Part 1

I went to the Midstates Coin show on the first free admission day, Thursday April 23. The timing with income taxes being due a week before did not leave me with a lot of extra cash, so I was not looking to make any significant purchases. Since I collect both certified and raw coins I like to spend my time at the shows mainly looking at raw coins. I realize the dealers have a lot overhead for shows so I don't expect to get any good deals, so I am mainly looking for tougher dates or nice quality coins to fill a few holes. In general I don't like buying raw coins on eBay unless the pictures are well detailed and clear. This is especially true with higher grade coins as it is hard to tell an AU from a BU based on the picture quality of most on line auctions. This is nothing new; it has been discussed on the boards before.

Shows are beneficial in giving me the opportunity to see a lot of raw coins in hand, plus the search is part of the fun! I did not feel that there were a lot of dealers that had raw coins at this show. Of course there is always a chance I overlooked some. To me this show seemed like a lot of dealers had similar inventories. A lot of certified gold, Morgans, and silver bullion were the common thread that I saw. I would be curious if others that went to the show had the same impression. Of course there were the usual dealers that had hardly anything on their tables- probably there just to deal with other dealers. Also as usual there were the gabbers (not buying or even looking to buy) that would not get out of the way for actual buyers. At one point I started laughing to myself at these 2 elderly gentlemen that would just not show any consideration as I tried to maneuver around them to look at the raw coin binders- they were just so totally oblivious. Again as usual there also were dealers that would not wait on me or look at me even if I waived a wad of cash at them. I am only going to stand there looking at them while they yak for so long before I decide that they don't deserve my business. Eventually I did find a nice 1895 P Barber dime with full rims in G+. Nice lower grades in this date are hard to find with a full reverse rime and without damage.

Part 2 I share the best part of the show- meeting up with Gary Herrmann!

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