Thursday At Long Beach - Long

[Elcontador]

While I heard yesterday - dealer day - was brisk, this was probably one of the slowest days at Long Beach I've ever seen. It seemed that most people were interested in the Heritage Auctions. To be fair, they had quite a bit of outstanding material, including the nicest (or should I say perhaps the only attractive) business strike Shield Nickel I've ever seen, and the only PCGS MS 65 BN 1849 Large Date Half Cent. Both coins IMO went for obscene prices at the close of internet bidding, so I didn't attend the auction.

 

I noticed more high grade Braided Hair Large Cents, mainly NGC, but some PCGS, than I've ever seen at a Long Beach Show before. Not just BN, but a fair number of RB & RD as well.

 

I even saw more high end Mercs than usual, along with the plentiful high end Morgans and Walkers. Lots of attractive IHCs in all colors, RD Lincoln Cents and some attractively toned Jefferson Nickels. Seated material was plentiful in all denominations and all grades.

 

Once again, I saw some of the ugliest MS 65 & MS 66 Trade $s & some of the ugliest MS 64 & 65 Seated $s ever to have been inside of a grading room. Perhaps these are the same ugly ones I keep seeing at each Long Beach Show, because no one wants to buy them. Five figure barf-bag material, if you ask me.

 

Osburn had a nice group of Capped Bust halves in virtually all grades. I saw a few Capped Bust Halves in MS 66 & even a PF 66 (when they're that expensive, I don't pay much attention to them). There were plenty of Buffalo Nickels, as usual, and oddly, many more Shield Nickels than I usually see at Long Beach.

 

Strangely, I did not see much Barber coinage (except for some UCAMs that again, when it is that expensive, I don't pay much attention to it), and SLQs were scarcer than normal. More Liberty Nickels were available for sale than I've seen before. The PFs are always available, but I saw a few type dates ('03 & '05) in MS 66. I saw one of them that looked okay that was reasonably priced (an '05), but passed on it.

 

Note - some upgrades are being given. I noticed a number of Mercs in MS 68. Ditto re SLQs and some Seated Material. Someone had a UCAM Seated coin in PF 69.

 

I think if you want to sell anything, if you've had it for three years or longer, you should take a second look. If the coin is high end for the grade, you should consider resubmitting it (I only do in holder resubmissions) so that the number on the slab is consistent with current grading standards.

 

IMO, the best tables including a comprehensive selection of 19th Century type were those of Gary Adkins and Jack Beymer.

 

As for me, I bought Rick Snow's second edition book on F.E. Cents, per Tim (Lakesamman)'s suggestion. I also "got lucky," so to speak.

 

After looking for over three years for a Braided Hair Half Cent in MS RB 5, I found one. There were two at the show. Usually if any are to be found, there's an ugly 1855 MS 65 BN that is horribly struck and no one wants it. The 1855 Half and Large Cents are not struck well. I've seen at least 20 of them, and I don't think any were anywhere close to a full strike. .

 

Anyhow, one dealer dealer said he had one. I said, "I hope it isn't an 1855, because every one of them I've seen is ugly." He replied, "actually, this one is not bad." He knows his coins. It's in an NGC holder, and has even color that had mellowed slightly on both sides, and was about 80% RD. Many RB Braided Hair Half and Large Cents have RD in the protected areas around the devices, and pools of brown everywhere else. Not this coin (I don't have an image).

 

Stars 9-11 and 13 were soft, as were the obverse dentils from stars 8 through 13, which is typical. The only contact marks on the coin are a hit on the obverse rim at 9:00 and two tiny marks to the right and below the wreath on the reverse, and these you'll only find if you look the coin for awhile.

 

The other one was an 1854 in a PCGS holder. It was fully struck and didn't have a mark on it. However, it didn't have the color of the first one (35% obverse & 50% of reverse was RD) and the dealer wanted over $300 more than the NGC coin.

 

I used my PCGS Collector's Club Membership grades for four coins. Sent in 3 for upgrades, and sent in the 1855 NGC 1/2 Cent in 5 RB for a cross at the same grade.

 

Met a number of familiar faces and connected some faces with names on the board. Chatted with JOM (he was still on cloud 9 re his Buffalo nickels he got at the Superior auction), and Tom Killian. Tom got a really nice looking 1866 IHC. I also met Jason Stevens for the first time. He's a good man & had a first class display of toned Morgans in his case. I also caught up on things with my buddy Truthteller, and was finally able to give the guy a present I brought from Brasil for him.

 

I also met Cameron (he's so tall, he's easy to spot) and his girlfriend? Idaho Gal. Cameron, if I were you, I'd spend more time with her and less time with the ANA at the next show. Women are a bit like coins in that when you find a nice one, you want to hold onto her.

