Baltimore Show Report...

[lkenefic]

OK... I'm still without a digital camera but I can still give my take on the Baltimore show.

 

I got to the show at about 10:30 and breezed through registration. There was virtually no one there. I was looking for lightly circulated to low MS type pieces for my Dansco 7070. I had met some very nice people at the March show and I wanted to go back to at least to say "Hi". Notibly absent: Lynn Urso (sp?) from New Orleans Rare Coins and Rick Snow of Eagle Eye. I did see: Ed Hipps (Table 457); D Osburn (Table 903); and Harry Laibstain (Tables 354 & 355) from the March show there today. Overall the show was very lightly attended and the prices for what I was looking for seemed a bit strong.

 

I did manage to find a few pieces though. I met Dr. Eugene Bruder who had quite a few type pieces. I've been looking for a Three-Cent Nickel with a nice strike for quite some time. This is not a difficult piece to locate by any stretch, but finding one with a nice strike has been a bit more difficult than anticipated. Most AUs I've been looking at seem to have weakness in strike around Liberty's hair and flatness in the lower curl. I bought a nice 1867 MS-62 piece from him at a reasonable price. Very nice detail. I bounced around to a few tables and then found the JJ Teaparty Table. I had been to this table back in March, but every time I went back there were at least 2-3 deep jockeying for position. Not the case today. I met the acquaintance of "Liz" who is incredibly knowledgeable and has a great eye for coins. I brought my album with me and she immediately keyed in on my collecting "wants". There were quite a number of nice type pieces here, both certified and raw. I pounced on a nice 1924 AU-58 SLQ that she had recently purchased. This is another piece that I've been holding out for in efforts to find one with a nice strike in the grade range that would fit my set. This piece has a very nice strike, champaign toning, and probably just misses FH designation. I paid strong money for this piece but I felt it was worth it to find a nicely struck pre-1925 SLQ. I bought one last coin from JJ Teaparty ... a raw 1838 Bust Quarter VF35. This one has a nice cameo appearance and matches well with my CBH that I cracked out of an NGC VF30 holder. This coin may have been cleaned ages ago but there are no hairlines and it has retoned nicely. The price was reasonable too.

 

This show was very lightly attended, and few people seemed to be buying stuff. I did manage to meet some nice folks and buy some nice pieces for my set. All in all... a successful show for me. Food-wise, I learned my lesson from the last show and ate before I went. I'll probably grab dinner at Mick O'Shea's this evening.

 

Cheers,

 

Leo

 

[MarkFeld]

The June Baltimore show is the quietest of the 3 yearly shows there and granted, this one wasn't "hot". Still, I was surprised that it was relatively upbeat - at least from what I could see.

 

On the buying end, I had an extremely difficult time locating material of the type/quality I prefer to handle. And on the selling end, I sold more than a third of my inventory, with very little effort. I carry a small inventory, so that's not a lot of coins. But the sales still told me quite a bit about the buyers' attitudes/frames of mind.

 

I predict (something I don't do too often, publicly) that the ANA will be active and fairly strong. But I also predict that after that, generally speaking, things will quieter and weaker for the remainder of the year.

[lkenefic]

Mark... What table are you at? I'll make it a point to stop by next time. I was told that the show will also be going on again on Sunday (unlike past years). However, several sellers made other arrangements and won't be there tomorrow. Best Regards, Leo

[MarkFeld]

Mark... What table are you at? I'll make it a point to stop by next time. I was told that the show will also be going on again on Sunday (unlike past years). However, several sellers made other arrangements and won't be there tomorrow. Best Regards, Leo

Leo, I didn't have a table and hardly ever take tables at shows. I am back from Baltimore already. Sorry I missed you.

[jackson64]

I was there on Thursday for the APTA conference in the other half of the Convention center..I did find a half hour to pop in and just see how busy it was and pick up a few publications at the tables in the lobby...sorry I missed the chance to meet a few of you