White Plains show report

[Wihlborg]

Well, I went to the White Plains show today and spent about 4 ½ hours walking the floor and talking to dealers. The show is in the smaller downstairs room this time and it seemed to more crowded than is usual for the Friday opening day.

 

Morgan dollars were everywhere, including some really nicely toned examples. Overall there was a good amount of average to nice material available in almost all series, including seated dollars & half’s, trade dollars, bust half’s, two & three cent pieces, but really PQ material was scarce. There were a lot of really nice foreign coins available, but I did not cross over to the dark side this time.

 

There was a marked shortage of really nice buffalo nickels at the show. I did see a very nice 1918s in a PCGS holder graded MS-64. The coin had some nice toning and was very well struck for the date. The dealer wanted $7,000+ for it. I also saw a 1916 buffalo in a NGC MS-66 holder with really nice pastel pink and blue toning, but I felt the coin was too weakly struck to be a MS-66. IMO without the toning the coin would be in a MS-64 holder.

 

The other series I didn’t have much luck with was early commems. This however was not due to a shortage of available coins, rather it was because I could not find the dates I needed in the grade I wanted with the ‘look’ I was after. I did see two coins that I thought were outstanding, an MS-67 New Rochelle and an MS-66 Lexington. Both coins were in NGC holders and were just blazers! I’m talking frosty blinding cartwheel luster on these two! I was really tempted, but I did not want to spend the money to upgrade the ones I already own at this time. I know I’ll probably regret not buying these two, oh well…

 

I had a great time talking to Tom Stepanski of Dart Stamp & Coin about a whole range of coin topics. Tom always has some of the best material at the show and is one of the nicest dealers I have ever met.

 

I did pick up these two coins at the show. A 1936 Arkansas in a NGC MS-65 holder and a 1937 Buffalo in a NGC MS-67 holder. The Arkansas is blast white with nice satin luster, and the buffalo has really nice ice blue/purple toning with great luster.

 

Finally, for DaveG, yes, New World Rarities was at the show. They had the table right in front of the doors when you enter the show.

 

John

[reid1836]

Thanks for the report, very impressive buffalo !

[LucyBop]

Nice coins!

[DaveG]

John,

 

Thanks for the report! Nice coins, too!

 

Did you see a lot of transactions, or was the crowd mostly looking?

 

Did you get any sense of prices - high? firm?, etc.

 

I can't wait to get there tomorrow!

[chinook]

That buffalo is really nice.

[TomB]

That Arkansas has a heck of a lot of blast! As for the Lexington you passed on, well, if it were truly original, frosty white then it was a rare coin.

[Wihlborg]

Dave,

 

I heard the same story about the market from the dealers that I talked to that I have been hearing for a while now, and that is that the market is the best it has been in years. It’s hard to find nice coins to replace the coins that they sell, etc.

 

My take on the show market wise was that really nice PQ coins were scarce. I saw a good deal of both wholesale and retail transactions going on, but there was a lot of ‘looking‘ going on as well. Prices didn’t seem extremely high, but they were pretty firm with the dealers who I asked for quotes, especially if the coin was PQ. Some dealers were willing to take a small amount off of the sticker on average coins.

 

Hope you have a good time tomorrow!

 

John

[Wihlborg]

Tom,

 

You’re right about it being a rare coin in that condition. Thanks for making me feel better about passing it up!

 

John

[Hoot]

Great looking coins you picked up there, John. Congratulations, and thanks for the show report!

 

Hoot

[jom]

Wihl: Nice Buffalo there. When are you going to send it to me?

 

jom

[Wihlborg]

Jom,

 

I thought of you at the show today. There seemed to be a good number of $10 Indians there. I especially remember a really nice MS-63 1910s and a really nice MS-63 1932. They were in NGC and/or PCGS holders, but to be honest, for the life of me I can’t remember which was in what holder.

 

I must be getting old.

 

John

[michael]

a great show report keep them coming!

 

that arkansas has really great

eye appeal wow

 

you take excellent photos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

michael

[jom]

The 32 isn't really a big deal but a 10-S is somewhat hard to find. There are some dates you know you can find a nice piece even in AU but the 10-S isn't one of them. It's one of those dates where even if the coin grades high it still isn't an eye appealing coin. Know what I mean? San Fran probably just had some production problems or there was a bad mix of the metals. I don't know but vast majority of 10-S's (11-S, 12-S and 13-S too!) are just crappy.....those weren't exactly "banner" years for the San Francisco mint...

 

jom

[Wihlborg]

Jom,

 

I agree that the 32 is not that big of a deal ‘date wise’, but my point was that the one I saw was really nice. The same for the 10-s, it was very nice, in fact IMO it was on par with any other MS-63 $10 Indian I have ever seen.

 

John

[jom]

Yeah, there are a good number 32-Ps with nice color (same with the 26-P) which are real eye catchers. In fact, you can find that even the 30-S has a similar attribute but those are always MS coins that are out of my budget and any AU pieces are tampered with.

 

I just bought an AU 10-S that is really nice at the last Long Beach and John Hamrick recently had a real nice MS62 piece that I should have bought. I was lucky I later found the AU as I don't come across many 10-S's that are worth bothering with. MS63 10-S's are probably out of my price range as I think there is a big price jump at that level.

 

jom

[Wihlborg]

MS63 10-S's are probably out of my price range as I think there is a big price jump at that level.

 

Oh yeah! That’s way I didn’t even bother to ask the dealer for a price on it, as I knew that I wasn’t buying it!

 

John

[mommam17]

John- If you sold some of those commems you could buy other coins!!! Did you happen to see any MS 65 Hudsons or Vancouvers?

[Wihlborg]

Hi mommam17,

 

As a matter of fact I did see an MS-65 Hudson in an NGC holder. I just happened to notice it as I was walking past one of the tables. I didn’t stop and look at it in hand, but I do remember that from in the case the obverse at least, looked decent. It appeared to be a whitish/light gold coin. I also remember seeing at least one Vancouver, but to be honest, it did not impress me. It was a white coin, but with a lot of little dirty tone specks, and did not have the ‘pop’ that Vancouver’s are known for. I don’t remember the grade or if it was in an NGC or PCGS holder.

 

John

[mommam17]

Thanks John. Vince is looking for either one for me. Hope he sees the Hudson and it`s the right price. I know he`ll pass on the Vancouver.