 

Special thanks to Mark Feld for giving me some feedback on the Half Cent I eventually purchased, and for being an all-around good guy.

 

.

[JamminJ]

Thanks for taking the time to type up your fine review of the show.

 

Darn work impeded my ability to attend today, but hopefully there will be a few coins left for me come Saturday.

 

-JamminJ

[golfnut99-migration]

Thank you very much for taking the time to do the show report.

It's one of my favorite things on the Boards.

[gmarguli]

I went on Wednesday/dealer day and having never gone on dealer day before, I don't have a reference to compare it to. Based on what I saw, many dealers were not in a hurry to set up, but were in a hurry to leave. I'd estimate that 25% of the US dealers and 65% of the foreign dealers did not set up on Wednesday. It was a little odd, as one somewhat big dealer seemed rushed and another direct competitor seemed slow to get moving. Quite a few dealers at ther tables with no cases set up.

 

I saw very few dealers at either NGC or PCGS. However, I don't know if this is normal for dealer day. I turned in a coin at NGC around 2:30 and got it back around 6:30. A $100 bodybag However, the turnaround time was pretty fast!

 

I didn't see a lot changing hands. Dealers were willing to cut prices without really asking, but that might have been because they thought I was a dealer due to my Exhibitor Badge. A couple of prices I was quoted seemed pretty good. Nothing in the cases really grabbed me. Nothing really special there. Lots of the typical bland stuff you see at every show and that which fills auction catalogs. Maybe a few more cases with esoteric items in them, like slabbed tokens.

 

It was made mention to me that a lot of nice toned stuff is coming out of collections due to the higher prices. I also saw quite a few rattler slabs on the floor with some nice looking coins in them. Usually the ones on the floor are so picked over that they are the overgraded garbage or the stuff not worth reholdering. This time there was nice stuff - some of which looked like it might be worth a shot at upgrading.

 

Dealers seemed a little more friendly at this show. However, there were still some sour ones. I’m sitting at a table waiting to look at a couple of coins and the guy behind it (who looked like he hadn’t taken a bath in several days and belonged in a grunge band 10 years ago) was too busy reading his comic book and listening to his walkman to help me. How wonderful. I’ll spend my money elsewhere.

 

One of the things that I really missed was seeing forum members there. Not too many on the floor for dealer day. Did get to see the usual gang and a few new faces, ToneKiller (Brian, Texas Bullion Trader), KeifersCoins (Cameron - he was busy hitting on the few women on the floor), IdahoGal (Traci – got to have lunch with her before her big date with Cameron. Gave her warnings about him. She’ll now be ready to fend him off), MarkFeld (got to spend probably a hour talking to him before the show - that’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time since he is a wealth of knowledge and a very nice guy), Stewart Blay, ToneLover (Jon Rosenthal – met him for the first time), rkfish, PQpeace, EVP, David Hall (I forgot to congratulate him on the PNG endorsement...oops...never mind), and saw a bunch of other members working the show.

 

I picked up a couple of nice coins (photos coming soon) including a GREEN 1936-D San Diego commem in PCGS MS66 from TruthTeller. Green! That's not a color you see often on coins. A German (Teutonic Order) 1/4 thaler & 1/2 thaler coins from Spink of London. I can't recall seeing them there before. Very nice people to deal with. And the usual stuff for resale.

[Hoot]

Great post - thanks! I love this description:

 

Five figure barf-bag material, if you ask me.

 

That conjures a great image!

 

Thank also Greg! (You posted at the same time I did.) So, did you score any of those potential upgrades? What coin got bb'd and why? Do you agree?

 

Hoot

[toneddollars]

Thanks guys. Great reports. Its a long way from the east coast. Hope to go someday.......SOON

[Strat-migration]

I observed at least a dozen toned CC dollars at the show, which is unusual given that nice ones can be challenging to find. I think the higher prices are bringing some to market. A reverse toned 91CC PCGS MS63 and an obverse toned 81O in PCGS MS64 were the main scores for my collection.

[jom]

The 81-O was a real nice coin but you hid the 91-CC from me. How dare you? Got pics?

 

jom

[Strat-migration]

Nope, no pics yet, and the coins are put away. Access is the main disadvantages of having your coins in the bank. I'll try to post some pics soon, perhaps in a separate thread.

[jom]

See, that's why you take photos. Then you can store them on your drive or even upload them to a site (like me) and you can enjoy the coin without having them lay around the house. Works for me.

 

jom

[MikeKing]

Thanks E and G for the insight.

Elcontador, I'd like to see a pic of your half cent! Please post!!!