The Baltimore show did not seem very lively this time.

As usual, I skipped out on work a bit to attend some of the Baltimore coin show on Friday. Having just secured a pricey coin from the Gardner Collection, I was not anticipating any more purchases, but wanted to look around and to attend the Liberty Seated Collectors Club meeting.

The LSCC meeting started at 9AM, so that was up first. I had figured that Mr. Gardner might be there, seeing as he does not live too far away, and has been at previous Baltimore shows. Indeed, he was there, and we congratulated him on Part 1 of the sale of his collection. He expressed the expected mixed emotions.

The meeting moved on to some club business, a brief presentation on relic coins (e.g., 1864 half dollars made from silver recovered from the burned ruins of the Masonic Temple in Boston, and engraved to identify them as such), and a seated coin quiz. After the meeting, some folks left, and a few of us remained to look at a couple coins and to chat. Mr. Gardner was included.

As I previously wrote, Mr. Gardner had two Liberty Seated half dime sets in the NGC registry. The recent auction included coins from every third year: 1837, 1840, 1843, etc. But it did not include any duplicates. And not all of the coins sold were from the first set; some were from the second. So I was tempted to ask him if he was keeping some of the coins, and if they might be up for private sale. I was interested in one particular coin of one of the dates sold that was not included in the sale. But I decided not to ask.

Later, while scouring the bourse, I happened upon the Heritage tables and saw a case full of some really nice Seated coinage. Lo and Behold, that coin of interest was there! It was in a display of selections of the Gardner Collection to be included in Part 2 of the sale in October! Needless to say, I took a seat and asked to see the coin.

It exceeded my expectations. Thus, I am now pining for it. The problem will be money. My guess is that it will sell for about four times what I just paid for my most expensive coin. I told the gentleman helping me that I would need the approval of my wife to make such a purchase.

Despite spending thousands on coins, we are generally pretty cheap. Saturday was Chris Davis T-Shirt Day at Oriole Park. My wife and I were planning to go to the game, get the cheapest tickets and the 'free' T-shirts (and any other free goodies that can be had), and of course, to enjoy a day at the ballpark. So we made a day of it: Coin show in the morning, lunch, and the game in the afternoon.

Thus, at the show Saturday morning, we stopped at the Heritage area to look at that coin again. My wife also liked it. I had given her the explanation about why this coin is so important. Nevertheless, I was surprised that she did not seem to have a problem with me going for it. Of course, I will need to back off on other purchasing if I do. Wish me luck!

Here is the other side of the 1864. Enjoy, and happy collecting!

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