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Baltimore Show Report

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This show report will be somewhat different than previous reports I have given and this is due at least in part to the fact that I attempted to walk the floor primarily as a dealer with the idea that I will attempt to remain in the hobby-industry for an indefinite period. In the past I have taken tables at shows and have actively worked want lists for board members who trusted my eye, knowledge and instincts, but I always kept in mind that this was a side job for me that I did not need to rely upon. However, the economic climate has not been kind to my field and at this time I have taken the step to be a bit more active on the dealer side. Time will tell if I succeed to any extent.

 

I arrived in Baltimore on Wednesday afternoon and proceeded to spend two hours looking at B&M auction lots. Only silver type coins were examined and nothing that I looked at within this field stood out as being worthy of a strong bid. This may very well be because I limited the examination to silver, might be from my poor interpretation of lot images or could just have been my bad luck in choosing lots to examine; but nothing looked choice, original and attractive enough to elicit a bid. Registration for the show was easy and the ability to scan a pre-printed ticket for Early Bird or Dealer badges well before the show opened was quite nice and is something that has been updated since Whitman has been running the show. Thursday morning was quiet and enjoyable. These first few hours to a show are my favorite time on the floor since there are so few people roaming the aisles and, at least in my interpretation, there is a more relaxed atmosphere. The summer Baltimore show is slower and smaller than the other Baltimore shows, but even with the smaller floor plan I was only able to cover about half the floor in 8+ hours on Thursday. Friday had a much busier feel to it and I could see a larger crowd of folks waiting to enter the show once the public would be freely allowed to attend. There was an audible din all day Friday, or at least until I left the show in the late afternoon, and the aisles were much more congested.

 

My experience was that the dealers with tables were generally quite supportive of another minor vest pocket dealer on the floor. They were also happy to chat about the industry, share stories and look at inventory. It seemed that folks were looking to buy and were willing to pay for the right coins. The larger, established, more well known and respected dealers whom I have had longer term relationships were also supportive and happy to give help and insight. This would include “the boys of CRO”, njcoincrank, Laurie Sperber, Wayne Herndon, Osburn and Vic Bozarth. By now I would imagine that many folks have heard about the merging of talent between Wayne Herndon and Osburn and this appears to be a good fit between good people. I went to the show looking to buy cool type coins and also to help a board member with a collection in progress. A few coins were found for the collection in progress as well as a few cool type coins, but these won’t be written about in detail because they will end up becoming inventory. One exchange I will share occurred after the purchase of one of those cool type coins when njcoincrank subsequently went through my coins and asked a price on the piece. I proceeded to state what I paid for it to which he replied something along the lines of “What happened, did you read the wrong column of the Greysheet?” Nothing quite says “you paid too much” like “did you read the wrong column of the Greysheet”. Ouch.

 

All of my sales were originally to dealers and one coin that was offered happened to be a terrific, unadulterated 1921-D WLH PCGS F12 and sporting a CAC sticker. The first dealer who saw the coin stated something that approximated that Greysheet prices were fantasy for this coin while the next two dealers were of the same mindset. All three liked the coin very much and agreed with my evaluation of its worth, but they wanted to be into it a little lower to make enough money on the coin. The fourth dealer who saw the coin already had a nice, accurately graded PCGS VG8 in his case and he wanted well above Greysheet F12 ask. Upon looking at my coin he pulled out the Greysheet and offered me F12 bid. I declined and thanked him for his time. He appeared just very slightly annoyed and told me that I couldn’t get more than F12 bid. Apparently, he forgot about the coin in his case. Eventually, I was showing another coin to another dealer when I placed the WLH on a case and a collector walked by and hovered briefly over the coin. When I finished with the dealer the collector followed and asked if he could see this WLH so we went outside the bourse and I allowed him to examine the coin for as long as he wanted or needed. He has been collecting and studying WLHs and Barbers for nearly forty years, agreed with my pricing on the coin and was happy as a clam to purchase the coin.

 

Regarding general floor observations please keep in mind that my niche areas are superb type, Barber coinage and circulated, problem-free early Federal, which means that any observations on other niche areas must be taken with a larger grain of salt than typical.

 

-Several dealers mentioned that they were moving their money and inventory into metals, primarily gold, and were advising their clients to do the same. However, these dealers seemed to be evenly split among camps that thought gold was a better short term purchase vs. those who thought it a better long term purchase.

 

-Circulated silver bullion was available, but it appeared to be primarily in the form of Morgan and Peace dollars and these coins had prices of $18-$20 each, generally $20, attached to them. Those dealers with large quantities of circulated Morgan and Peace dollars also seemed to have quite a few collectors near them.

 

-It was easy to find PCGS Secure Plus holders though a bit more difficult to find coins in these holders with the + grade. Also, the use of the + designation by PCGS and NGC is not as obvious on the certificate as I had expected it might be to see.

 

-Cool type in uber-grades was available for the right money, but cool type in grades where a much larger pool of folks might be able to purchase (MS/PR64-65) was downright rare.

