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FUN Show Report

Started by Barndog,

8 posts in this topic

Barndog

Barndog

Posted
Posted

my primary focus is on US Capped Bust Half Dimes by die marriage and die remarriage. Like most people, I prefer problem-free coins. Unlike most people, I will settle for a lot less when I find a die marriage or die remarriage that I need. Since my collection is kind of advanced, I have "branched out" to collect type coins (no checklist, just whatever I like) and Classic Commems with original (non dipped) surfaces in older PCGS holders.

 

With that, away we go:

 

Spent most of Wednesday's dealer set up day peddling some coins. I had at least a couple dozen raw half dimes, all Capped Bust; four raw bust dimes (all 1814 JR-2, since I just finished writing an article on die sinking and resultant bulges on the coins -- and the coins were for research only); a couple of certified bust quarters; and about a dozen certified Capped Bust Half Dimes (ranging from G-6 to AU-55). I have a good buying/selling relationship with Rich Uhrich, so I went to his table first. He bought a few coins and we caught up. Lynn Ourso shares a table with Rich, so he took a look too (he bought the G-6 half dime for a wantlist). Tammie Hauser at Augustin Capital Management asked me to bring some of my coins by her table for Russell to take a look at. I had never sold to her before, but she has been kind enough in the past, so I stopped by after Rich had what he wanted out of my offerings. Russell bought four certified half dimes, good choices all. I searched around the show a bit looking for coins to buy. Looked at a lot of half dimes and found problem coins, overgraded coins, dipped coins, and not much of note. At one dealer's table, I viewed a marvelous type set that was mostly for sale (some coins were marked NFS). In that set was a lovely PCGS MS66 half dime. I viewed the coin and fell in lust with it, even though it was not for sale. It was the best MS66 half dime I have seen. I brought a few people by that table over the course of the afternoon just to view that coin. I did find a war nickel for my type set, that set me back fifty bucks (it had a rather lofty grade on its label). Gotta buy one coin no matter what kind on day #1 so I don't feel like a failure on Friday evening if I got skunked. On Thursday, I stopped by to see Osburn with the remainder of my coins -- he bought them all. I made it easy for dealers to buy. Each coin's flip or slab had a number in red ink that was my price to the dealer. I also wrote in a suggested retail (ask) price in purple ink. Capped Bust Half Dimes are tough to price for non-specialists, so I was trying to help out. Having sold everything I had to sell, I could search the bourse in earnest. I went back to view that MS66 half dime, bringing a few friends along too. Lovely coin, my lust had not yet subsided. Damn NOT FOR SALE coins are a PITA, but it was fun to dream. I found one half dime worth purchasing on Thursday: an NGC AU-50 1832 LM-13. Not a rare coin, but this one was one of the few appropriately-graded CBHD to be found. I held onto it for an hour, then wrote a couple of numbers on the slab and handed it to Osburn, who said "sold." Friday, I started my day wondering if I would go home from the show without any new half dimes, but planned to search diligently. Even nothing at JJ Teaparty, which is always a good source of new stuff. Went and viewed that MS66 half dime again. This time I left my business card with the dealer and asked if it was ever up for sale by the collector who owned it, please give me a call. The dealer said the owner of the coin was on a flight at the time, but they'd give him a call later to see if he was willing to sell. I said "thanks" and walked away with a glimmer of hope. So a few hours later I was at JJ Teaparty's table looking at an AU55 1831 Large Cent when the cell phone rang...the half dime was for sale! I scurried over there, wrote a check for what they asked, and beamed a huge smile with my acquisition. Unrequited lust was unrequited no more. On my way out of the bourse toward the second floor men's room (a tip for those who don't know: use the restrooms furthest from the bourse floor if you care about cleanliness and personal health), I stopped to see Lance Hipps and show him my purchase. Lance and his dad are a couple of my favorite dealers. So after a while, I sat down outside the bourse on the carpet to attribute my half dime. My lust for the coin was so intense that in the many times I viewed the coin, I had never attributed it to determine the die marriage! I didn't care, I knew I wanted the coin. Anyway, I attributed it and was pleasantly surprised that it was an 1830 LM-6 die marriage, which is an R-5. Sweet, an unintentional cherrypick. Didn't care what it was, it could have been an R-1 and I would have still been as happy as a pig in slop. My wide grin stayed with me the rest of the day. I even bought a modern commem (Civil War) for my type set.

 

One coin made the show GREAT for me. I just mailed the coin out today to Mark Goodman for imaging. I didn't even attempt to image the thing. My photography skills are severely lacking.

 

Other musings on the show:

 

-My brother lives in S. Florida and he collects coins. We shared a hotel room and spent lots of time together discussing coins, sports, and little else. Life is good.

-I found that specialist dealers seemed to be doing very well, business-wise. They were a bit tentative on the buying side, but eventually opened up their checkbooks. They sold steadily. Generalist dealers were not as busy. Of course, there are exceptions to these statements, but those statements describe my observations.

-People selling generic gold, no matter what side of the table they were on, did very well, finding willing buyers aplenty.

-Some dealers chose to not take losses on some overpriced inventory (notable for me was dealer pricing on classic commems). Commems priced at 1 to 1.5 grades higher than the label on the slab (even if the label was accurate) stayed in dealer cases when the dealer was not willing to price his coins realistically (at least in my dealings). Paying 20% or more over ASK was not something I was willing to do. Perhaps another sucker, er customer, will buy at that price.

-Florida United Numismatists does a great job year after year putting on this show.

-The food set out for dealers/early birds on Wednesday was quite good ("wraps" and ice tea for me).

 

There's probably more, but I forgot by now. I'm still basking in the glory of my new half dime.

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EZ_E

EZ_E

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Richard,

 

I viewed the coin and fell in lust with it,

 

Don't you mean you fell in luster with it. doh! I know, 'tis a poor attempt at numismatic humor. haha...

 

It sounds like you command respect on the bourse as a specialist because it doesn't seem like the dealers were hemming and hawing over your prices. Very cool.

 

I'm very much looking forward to seeing this new purchase of yours. For you to be so struck really means something.

 

Thanks for sharing and I'm glad that you're jay walking a bit on this side of the street!

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Barndog

Barndog

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the half dime I purchased is dated 1830. I will be glad to post pics when they are available.

 

And one of these years, one of these shows we'll bump into one another!

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