Baltimore Show Report

[TomB]

Howdy folks. I notice that DaveG has a show report for Baltimore, so I have intentionally not read his thread yet so as to not be influenced by his impressions.

 

I picked DaveG up at his house early Thursday morning, it was 6:00AM and still pitch black, so that we could drive to Baltimore together. Dave's directions were quite detailed and then they ended with-

We are the third house South of the Railroad tracks on the East Side of the Street (two shades of Brown).

That's terrific except that it was dark. I never even noticed the railroad tracks as they were to the left at the intersection where I had to make a right. They were also inconspicuous railroad tracks since they were elevated slightly over the street via a small, vintage stone bridge. It looked like a pedestrian stone-bridge to cross the street. Also, there were construction horses blocking the street to the left, in front of the inconspicuous railroad bridge, so that the road to the left was blocked. This might be okay in daylight hours, but did I mention that it was dark? By this time I had made five turns since coming off of the highway to get to DaveG's house and my sense of direction was not completely certain that I was looking at the east side of the street and since I never even saw the railroad tracks I didn't know if I was south of them yet, after all, did I mention it was dark? Anyway, I'm looking for a house that is two shades of brown, on the east side of the street, south of the never even seen railroad tracks in the dark. You know what might have been handy information to have at that moment? A street address! At least it all worked out okay as I found the house, painted in two shades of brown, in the dark.

 

We made good time going to Baltimore and managed to check into our hotel rooms before getting to the opening of the show. The bourse felt very busy for a Friday morning and the dealers with whom I spoke mentioned that Thursday had been a terrific afternoon of business. That's nice to hear. Typically, when I do a show like Baltimore, the ANA or FUN, I methodically go through the aisles trying to see every coin on the floor. At this Baltimore show however, I don't believe I have ever walked the bourse in a more zigzag, disorganized way as I was grabbed several times by different people and dragged off in various directions.

 

Some tidbits from the show include-

 

-I met up with Mark Feld and he had with him some superbly toned type coinage, I would suggest that folks check out his site for these coins

-As always, the majority of the slabbed Seated coinage was previously played with or altered

-The degree of overall originality for Seated coinage decreases as the denomination of the slabbed coins increases

-ANACS slabbed Seated coinage is generally of a more original look than NGC or PCGS

-There was very little attractive proof type from the 19th century on the floor, and those pieces that were there were generally of very high grade

-Superbly toned coins were very scarce

-Toned Morgans made up at least 80% of the nicely toned coins on the floor, and most of the toned Morgans were not of A-box quality

-There were lots and lots and lots of slabbed white coins

-The occasional attractively toned proof IHC could be snagged from a dealer who did not specialize in the area

-Superb small cents were concentrated on the tables of Rick Snow and Angel Dee's, as per usual

-Larry Shepherd had some toned coins that would knock the snot out of you

-One dealer had four PCGS slabbed 1932-D Washington quarters in MS64 and MS65

-Broken bank notes appeared to be selling extremely well, though I do not know how well Nationals were selling

-A number of dealers who had previously specialized in the toned coin niche market are now expanding their areas of expertise as they believe this market has become too aggressive; this is something that I came to the same conclusion to about two years ago

-The most attractive, mid-grade circulated 1796 half dollar I have ever seen was at the show

-Another dealer had a near-twin 1797 half dollar for sale

-There were quite a few Draped Bust/Heraldic Eagle dollars in nearly [/i]all [/i] grades available for the money

-Matte proof Lincoln cents, as always, were extremely difficult to find with good eye appeal, however, there were at least two pieces on the floor with eye appeal nice enough that I almost bought them

-The PCGS booth appeared quite busy while NGC looked slightly less busy; ICG and PCI had no one there when I walked by

-There was grumbling that PCGS was late with their show grading, this is always the case as I have never had a show-graded coin come back when promised by PCGS

-Proof Buffalo nickels, both matte and brilliant, were readily available

-One dealer was selling a complete, PCGS and NGC graded matte proof Lincoln set, unfortunately, and there was only one truly attractive coin in the set, in my opinion

