Long Beach show reports

[JIM F.]

I didn't make it down there. Any trip reports?

[AnkurJ]

I heard one small report.

Traffic was light. Sales were minimal.

[jom]

It was a bit light on traffic but I had a good time.

 

PCGS had a "crossover" offer for the show only that many seemed to take advantage of....the graders in the grading room were up there well past 5pm tonight.

 

Not many Bust Quarters or Dimes to be found (I was looking specifically) and there were even less Classic Gold $5s.

 

My favorite coin I saw was Illini's (Mike Kittle) had a cool 1809/8 $5 that was an old PCGS 45 with a gold sticker. We both felt it graded about AU53...very pretty.

 

As I mentioned in another thread...a lot of Morgans and Chinese coins around. There has been a significant rise in Chinese coins at the show the last few years...not my thing but it seems to be getting BIG.

 

EDIT to add: Oh...and specifically for JimBucks: I saw a LOT of $20 Gold Buffalos around (mostly proofs and Rev proos)...even a few of the "fractional" sets you don't normally see. I even saw a couple of those Jackie Robinson commems which I never usually see around either. So...there was plenty of gold it seems.

 

Heritage didn't have an auction which was a bummer as I like to view coins....

 

The PCGS 103 seminar was great with Mike Farone. We got to view about 60 counterfeit coins many of which were just amazing. I couldn't believe the crooks had become so good at these. There was a $20 Lib that 99% of the people would NEVER catch as a phoney. Scary...real scary.

 

jom

[Coindude]

We should start counterfeiting Chinese coins to get back at them!

[jom]

We should start counterfeiting Chinese coins to get back at them!

 

Funny...that is EXACTLY the thought that ran through my head walking the bourse floor yesterday!

 

jom

[illini420]

Thanks for the kind words, jom. Much appreciated.

 

I agree that there are many more Chinese coins than in past years... even I had a couple in my case... would have never guessed that 12 months ago!

 

Mike

 

 

 

[Rickey]

Just wondering if anyone has ever saw a counterfeit coin in a counterfeit slab trying to be sold at a show either knowingly or not?

[Nutmeg Coin]

There are probably reports over at the PCGS forum as it was on their turf.

 

 

[Conder101]

We should start counterfeiting Chinese coins to get back at them!

Problem is it is legal in China for them to counterfeit our coins, but it is NOT legal for us to counterfeit their coins over here. (The chinese also counterfeit a lot of their own coins. They can legally fake any Chinese coins before 1949.)

[physics-fan3.14]

Just wondering if anyone has ever saw a counterfeit coin in a counterfeit slab trying to be sold at a show either knowingly or not?

 

I have seen counterfeit coins attempting to be sold at shows before. People are usually pretty good at catching fake slabs (and fake coins) at shows, especially the bigger shows where a large number of knowledgeable people are walking about.

[Coinbuf]

I would say that my experience was very close to what Jom wrote with a couple of exceptions. The crossover special was one of the reasons I went to this show, only to find out when I arrived there Sat AM (second in line at the PCGS table) that they were no longer accepting those submissions, what a crock. If they were not going to run the special all the way thru the show then why didn’t they state that in advance?? Horrible customer service as usual from the firm ATS. One dealer told me that some of the dealers abused this offer which I suspect is why the offer was closed down early; ok I understand that but I even offered to pay the return shipping just to be able to use the service. No dice . I overheard a couple of dealers who were very unhappy that the coins turned in on Wed had not returned from grading by late Sat, hard to sell material that you don’t have.

 

It was really disapointing to see so many dealers had already left the show by Sat (lots of empty tables) and it seemed like the vast majority were packing up right after the noon hour, Sat has indeed become the new Sun. I can only wonder how long before all the dealers will just not even show up on Sat. I guess dealers really don't want or need the public at shows anymore.

 

Nice Lincolns were scarce and nice seated dollars in AU grades were even more rare. However Morgans were everywhere, any date, any grade, any color. It's easy to see at a show like this that Morgans should not be listed as rare coins, . I was able to purchase a couple of coins and drop off some dups to Great Collections so the show was not a total loss for me.