Baltimore Show Report (Very Late) and Poor Coin Images

[TomB]

It appears that there are a number of reports on the Baltimore show up already so this material may simply be a repeat of other observations. However, few of those reports will be able to match the poor images of my new coins. I arrived in Baltimore Thursday night, but did not attend the show until about 9:30 AM Friday. EVP was already there and we caught up on many things. The public registration booths had a steady stream of folks going through them, but the bourse itself seemed to have plenty of room to navigate, even well after the public opening of the show at 10:00 AM.

 

There are some folks that I always make it a point to see as quickly as possible and these included Julian Leidman, njcoincrank, FinallyHere (Mike Printz at Whitlow), Larry Shepherd and Dave and John (the boys at CRO; ColonialCoinUnion and CoinRaritiesOnline). Everyone was upbeat and even Larry Whitlow was downright chatty. I met up with BigMoose and we had a fantastic conversation with some pleasant time shared with cohodk/chinook and Michael. The next two days would hold 14-hours of walking the bourse looking for cool coins.

 

The 1893-S Morgan dollar in grades from VG8-VF35 is a coin that is always available, yet commands a hefty price. There have been shows where I have seen perhaps two-dozen of these pieces, but this show was different and I only noticed eight of these coins on the floor. The 1916 SLQ and 1909-S VDB Lincoln, however, were present in nearly every nook and cranny. There was one 1901-S Barber quarter in an NGC VG8 slab that was accurately graded, original and attractive as all get out. I asked for a price and was surprised it was as little as quoted, though still far from a trivial sum. If I were in the market for a 1901-S Barber quarter then this would be a serious contender for acquisition even considering its relatively low grade since it had the eye appeal that few of this issue can hope to match. Coins that surprised me for their abundance included cherry red, proof IHCs that were primarily in PCGS holders. There had to have been at least eight of these coins spread throughout the floor. High grade, circulated Bust dollars were also available, but the few Gobrecht dollars that I have seen in previous shows had seen their available numbers shrink considerably. Curiously, mid-grade Seated quarters and Barber dimes, which looked dark and original, were more plentiful than at any time that I can recall. As might be expected, the show was swimming in blast white Morgans, WLHs and classic commems. Truly special toned coins were scarcer at this show than at any other in the last ten years, perhaps, and I spoke with Larry Shepherd about this. His observation was consistent with mine and while I assumed that all the special coins were in the hands of dealers like Larry, he hypothesized that these coins were actually in the strong hands of collectors who are in no hurry to sell. I believe he is correct.

 

I had carried with me a few coins for sale and the truly neat pieces were easy sales at what might be considered highly aggressive prices, while the coins that were nice, but not outstanding, either went unsold or had to be sold for softer money. The chorus that I heard from many dealers was that they were choking on below average-to-average coins and that even the nice coins were not selling with a frequency that would encourage buying more stock. This seemed to be especially true for high grade Washington quarters. The Omaha Bank Hoard (OBH) has put a dent in the market for high grade Roosevelts and Washingtons and this glut of generic material has not only suppressed the liquidity of nicer coins, but might take some time to be absorbed by the community. I was expecting to feel more of a buzz for bullion, but this did not occur. Additionally, there were fewer folks selling modern Mint products and those that were selling had large inventories. Only two dealers had any CAC stickers on coins, but this should not be too surprising given the recent start up of the process. There was no buzz about this service, either, as far as I could discern. PCGS and NGC both had a steady stream of folks at the tables, but neither looked to be overwhelmed at any point.

 

Tootawl stopped by and we chatted for a bit. He was gracious enough to pull out his newly acquired PCGS EF45 Seated dollar and the coin is outstanding. He also had with him his Dansco 7070 and we went through that set as well. Wayne Herndon was set up with his lovely wife, but the poor soul must be suffering from special disorientation by this time since she was not accustomed to looking at or reading slabs upside-down. All was not lost for the Herndon household, however, since I purchased a wonderful 1839 No Drapery Seated half dime in a dot matrix, OGH where the pigment of the insert had changed to a light canary. The coin is fantastic with complete hair and facial details as well as full star radials; the strike is truly hammered. The coin is predominantly a grey and pink mix with grey and navy near the rims. I was also able to buy a fantastic, original 1909 matte proof Lincoln in the same generation dot matrix, OGH where the pigment of the insert had also changed to a light canary. This is very odd since these holders are becoming tough to find, yet I was able to pick up two very nice type coins at one show. The Lincoln is original, which is something few matte proofs can boast, and has a warm, faded, brick red glow about the surfaces. While buying the Lincoln cent I was able to meet yellowjacket for the first time and had a great conversation. Aside from these two coins, I purchased an EF copper-nickel IHC and an EF Barber dime for my Dansco 7070.