-I met Newmismatist for the first time and, although he was in a great hurry to be somewhere else for a meeting, he shared some wonderful coins with me and indulged me in looking at some of my A-box material

-I spoke with John Frost and he let me know that the BCCS has a web site that went live this week, so you other BCCS members (I am BCCS #2000) should look for the site

-The coins I was looking to buy were non-existent

-Of the coins that I sold, they each sold essentially immediately to the first person to see each

-One dealer had twelve mid-grade 1893-S Morgans and I would estimate that there were at least thirty mid-grade 1893-S Morgans on the floor

-There appeared to be fewer of the blatantly AT modern commems and American Silver Eagles that populate NGC and PCGS holders on the floor; I don’t know whether this is because some people are holding them tightly (stupidly, in my opinion) or whether they are discreetly being removed by the services

-I saw none of the blatantly and obviously AT proof Jefferson nickels from the late ‘50s through the early ‘70s on the floor; these are the nickels that were being aggressively sold through the PCGS boards and that are those ludicrous electric blue, purple and magenta colors

-There was no apparent “buzz”, to me at least, on the floor related to the price of metals

-Legend had at least two matte proof gold coins, an Indian eagle and a St Gaudens double eagle

-The matte proof Indian eagle is about my favorite gold coin ever minted and if I had the disposable income to easily afford one I would have bought one about five years ago

-Bigmoose was there and he had some of the finest toned IHCs that I have ever seen and I am delighted that he brings them for show-and-tell

-Some folks seemed to like, a little bit at least, the coins that I brought for show-and-tell

-The huge, recent Greysheet advances for certain early, circulated type coins are still behind the market, though not nearly so badly as before

-One dealer had ten mid-grade Barber halves in his display and I asked if I could see the coins; these were $100-$300 coins and he would only take out one coin at a time, I thought that that was odd

-Two dealers were talking about the kids that were on the bourse floor and one mentioned that he hated to see children at a coin show, the second dealer sarcastically remarked something about them being “tomorrow’s numismatists” and the first responded that they were all thieves

-By the way, the above-mentioned dealers only had slabbed coins that were under glass in locked cases; I don’t think they had to worry about those “thieves”

 

During the show I was able to chat with the Jade-boys and speak at length various times with TBT, Larry Shepherd, merysu, njcoincrank and others. At the close of the show on Friday I went to dinner with DaveG, EVP and two friends of EVP (Robert and Greg), one of whom I had never met. Greg had a table with terrific Seated dollars and he had an awful location. We went to my hotel room, through coins back and forth at each other for an hour or so and then went to dinner. The actual meal was “okay” but the conversation was otherworldly, more or less. I have to admit that I don’t think I have ever laughed as hard or as long, during a dinner, as that night. The stories that were flying were nuts.

 

So, what coins did I buy? I was able to snag four original, VF Barber halves and two original, EF Barber halves, a nicely toned Merc and a crusty, gunky, nearly black, original 8R in VF/EF. The buy of the show, for me at least, was an 1801 PCGS VF30 Draped Bust half in completely original condition with a lovely rose-grey patina and absolutely flawless surfaces. I picked that coin up from Wayne Herndon.

 

Unfortunately, the second day of the show I awoke with a migraine and managed to walk the floor only briefly, and in a migraine-Zomig induced daze, with little focus. I apologize if I walked right past people on Saturday without saying anything; I likely didn’t even notice you as I was fighting off the migraine-associated nausea. There were many things I intended to do on Saturday that did not get done because of this. DaveG and I drove back to NJ early Saturday and I then cancelled my plans to attend the Parsippany show because of how I felt.

 

There are no doubt things that I have forgotten to write, and I will write them when I remember them.

[DaveG]

Of course, Tom neglected to mention that:

 

a) I had sent him my address in the pm immediately previous to the one he quoted, and,

 

b) He found my house on the first try, without any problems at all!

 

Clearly this speaks well of his navigation skills (not to mention my explicit, detailed directions)!

