Can a show be too large?

I went to the show on Friday. There were plenty of people but not so crowded that you could not get a look at the display cases. Not as many people sitting and yacking, blocking the display cases as I have noticed at previous shows. Most people were actively looking and/or buying. It almost appeared to me the layout of the show was by the price. The multi-million dollars homes of gold and high end coins on one end and the blue collar brick and mortar type dealers on the other end. The entrance was at one end, so to go out and get some fresh air or use the restroom it was a long walk through Beverly Hills to get back to my neighborhood at the other end. It was so big that when you first walk in you can barely see the other end of the bourse.

From what I heard, each day the US mint had only 1000 of the new reverse proof 1 oz. Buffalo Head gold coins. I found out later that was what the long line we saw was for. A gentleman I was talking to shared his observation that I cannot confirm so this story is second hand. Since there was a limit of 5 coins per buyer there were mass market dealers at the front of the line holding a sign offering to pay $100 per coin on top of the mint price. As the day wore on and it appeared the mint would run out (which they did) the offer went up to $200, then near the end $300 per coin. So in theory near midafternoon if you had a credit card with about $8500 available credit and were in the right spot in line you could make a quick $1500! The mint did not have any more for Saturday so this was the last day to buy them, so I guess the mass marketers were getting desperate.

One of the highlights of the show for me was I got to meet fellow member Gary Hermann for the first time. He is as nice, friendly and knowledgeable a gentleman as I would have expected from his journal postings. I had an invitation to the PCGS luncheon so we had the lunch and listened to Q David Bowers and some notable PCGS execs who talked about the PCGS dealer hall of fame inductees and Best Set awards. Afterwards we talked and walked through the show for a while. Eventually we split up since we were looking for different coins, then we talked again before he left. What he was looking for was like the proverbial needle in the haystack, so he had a lot more tables to search then I did. I will not steal his thunder on what he bought, but it was a very sweet looking coin.

For me I usually go to the shows looking for raw coins to fill my circulated sets. I look at the slabbed coins too, but since most of the prices are close to full retail, for what I am looking for I can do better at one of the auction houses or EBay. I don't care too much for buying raw coins on EBay due to poor picture quality so I enjoy the ability to view the raw coins in-hand. When I go to the big shows one of the things I always look for are the tougher date seated liberty coins from the mid 1860's and early 1870 San Francisco mint. I rarely find dealers who have these, and if they have any seated dimes at all they are just the common high mintage dates. So about halfway through the day, to my joy I find a dealer that has the S mint dimes! Not only does he have them, he has stacks in various grades. I told him no wonder I could not find any- he had them all. It did not dawn on me at the time but he is located in San Francisco. Could that be more than just a coincidence that he had so many? Could more of these S mint coins have stayed on the West coast all these decades later? Needless to say this is how I spent my limited budget. Plus now I have a contact to possibly get some more via mail order. He said he could email me pictures of coins plus still have a return privilege- works for me!

These big shows are fun and exciting but somewhat exhausting. Between all the walking and the sore back and eye strain from leaning display cases looking at so many coins, I am almost glad these are not a weekly event! Thanks for reading and best of luck in your coin hunting! Dave

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