"You must enter a Teaser."

Whitman launched a new coin expo in Philadelphia. The show is probably winding down as I type. I drove up from Baltimore with my wife on Friday to see some of the sights and check out the show.

We parked at 5th & Arch, next to Ben Franklin's grave site and across Arch from the Mint. We started with the Mint. The last time I was there was in the 1970s, when a large collection - the Eliasberg collection if I remember correctly - was on display in the lobby. After 30+ years, the place seemed pretty familiar.

Next, we went a short distance to the Liberty Bell and got our free tickets for the Independence Hall tour. While waiting for our tour time, we checked out the portrait gallery in the Second Bank of the United States and the Supreme Court chamber in the old city hall building. After the tour, we visited neighboring Congress Hall. Every American should be educated about this stuff, and I recommend the visit.

After lunch, we made our way several blocks to the PA Convention Center for the show. Near the entrance I saw early copper dealer Tom Reynolds, and went to his table to say hello. He told me that Thursday was pretty busy, but I could see that Friday was not. I was on the bourse floor from about 2:00 until 5:00. During that time it seemed like there was little activity. I've been attending all the Baltimore shows for the past 5 years, and have never seen such a light crowd there.

What may be bad for dealers is good for me. I was able to navigate easily and check out every table. I never had to wait for a dealer to finish with another dealer or customer. I was scanning for my usual targets: high quality middle & late date large cents, bust and seated half dimes, and the elusive 1890 half dollar.

Nice large cents were present in great abundance, numerous dealers having pieces from the recent Holmes and Naftzger sales in their display cases. Greg Hannigan (who placed the $1.1 million bid for the S-79 for a collector client) had the two ex-Holmes Strawberry Leaf cents on display. So now I've seen all three non-museum examples. It's pretty cool to see famous coins up close.

There were quality half dimes in surprising abundance as well. A couple struck me as being really nice and pretty good deals. My wife kept trying to get me to buy one (Is there something unusual there?), but I just don't have the money now, having exhausted my supply getting one of the Naftzger coins a couple weeks ago.

That brings me to the title of this post. One of the reasons I wanted to go to this show was to sell the 1841 cent I upgraded with that Naftzger purchase. In the rush to get going in the morning, I forgot to put it in my pocket. So now I'll have to wait until the November Baltimore show.