[EVillageProwler]

Dinner with the chums really was funny. And, what was so funny?!? The stories were all about the funnier results when animals and civilization collide. (Well, one of the stories -- told by TomB -- wasn't so funny. Pre-dinner, Robert and TomB shared medical war stories with their animals. Also not funny.)

 

Turned out we had a table full of animal lovers.

 

As for coins ... they were round, expensive and plentiful. As usual.

 

EVP

 

PS TomB got a haircut, and he no longer looks too much like Mike Brady.

 

PPS Greg did have a nice selection of Seated Dollars. To be more accurate, they were nice high-grade circ material. Not of the type that'll make TDN do a "Demi", but certainly very good stuff for the ChEF to ChAU collectors.

[Wihlborg]

Tom,

 

I believe this may be the most in-depth show report I have ever read. From the excitement of trying to find Dave’s house in the dark to your show stopping migraine, you’ve included every little detail needed to make one feel as if they were right there with you.

 

Actually, I’m quite disappointed that I was unable to make it to Baltimore. I would have loved to have gone, oh well maybe next time. I got to talk to Dave at the Parsippany show today and he said he had a great time at Baltimore, I’m sorry you didn’t make it to Parsippany today, it would have been nice to see you again, and I have a few coins I want to show you in person.

 

Take care

 

John

[michael]

great report

 

michael

[jom]

I'm not sure if this is complete. I think TomB left out the times he had lunch and went to the restroom. What do you have to hide, bub?! What diabolical schemes were concocted during that time?

 

Otherwise...great report! Sorry to hear about your illness. I know what migranes are like (or headaches in general).

 

jom

[TomB]

Note to self: jom sees right through my artificially elaborate alibi; must include ricin in his next batch of spray paint to silence him.

[IrishMike]

Informative post and you are right about BigMoose, he has some of the doggonest colorful IHC's I have ever seen.

[chinook]

Thanks for the super report Tom!!!!

[golfnut99-migration]

Great Report!

Thank you very much!

[Hoot]

I'm not sure if this is complete. I think TomB left out the times he had lunch and went to the restroom. What do you have to hide, bub?! What diabolical schemes were concocted during that time?

 

Being the anal-retentive sort that he is, Tom probably never visited the restrooms, nor did he eat lunch. Thus the headache.

 

I want to know why Tom didn't buy this:

 

The most attractive, mid-grade circulated 1796 half dollar I have ever seen was at the show

-Another dealer had a near-twin 1797 half dollar for sale

 

 

Chicken.

 

Great report!

 

Hoot

[DaveG]

For those of you who simply must know, Tom reported having a hot dog for lunch on Friday.

 

On Saturday, we stopped at Waffle House - he had two eggs, over medium and I had a bacon cheeseburger.

 

(I skipped lunch on Friday.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know when/if Tom went to the bathroom in Baltimore.

 

 

 

Too much information?

[goose3]

an Incredible report! I was going to post mine until I read through yours!

 

 

 

Did anyone see a PCGS AU58 1914D lincoln cent?? I saw one and should have gotten some info on it!!

[EVillageProwler]

BTW, Goose, nice to meet you. Very glad you stopped by to intro yourself. Nice kid too. I wish you had more time at the table, 'cuz I would've been happy to show your kid (or you) some numismatic eye candy.

 

EVP

[goose3]

it was nice to meet you too EVP. It's always nice to put a face to some of you characters!

 

My boy was dragging pretty bad. He wasn't too thrilled about the show, hence all the stuff I bought if you read my thread across the street that night.

[EVillageProwler]

He wasn't too thrilled about the show

 

Well, they can't all be perfect!

[merysu]

Great Report and good to spend time with you and meet DaveG...and the show and tell coins you brought were awesome...as for

 

"Of the coins that I sold, they each sold essentially immediately to the first person to see each"

 

you need to take Tom and me up on our offers to buy you a meal...maybe at fun?

[Newmismatist]

Nice meetin' you at Baltimore Tom - I particularly liked that 1912 Matte proof Lincoln in your A box