Coin Show Report: New York Invitational

[DaveG]

I just got back from the NY Invitational. They had 108 tables and a lot of the big-name dealers were there. I thought floor traffic was pretty heavy when I was there (10:30 to 1:00) and there was a lot of "buzz" of business being done.

 

The material being offered was jaw-dropping! I saw so much proof late-19th century US gold that I now believe that those coins are "common"! Art Kagins' inventory was WOW! (five Bechtler coins - two dollars, one $2.50 and two $5s), a Morman $5, two $50 slugs, a half-dozen slabbed California fractionals and a bunch of gold rush private coinage. I also saw several other $50 slugs at other dealers, too. Legend's inventory was legendary! (including a PCGS-55 CHAIN CENT and some real nice MS seated dollars). I saw a lot of slabbed Bust dollars (many very original looking), one dealer had about five old tenor half eagles and five old tenor eagles! I also saw a real sweet NGC-55 1838-O dime. All-in-all, it was very hard for me to find a coin that I could afford - a problem that I didn't have at last year's ANA.

 

I had a nice chat with Jeremy and passed njcoincrank on the escalator (but didn't realize it until after he had passed).

 

On the buy-the-coin, not the holder front, Julian Liedman showed me a very nice 1854-O eagle in a PCI AU-55 holder (it was a green label and I didn't notice how many digits in the serial number); the coin looked accurately graded and not-messed with. On the "ouch!" side, I saw an ICG slab in a dealer's case that said "XF-40 1845-O eagle". I asked to look at the coin, pulled out my 5x glass and started looking the coin over. I noticed that the date on the coin was very clearly "1843"! (Bid for the '45-O is $550 in XF; Bid for the '43-O in XF is $345) I said to the dealer: "You know this coin is mislabeled, right?" He looked surprised and I handed it to him. He said: "Our customer just sent this in! Well, this just proves - don't just buy the holder!" then he said: "I'm gonna make ICG buy this back." (He said he had paid '45-O Bid for it.) As far as the coin itself, I thought it was a just-barely XF - it was very baggy.

 

I looked for Seated Dollars and O-mint gold and learned yet again that it's really, REALLY, hard to find those coins with original surfaces - even in PCGS and NGC slabs!

 

By the way, the show flyer said that they'll be back next year - August 11-13.

[TomB]

Thanks for the report, Dave. I couldn't make the show as I got some sort of bug this last week and have felt like a dog.

[DaveG]

Tom,

 

Hope you're feeling much better soon!

 

Jeremy will be bummed that you didn't get to the show, as he has a couple of toners he wanted to wave in front of you until you either demanded to buy them or else smacked him!

 

By the way, I also saw a really nice 1796 quarter in PCGS-64 that really wasn't that much nicer than yours!

[airplanenut]

Jeremy will be bummed that you didn't get to the show, as he has a couple of toners he wanted to wave in front of you until you either demanded to buy them or else smacked him

Darn tootin! Wait until you see the Franky I picked up just before I left! Here's my report:

 

So I headed out for the long trek (read: 40 minute train ride, and a few blocks by bus) to New York City to attend today's show.

 

The bourse seemed quite busy, but it looked like a lot of dealer-to-dealer traffic. The show had a good number of dealers (guess: 100 or so), with lots of high-end material. That said, I was kind of disappointed that today's game was not "find something I like," but "find something I can afford." Accordingly, I walked away with a toned JFK, and a wicked toned Franklin (pics pending).

 

Although there wasn't a ton for me to buy, I did see some amazing pieces, such as:

 

1907 (I think) PCGS PR64/Matte $10 Indian--unique

Pan-Pac Octagonal $50, NGC MS67

1794 $1, PCGS AU58

1795 $1, PCGS MS63

1793 Chain Cent, PCGS AU55

 

...and more cam/dcam classic gold than I can count, as well as some fantastic early examples in mint state, and overall, just amazing, museum-quality classic coins from all series. A few tables, including Legend's, simply couldn't avoid gawking and drooling.

 

I spent some time talking with the people at the NGC table, and got a little advice on a few toners from David Lange and Mike Salzburg, and chatted with/bugged Danielle and Sarah (HI! ). I also saw DaveG, Johnscoins, Julian, Bustman, and njcoincrank. It was a fun day, but there just wasn't much for me On that note, since the weather here is aweful, I won't be returning tomorrow as planned.

 

On an aside, regarding the (PCGS) post a few days ago about dealers who buy it all: One local dealer had a sign "We buy it all!" Problem was, he told people, when they came with coins for sale, "I have a motto: buy at the store, sell at the show. I don't buy at shows." So why on earth did he have that sign?