 

-The modern certified market seemed to have had its footprint shrunk in that there were many raw proof and mint sets as well as raw bullion coins, but few high grade moderns in holders. Is this because there are simply few of these coins available or is it because the market for these pieces is down? I don’t know.

 

-Twentieth century coins with terrific toning have dried up, but those with average eye appeal have exploded in population. The few dealers with truly high end eye appeal in this segment had strong prices on their coins, though I do not know how receptive folks are to purchase these coins at this level.

 

-Circulated, raw Seated dollars? Relatively plenty. Circulated, certified Seated dollars? Relatively scarce. This might scare me if I were looking to acquire many of these coins.

 

-PCGS had quick turnaround times for coins being graded at the show and this made for many happy submitters, though I did not hear anyone comment that PCGS was tight or loose at the show.

 

-Raw proof sets from the 1930s and 1940s were available, which is not something I always see, thought they were in secondary packaging. Boxed sets from the 1950s were also available in original packaging.

 

-At least two dealers who looked at an attractive, OGH PCGS PR66 1942 WQ that I had told me that they could only sell these coins if they were dipped white while one other told me that the WQs of this era were dead. However, they all loved the coin in terms of eye appeal and originality, but the prices on these pieces have dropped so much that buying one at a premium, even with great eye appeal, might be akin to attempting to catch a falling knife.

 

-In a thread several months ago I shared an 1893-S Barber half that I picked up for Greysheet VF bid. This coin was submitted to PCGS and graded EF40. It has been placed and is not available for sale.

 

-I looked at over 600 Barber dimes from F12 through AU55 and was surprised to see several PCGS or NGC certified coins in F12 and F15 without a complete LIBERTY. Please note that I am writing that one or more letters LIBERTY were missing entirely. The remainder of the details of these coins did not suggest to me that they should be F12 or F15, either, so folks should keep these little tidbits in mind when it comes to grading.

 

-As mentioned, I looked at quite a few Barber dimes and can tell folks that they are as tough to find in VF-EF as many of the Barber half dollars. At current levels these coins seem to be screaming buys if original, problem-free and attractive.

 

-Certified white commems were everywhere, but those with any sort of attractive patina were tougher and truly colorful pieces were priced very aggressively.

 

-Does anyone want a full-rimmed 1893-S Barber half in G or VG? Hold on…I’ll stop laughing soon…they don’t exist.

 

-The coin that sang to me perhaps the loudest was the PCGS MS66 1876 twenty-cent piece that Legend had. These coins just don’t come like this particular specimen. It is amazing.

 

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Good report. Did you make any observations regarding 20th century common date gold in MS61-63?

 

 

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Thanks for the show report--very informative! Haven't been to the Baltimore show for about three years but plan to attend the next one. Now looking forward to it more than ever!!!

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Hi Tom, it's Yaha ex PCGS forum member. Nice to see you again..

 

Well I went Thursday to sell a few sheets of 2006 buff Gold coins and noticed a nice crowd.. As you stated it's not like the winter and fall show, but nice deals to be had.. I was very pleased once again on my transactions and hope one day soon I can meet some of my friends I had over at the other board. I still chat with many through emails and MSN messenger.. Again nice to hear from you TOMB. Great report as always. George.. Aka Yaha.

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Tom you would be a fantastic dealer !!

You have a solid reputation and a fantastic eye for great coins.

Starting out with a new business venture is at times stressful but the rewards down the line are worth it . The best thing I did for myself was to leave my corporate job 11 years ago and start my own business.

 

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Thank you all for the kind words and good wishes. I will attempt to answer the questions within the thread. Two dealers essentially told walk up customers that the MS60-63 certified classic gold being offered to the dealer was more "product" at this point and less "numismatics". One dealer stressed that the coins weren't bad, but that they were really tied to bullion more than anything else. As for the Legend twenty-cent piece, I would love to own the coin, but they would have to work with me on a cash and trade that would be too large for my budget at this time. I hope to have a website up in the near future, but have no plans to build a coin empire.

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Terrific report Tom and best wishes. Who knows maybe we can join forces one day ;)

 

MJ

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Good show report and good luck with your new business.

 

It sounded like you had a better time than Laura Sperber! See http://www.coinlink.com/News/market-reports/legend-market-report-the-june-baltimore-coin-show/

 

(I'll have a commentary or Laura's report on my blog in the morning, if anyone is interested)

 

Scott

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... This would include “the boys of CRO”, njcoincrank, Laurie Sperber, Wayne Herndon, Osburn and Vic Bozarth. By now I would imagine that many folks have heard about the merging of talent between Wayne Herndon and Osburn and this appears to be a good fit between good people. I went to the show looking to buy cool type coins and also to help a board member with a collection in progress....

 

I just noticed that a common nickname for Richard was censored by the software used on these boards! In this case, I think its use was as a proper noun and not a slang term to be used in a disparaging manner!

 

And people think computers do not have a sense of humor!! :roflmao:

 

Scott

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