 

I went to dinner Friday with a crew that included BigMoose, caitlin, cape and AACoinCo. This has become a Friday night Baltimore tradition for me and is always quite enjoyable, even if it makes walking the floor bright and early on Saturday a bit more challenging. For those interested in the history of the certification services and who look for older slabs, Julian had three NGC holders with the plain white insert while the boys at CRO had the only PCGS doily holder that I saw on the floor. Both Friday and Saturday I ate lunch within the convention center and the good folks working for food services must have thought I looked pretty hungry or fairly pathetic. Friday afternoon I had the carved turkey sandwich and while other folks received an inch or so of turkey, the server gave me a six-inch heaping mound of steaming turkey on my plate. This was the same server whom I had at the last Baltimore show and who looks eerily like Evander Holyfield. Saturday afternoon I had the pasta primavera and the server on that afternoon gave me almost an entire third of the six-inch by eighteen-inch serving tray for my lunch. Needless to say, I was full both afternoons. The women at the cash registers had the new Presidential dollars in their trays, but no one that I saw was either given any in change or asked to receive them. In fact, I told them each day that I didn’t want any.

 

Saturday night was dinner with supertooth and family at his home. Folks, if you want to see a tour-de-force in WLH collecting, you must catch up with supertooth. We talked well into the night, but I don’t think my new matte proof Lincoln was a hit in the supertooth home. Sunday morning was more coin talk and then the long drive home though MD-DE-NJ-NY-CT and mostly light rain. I had a great time, thought the bourse was slower than typical, thought it was difficult to sell nice coins but easy to sell really nice coins at aggressive prices and was delighted to find the two major purchases that I brought home. Below are the two main purchases with the slab inserts to show how the color of the inserts had faded to nearly the same hue over the years. These slabs were issued in the early 1990s and all the inserts started life as dark green.

[123cents]

Great report! Beautiful coins!

[EZ_E]

Outstanding report, Tom. As always, it was extremely well written and captivating. The only drawback is that you are acquired two incredible type coins... and when I was so close, nippin' at your heels to gain your type registry spot. Oh well, carpe diem, amigo!

 

(thumbs u

[TomB]

Don't worry about the two type coins, Victor. The 1909 PF65RB Lincoln won't be added to my set since I already have a 1913 PF66RB Lincoln in that slot. The 1839 half dime, however, has put some long deserved, but no doubt short-lived room between us.

[EZ_E]

I need to finance my daughter's trip to Carnegie hall with her orchestra and play catch up with my credit card so I won't be buying for awhile, yet. So, enjoy the thrill of victory while you can, chump. hahaha.... You know that I have nothing but love for ya, Tom.

 

I got my 1706 dime and no stars half dime registered mail today but they left a notice instead of knocking on the door of my apartment. YunYun was here so I was bummed that they didn't go the extra mile and deliver it. So, I left a note in the mailbox at my apt complex and I hope to see them tomorrow, if not then I'll have to go after work on Wednesday to pick 'em up at the post office. I'm really psyched about the 1796 dime!!

 

Take care. And maybe I'll do an assignment at some yankee outfit someday to see you and Mike King. But that would be one heck of a personal sacrifice but I might manage since I did live in Saratoga Springs, NY in the navy for 9 months and 9 months in central Maine.

[pendragon1998]

Tom, thanks for the report. I always enjoy reading your posts.

[MikeInFL]

Great post Tom. Thanks for sharing your experiences and NEWPs with us!!!

 

I have gotten the impression that you like them crusty, but how's the luster on that half dime? Your photos have me a bit befuddled, and I'd like to understand your in-hand assessment of this coin, if you don't mind my asking.

 

Thanks...Mike

[leeg]

Super report Tom. Sounds like fun had by all and picked up two great coins!!! (thumbs u

[cpm9ball]

I always enjoy reading Tom's reports. He's so thorough. What amazes me is how his secretary can get all of these notes down so accurately while Tom is milling through the bourse.

 

Chris

[BillJones]

Although Tom said that the activity around the NGC and PCGS tables did not seem frenzied, NGC did announce very early on Friday that they would not take any more submissions for on-site grading at the show. Some dealers were surprised and a bit miffed at that.

[WinstonWare]

Thanks Tom. Great report. Congratulations on the new coins

[supertooth]

Hello Folks

 

As always, it was a pleasure to have Tom B come to my home after the Baltimore show. I feel very fortunate that he feels it worth his while to make the effort to drive an additional 90 minutes to get here to spend the night with me and the family. And I do look forward to his continual visits.

