My Three Cents

As I mentioned last time, I was planning to go to the ANA's National Money Show in Pittsburgh. So my wife and I got up early Thursday morning for the three and a half hour drive.

The first order of business was to find a parking space. The Convention Center lot was full. We ended up hoofing it from several blocks up-river (the Allegheny). Once inside, there were two tasks: auction lot viewing and scanning the bourse.

There were several coins of interest in the Heritage auction sessions to be held Thursday and Friday evenings. My primary interest is half dimes these days. However, there were few of them that I'd like in my collection and expect to be able to afford. So I had several candidates for my type collection picked out as well. Unfortunately, by Wednesday night, most of those coins had been bid up higher than I was willing to pay. My #1 choice, an 1830 MS65 half dime, very nice though it was, had a bid well beyond anything I expected it to realize. Nevertheless, I gave the few remaining lots of interest a good look, and spent a little time studying examples from a few series that are looking interesting to me lately.

By then it was lunch time, and we walked to Market Square for lunch. My wife had heard of Primanti Bros. cole slaw and french fry sandwiches, and just had to have one. I had chili. Back to the show...

After registration it was time for execution of my usual serpentine pattern of getting a look at every dealer's table(s). I asked to look at several coins. Asking prices were well beyond what I'd be willing to pay, except for a really pretty 1917 Type 1 Standing Liberty Quarter graded MS67FH. I also wanted to look at a couple AU 1821 cents in Chris McCawley's display, but he was busy and I moved on.

I had a nice chat with Don Kagin about some pattern half dimes he had for sale, and about my work. He went to school (college, I think he said) and was friends with the recently retired head of the Hubble Space Telescope project, on which I work.

Along the last row, I spent some time talking with a guy who was selling Dino-Lite digital microscopes. I had spoken with him when the ANA last had a show in Baltimore as well. I've been a little frustrated with my digital camera, and have been interested in finding something to make my coin photography easier, better, and consistently so.

By this time, my wife and I were ready for dinner. We left the show, walked to the car, drove to our hotel, checked in, and went out for a quick meal. I had planned on leaving my wife at the hotel while I went to the auction, but time and traffic didn't seem to be cooperating, and the hotel had free internet.

So I connected to the Heritage Live site to make sure I could, and decided to participate that way. I checked my lot viewing notes, checked current bids, and set my strategy. The first potential bid would be for an MS67 1888 nickel three cent piece. When it came up, I immediately clicked the cut bid button. And yes, another cut bid won!

At that point, I could afford only one of my other choices, a pretty 1855 gold dollar graded MS61+ (for "my wife's collection"). It is in Friday evening's session, so I entered my maximum bid which left me as the high bidder, and I went to bed.

Friday's narrative next time... Happy collecting to all!

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