. In general though, the dealers were much friendlier and cheerful than they are at eastern shows like Baltimore. I also noticed that there were many more women that the average age was much lower than usual. Perhaps Colorado has a much different collecting demographic.
I managed to pick up a Huguenot a little later, also from a dealer very willing to negotiate and seemingly glad to get rid of it. I picked this up for $110, dropped from a $130 list price. These are also not difficult to find and I could have gotten one if VF, but this was a nice EF that fit well with my collection.
Later on, I encountered a dealer with the most unusual display setup I have seen. He had the ubiquitous binders of 2x2s, but he kept them inside his display cases, so that it was very difficult to gauge his inventory without inquiry. I asked to see his book of Mercs and I purchased two bringing my total for the show up to ten.
I had visited every table at the show now, and so I returned to a few who had inventory that interested me but no dealer present. One gentleman had even more extravagant toners than the first one I had spoke to. He had a MS64 star Battle Creek generic date Morgan that had extremely appealing iridescent reverse toning. He was asking $950 for it, and in my opinion it was worth every cent. I was not, however, willing to jump so hard into the toner market. If the bubble were to burst on rainbow toners, it would be very possible that I would be left with a common date $50 coin for my troubles. Another dealer had a spectacular array of coins in his cases, including a 1801 $10 eagle in MS63. We had a discussion about it, and he actually went with a fairly aggressive sales tactic. I didn't inquire about the price, but I am confident that even if I sold my car, I would not have been able to afford over 75% of his inventory. I did notice that as a general trend I was taken much more seriously as a buyer than I had been at previous shows. As a 19 year old who has been in this industry for over ten years, and much more seriously for over five, I found this to be very refreshing.
I was getting ready to leave, as I was a little anxious about getting stuck in Friday rush-hour traffic, but first I searched among the bullion dealers present for a French Rooster 20fcs. My British Sovereign is one of my very favorite coins, and I thought it would be nice to add its French counterpart to my collection. At $5 over melt, I didn't think I could go wrong. I'd very much like to add a Swiss 20fcs. to my collection of European gold as well, but I did not see one at the show that was a nice BU.
Right before I left, I returned to the first toner dealer I talked to. I bought the crescent toner I had mentioned earlier. It is a very nice coin and I will enjoy owning it for a time, but I have listed it in the inventory on my website. The dealer side of me prevailed.
All in all, I think that this was a very good show for me. I picked up ten new Mercs, a couple of commems and a Dansco, and a couple of miscellaneous coins. I enjoyed my time at the show, even though I spent as much time traveling as I did at the show. I am really looking forward to a show in Denver at the end of this month, and I hope that I will have the same type of bankroll that I did in Colorado Springs to keep my buying opportunities wide open and keep the same buying philosophy.
Zach
Last Friday I attended the Colorado Springs show, hosted by the Colorado Springs coin club. It was a nice show, with 60-80 dealers or so. This was my first major show in quite a while, probably since Baltimore two years or so ago.
As many of you know, I have been selling off a large portion of my collection, focusing of the few "keepers" that I have in what is now my core collection, as well as my Mercury Dime and Circulated Commemorative sets. I had much more funding at this show than I usually do, due to this fact. I was ready and able to buy a big coin, if there was one that really spoke to me. I had my eyes open as a small time dealer as well. I did not take a table at the show as I had considered doing, but I was on the lookout for coins to add to my inventory on my site.
After the ninety minute drive to the show, I entered the expo center, which had a small lobby with a food vendor, tables and restrooms. Security dividers separated the lobby from the bourse floor, which appeared to be about the size of Baltimore. Once I entered, however, I saw that the floor was further blocked off to a much smaller area. I began at the perimeter of the floor and started working my way around the floor. I stopped at a dealer who had a nice assortment of toned coins, especially Morgan dollars. I have always wanted a toned Morgan, but as it never fit my collecting goals before now, I had never indulged. I wasn't ready to bite the bullet on a really gaudy Morgan, but I picked out a more humble reverse crescent toner. It is certified MS64 by NGC.
The dealer and I couldn't quite come to an agreement on pricing, so I told him that I would return later for it. I liked the coin, and the price wasn't bad, but I was hesitant to commit a portion of my available funds to a coin I didn't need for one of my sets at the sixth table or so. We had a very nice conversation about the toner market and some recent coins that had come up for sale at auction before I moved on.
At the back of the bourse, a dealer had a large series of tables covered in cases filled with coins in flips and Kointains. They mostly didn't seem to be high dollar coins, probably for the most part in the $25 - $250 range. I took a careful look at their available inventory, as it was at these tables that I usually found coins I needed for my set. My stereotyping was correct, and I found a nicely circulated Illinois commemorative in EF, listed for $125. I asked to see the coin, and the dealer's younger associate handed it to me. As I examined it, I asked for the best price he could do on the coin. He told me that he could do $105. I considered the coin, hesitating somewhat, knowing that this was reasonably common in circulated condition and that I could get a VF for a bit cheaper. The associate correctly interpreted my initial hesitance and further dropped the price to $100 even. I immediately bought the coin.