 

Here on the boards we have "many" special folks---with considerable knowledge. Tom is one who, IMHO, rises to the top as one of the cream of the crop. Without question, Tom is the consummate professional numismatist. And I value his friendship----and especially that he views my home as 'his' home when he visits.

 

I am editing to add that I "loved" the Gobrecht dollar. And think that the 1839 is a 'treasure'. Bob [supertooth]

[TomB]

Before I address MikeInFL's very good question about the images, I'd like to thank everyone for their kind words in this thread.

 

The images were taken quickly and with little preparation. It was 3:25 in the afternoon when I realized how late it was and I had wanted to get the coins to my safe deposit box before the 4:00 closing time at my bank. Therefore, I simply threw several sheets of white paper on the floor, placed the slabs on top, set up a small tripod next to the coins, put the camera on the tripod, put a lamp on the floor and took one set of images. I did not optimize the color, the lighting or the manual focus and simply hoped that I had good enough images to reveal the details of the coins.

 

The slab inserts came out quite well since they are flat and colorful. The details on the half dime also came out fairly well, but as you can see I was out of focus on the Lincoln cent and also should have used exposure compensation. The images would likely have shown much better color if I manipulated the angle of the lights, but I was in too much of a hurry to do any of that work. The luster on the half dime is quite good and is what I would call mossy. In my opinion, a coin with mossy luster will be one with a thick, original skin that generally precludes the blasty look obtained from a previously dipped coin. The half dime essentially glistens with a soft luster when rotated and the colors are a pleasing, but certainly not a monster, mix of grey and rose as an undercoat with a mix of grey and navy at the rims. This is hinted at through the images by the darker circle that rings the coin just inside the perimeter stars. The coin is truly MS and has a terrific strike. Unfortunately, the reverse of the slab is scuffed and this makes the words "HALF DIME" tend to disappear in the image when you get to the F and E. Also, some of the wreath is hidden beneath the scuff. If this were in a new generation PCGS holder I would have the coin reholdered, however, if I attempt to sell this coin in the future it will likely be more liquid in this older holder. Below is another half dime that I own where the image is much more accurate and the luster seen on this image is very similar to the coin that I posted in this thread-

The image of the Lincoln cent is simply a mess and does not represent the look of the coin with much accuracy. However, since I took the image I thought I would also include it in the thread. In my opinion, many of the TPG slabbed RD and mostly red RB matte proof Lincolns on the market do not have original color and these coins represent pieces that have been heavily manipulated to either remove spots or fingerprints or to obtain the desired RD designation. While this is a nearly universally accepted form of manipulation for silver coinage in US numismatics, it is not knowingly accepted at anywhere near the same frequency with copper coinage. In my opinion, which I cannot quantitatively prove, there are a fairly large number of matte proof Lincoln cents in TPG holders that have undergone some level of work. This coin appears to be completely original.

[MikeInFL]

Thanks for your response Tom, I appreciate it...Mike

 

p.s. FWIW, my obvservations about MPLs in the marketplace is the same as yours.

[MikeKing]

nice report Tom, sorry I couldn't make it.

I want that half dime! Sounds like just what I'd love to have in my collection.

Victor, you're due for some Yankee pot roast!

 

[gmarguli]

Very nice show report! I always enjoy reading your show reports. (thumbs u

 

EVP was already there and we caught up on many things.

EVP spotted at a coin show? I thought he fell off the face of the earth!

 

 

High grade, circulated Bust dollars were also available

It sure seems like there are a ton of them on the market right now. Either a bunch of people are dumping them or a hoard of them came onto the market.

[WinstonWare]

 

High grade, circulated Bust dollars were also available

It sure seems like there are a ton of them on the market right now. Either a bunch of people are dumping them or a hoard of them came onto the market.

 

Have they come down in price at all? Where are they currently starting price wise for say an F-12 or F-15 problem-free example?

[EZ_E]

 

High grade, circulated Bust dollars were also available

It sure seems like there are a ton of them on the market right now. Either a bunch of people are dumping them or a hoard of them came onto the market.

 

Have they come down in price at all? Where are they currently starting price wise for say an F-12 or F-15 problem-free example?

 

Great question! But, I doubt that the prices have fallen any...

[toyonakataro]

I remember seeing that 1853 half dime in Larry Whittlow's show case a few years ago.

I sure had thick, original skin (thumbs u

[Toningintheblood-migration]

Tom are you planning on being at the FUN Show this year? If so let's have dinner and chat. It has been a long time since we have talked about coins, our busy lives, etc. Let me know. Thanks, Dale Larsen Spectrum Numismatics