February 2007 Coin Show

I went to the February 2007 Long Beach Coin Show. What was I looking for? GSA Morgan Silver Dollars, of course. But more than that, I enjoy going to this major coin show, seeing old friends and meeting new ones, talking about coins, and maybe buying a few to add to my collection. At these shows, one can see, touch, and closely examine coins that are financially out of reach, but beautiful to behold. I don?t often buy coins at the show, but occasionally I will find one I like on the floor or in the live auction.

Items of note: One dealer had a Peace dollar 1928-P in the GSA blue flat pack and said it was the only one. I saw it. Not a pretty coin, but unique, according to him. He said a few other dealers had already tried to buy it from him at the show, but he was not selling (at least for now).

Unconfirmed rumor at the show was that PCGS was going to start grading the GSA blue flat packs and also the hard packs. No details on the timing. In addition, they might start their own registry set for the GSA Morgans. This could impact pricing down the road. Right now, only NGC grades the GSA hard packs and no one is grading the blue flat packs. Apparently NGC was not that interested in grading the flat packs, but will continue to grade the hard packs.

No rare date non-CC hard packs at the show, but none expected. One dealer had the 1884-O DPL that was recently listed on Ebay for $4,100, but not sold (it is the only DPL in the non-CC GSA hard packs). I would like to own the coin, but not at that price. What's it worth? Your guess is as good as mine. It is a common date, but DPL. For now it is the only DPL in the non-CC GSA population.

One dealer had 1880-CC rev of 78 ms64DPL and wanted 200% of PCGS price guide. There are only 4 graded ms64DPL. Again, I pass due to price. It is rare, but the markup was too much. I will have to settle for a 63DPL, if only I could find one.

One dealer in the non-CC hard packs was berating me (I'm exaggerating) for driving up the price of non-CC rare dates. I told him it wasn't me. I am not willing to pay up for the rare dates, and so my registry collection has recently stagnated. He calmed down when he realized it was someone else driving up the prices. I guess he is still buying for his own collection, or it seems he would not care that prices were up.

I was going to bid on one coin in the concurrent Heritage online auction. It was Lot 10660 in online auction 431 and was listed as GSA 1882-P graded NGC MS63*. This is a very valuable coin to collectors of GSA dollars. On my close examination of the coin online, however, it turned out to be an 1882-CC and not 1882-P. The NGC grade label was wrong for the coin. I let Heritage and NGC know of the error. Heritage pulled it from the auction. NGC removed it from the population report. There were 4 graded, now there are only 3. Hey, nobody?s perfect.

Saw some nice Battle Creek toned Morgans (not GSA) at the show. I really enjoy toned Morgans, and the Battle Creek dollars are some of the very best toned coins I have ever seen. Better to see these in person to really appreciate the toning. The really good ones don't show up that often in auctions...in strong hands.

I bought one coin at the show, an ungraded non-CC GSA. The 1885-O is the most common non-CC GSA date, but hard to get in ms66 (only 2 graded ms66). This one is borderline ms65/66. Depending on the direction of the wind that day, whether the NGC grader enjoyed his lunch or not, it could grade either way. If it grades ms65 (a sure thing, in my opinion, if not 66), I will sell it (I already have a 65). If it goes 66, I will add it to my registry set. I would say it has a 50/50 chance of grading 66.

All in all it was a fun and interesting show.

1885-O ima