I overheard the conversation between the dealer and his associate as I continued to peruse their inventory. The dealer seemed very happy to see this coin sold. My circulated commemoratives are not a set I plan on selling, so I certainly do not mind buying coins out of a stagnant area of the market. It seems to get me very eager dealers and much better prices, allowing me to buy fantastic coins for sheet. Before I left, I also purchased an earlier date Mercury dime from them, in a nice VF. I will spare you the pics of all of the Mercs I bought that day, because even I can't stand that many images of them, and I collect the things.
Further along the back wall of the bourse was the dealer offering all sorts of supplies that seems to be present at all shows. I decided that it was finally time to buy a Dansco album for my circulated commemoratives, as I now owned 21 of the fifty. I had neglected purchasing one until now due to the large shipping prices that online supplies dealers charge. This one cost me $22, and I was pleased with my new purchase. I continued until I found a dealer with a large binder of Mercs for sale. I sat for about twenty minutes and perused them, choosing seven that I needed for my set.
At this point I would like to go on a brief tangent. With me to the show I brought a copy of the Graysheet that was a few weeks old as I usually do, both to check price ranges and to keep track of the coins that I need, as I highlight all of the dates that I already have before I go to the show. I found that pulling my sheet out of my pocket to check either dates or prices is met by a cold attitude by many dealers. In general though, the dealers were much friendlier and cheerful than they are at eastern shows like Baltimore. I also noticed that there were many more women that the average age was much lower than usual. Perhaps Colorado has a much different collecting demographic.
I managed to pick up a Huguenot a little later, also from a dealer very willing to negotiate and seemingly glad to get rid of it. I picked this up for $110, dropped from a $130 list price. These are also not difficult to find and I could have gotten one if VF, but this was a nice EF that fit well with my collection.
Later on, I encountered a dealer with the most unusual display setup I have seen. He had the ubiquitous binders of 2x2s, but he kept them inside his display cases, so that it was very difficult to gauge his inventory without inquiry. I asked to see his book of Mercs and I purchased two bringing my total for the show up to ten.
I had visited every table at the show now, and so I returned to a few who had inventory that interested me but no dealer present. One gentleman had even more extravagant toners than the first one I had spoke to. He had a MS64 star Battle Creek generic date Morgan that had extremely appealing iridescent reverse toning. He was asking $950 for it, and in my opinion it was worth every cent. I was not, however, willing to jump so hard into the toner market. If the bubble were to burst on rainbow toners, it would be very possible that I would be left with a common date $50 coin for my troubles. Another dealer had a spectacular array of coins in his cases, including a 1801 $10 eagle in MS63. We had a discussion about it, and he actually went with a fairly aggressive sales tactic. I didn't inquire about the price, but I am confident that even if I sold my car, I would not have been able to afford over 75% of his inventory. I did notice that as a general trend I was taken much more seriously as a buyer than I had been at previous shows. As a 19 year old who has been in this industry for over ten years, and much more seriously for over five, I found this to be very refreshing.
I was getting ready to leave, as I was a little anxious about getting stuck in Friday rush-hour traffic, but first I searched among the bullion dealers present for a French Rooster 20fcs. My British Sovereign is one of my very favorite coins, and I thought it would be nice to add its French counterpart to my collection. At $5 over melt, I didn't think I could go wrong. I'd very much like to add a Swiss 20fcs. to my collection of European gold as well, but I did not see one at the show that was a nice BU.
Right before I left, I returned to the first toner dealer I talked to. I bought the crescent toner I had mentioned earlier. It is a very nice coin and I will enjoy owning it for a time, but I have listed it in the inventory on my website. The dealer side of me prevailed.
All in all, I think that this was a very good show for me. I picked up ten new Mercs, a couple of commems and a Dansco, and a couple of miscellaneous coins. I enjoyed my time at the show, even though I spent as much time traveling as I did at the show. I am really looking forward to a show in Denver at the end of this month, and I hope that I will have the same type of bankroll that I did in Colorado Springs to keep my buying opportunities wide open and keep the same buying philosophy.
Zach
Zach
0
Comments
dansco's can be great to put together!
Just as a question- were aware that by spending an extra $30 per coin you could have picked up nice pcgs ms63's in both series?
Probably even CAC'ed as well...
<< <i>
Just as a question- were aware that by spending an extra $30 per coin you could have picked up nice pcgs ms63's in both series?
Probably even CAC'ed as well... >>
I am very aware of that, yes.
I have no interest in owning 63s, though, as they would not fit my well-matched set in the slightest.
great report, feels like I walked around with you. I like these kind.
Nice pickups!
Too many positive BST transactions with too many members to list.
That's a nice report. Thanks for taking the time to share.
Happy collecting,
Andrew
Please visit my website Millcitynumismatics.com
Authorized dealer for PCGS, PCGS Currency, NGC, NCS, PMG, CAC. Member of the PNG, ANA. Member dealer of CoinPlex and CCE/FACTS as "CH5"
On a side note, does anyone know of good B&Ms just west of Denver?
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......