Good stuff...

Friday morning the car started again, and we were off to Annapolis for the second day of the EAC convention. My wife went along to go on a Historic Walking Tour of Annapolis led by John Kraljevich, who grew up there. Later in the day, she recounted much of it as we walked around the historic area and had dinner.

When my wife boarded the shuttle bus, I went back to the lot viewing room. This time, it was to see the Dan Holmes middle date large cents, which are up for auction in late May. Bob Grellman, who wrote another fine catalog for the sale, was assisting with the viewing, along with a guy from Goldbergs and a lady who is a regular worker for the Bowers & Merena lot viewing at the Baltimore shows.

I went in having my eye on two coins in particular. I certainly won't be able to afford both, and each might end up out of reach. But I looked at almost every lot from 1816 through 1829 (and the 1830s on Saturday). As I mentioned in an earlier journal, many of the Holmes middle dates are not in particularly lofty grades. Because I'm still working on a nice circulated set, I wanted to see the less expensive stuff too. In the end, there were no surprises: no coins that look great on-line turned out to be dogs, and none that have distracting flaws in the photos look great in hand. My strategy is set, with five weeks to wait...

During lot viewing, Dan came in to chat with whomever was there. Now at every EAC convention Chris McCawley gives out T shirts, normally with the design of an early American copper. This year the shirts are different, illustrating a story from Dan's youth. The image is of some hobos sitting by a train car. The large print reads "TANK CAR RED". Dan told us the story behind it. Suffice it to say that the tank car was leaking wine! (A little more of the story appears in the intro to the catalog of his early dates, still available on the Goldbergs' website.)

A little later, Dan's wife brought in a stamp with Dan's signature (he is no longer able to write), and gave it to Bob to stamp catalogs. Bob wanted to test it, so I volunteered my note pad. Thus, I own the "test strike" on my lot viewing notes! And my copy of the catalog received the first production strike.

Having gotten through the Holmes coins of primary interest to me, I left to catch the end of Jack Robinson's seminar on his "Copper Quotes by Robinson", and a seminar on coin photography. This was followed by finding my wife, lunch, some wandering around the bourse, an hour of "Ask Bill Noyes", and more time on the bourse.

At Chris McCawley's tables, my wife picked out a nice 1814 cent in a 65BN slab, suggesting that I buy it. To that, I pointed out the marked price. It is a nice coin, one that I'd love to own, but one that I'm not likely to get any time soon! Even with the expected markdown, it would be more than all seven of my ex-Naftzger coins combined. My wife says that I should save for it, but I don't think I can go that long without an acquisition!

After a walk downtown & dinner, we returned for the evening talk by Dave Bowers. He is not a very dynamic speaker, but has so many interesting stories to tell! He spoke to us about a number of dealers and collectors he's known. This was followed by an informative talk by Len Augsberger about Frank Stewart and the first U.S. Mint, and a talk by Jon Lusk about the Penny-Wise DVD project.

Friday was a good day.