New Haven Coin Show Report and NEWP

[TomB]

Today was the third New Haven coin show and this one happened to be the first that I attended. It is a smaller show than I typically attend, but it still had perhaps 35-40 tables of coins. Approximately 25% of the table space was devoted to either foreign pieces or to medals. The US coin selection was mostly raw, though there were two dealers there who had higher priced slabs. Floor traffic was relatively light in the morning but had picked up considerably by the time I left. This is the type of show where you could be in and out within 45 minutes if you had to fly through, or you could stay for a few hours and inspect material closely while talking to the dealers. I stayed for a few hours and conversed.

 

Ira Meltzer had a table and also had his usual assortment of tougher date, raw coins. This was the first month he has done this show and he seemed to be in good spirits. Scarsdale Coin was also set up, as was Ellsmere Numismatics, and both of those tables had slabbed coins running into the thousands of dollars range. I stopped briefly at Scarsdale Coin and looked at a few attractive three cent silvers, both MS and PF. One dealer sold medals and so-called dollars (SCDs) exclusively and we spoke at length about the SCD market. It has exploded recently and he has had a difficult time keeping anything other than the most common SCDs in his inventory. The common ones are some of the Columbian Exposition pieces and the 1939 World's Fair pieces. His opinion is that he is not in favor of the slabbing of these SCDs as it seems to be driving up the prices dramatically. He has also had a very difficult time buying any tougher SCDs since the sellers of these pieces are ahead of the market considerably in the pricing.

 

I had with me only a single proof set to sell, something that I had gotten as part of a larger deal and had never disposed of. One dealer was selling modern proof sets and I asked him if he was interested in buying this one. He took out the Greysheet and spent a solid three minutes looking up the bid price and giving me an offer. That might not sound like a lot of time but it is an eternity when one is standing there, waiting. His final offer was a joke, as he pointed out (incorrectly) that bid was $6 for the set (it's really $10.25) and he offered $2. I passed. Another dealer was also selling these sets and he immediately gave me $9 and that was a fair deal.

 

Oddly, I saw 30+ counterfeit Trade dollars at one table and all the holders were marked clearly as counterfeit. It was obvious that these were modern made, die struck pieces meant to deceive the numismatic market. He told me he thought the source of the pieces was Lebanon. They were all different dates, but they all had the same look. Their look was one of an artificial patina that had been wiped onto the pieces. To a novice I am certain they looked real, to someone experienced they may also have looked real, but the wiped patina was a dead giveaway. He was selling these at $34 each and I did not ask how he was doing.

 

There was no selection of toned coinage. This market has become intensely competitive in the last few years and it is nearly impossible to pick off nice, raw pieces at the smaller shows. I searched for Barber halves and found the usual assortment of cleaned or otherwise mistreated coins. However, I was also able to find an original 1913-D in VF20 and I bought that piece immediately. Later, I stopped by the table of a dealer who is also an engineer and so we talked science for a bit. I ended up buying a very original and attractive 1826 CBH from him and am quite pleased with it. Here is the 1826 CBH.

[Wihlborg]

Wow! Nice bust half Tom.

 

It sounds like you had a good time today. I wish I knew about the show as I have been interested in seeing some of Ellsmere’s inventory in person for a while now. Also, I would have loved to talk to that dealer with the SCD’s. How often is the show?

 

John

[Hoot]

That's a great looking half dollar! And congrats on the 13-D. If John and I were at the same show, we'd have to duke it out over the SCDs!

 

I just don't get the motivation behind all of the trade dollar counterfeiting. Other than TDN, who else is buying trade dollars?

 

Hoot

[TomB]

I was wondering if I would see you or DaveG at the show, I guess I should have sent you a PM prior to it so that we could meet up. The first that I had heard of this show was last night so I had no plans going into it.

 

The show is the second Sunday of each month and is very easy to get to from the highway. I think I will also start to go to the West Haven show each month also as this show is the third Sunday of every month. I have had tremendous success at buying at the West Haven show in the past.

[Wihlborg]

Tom,

 

If you go to the show next month let me know and I’ll meet up with you. I’ll need to get the time and directions from you though.

 

John

[Scarsdale Coin]

FYI...we will be back.....but not next month as we will be set up at the AC show in NJ...if you are in NJ please stop bye and say hi...AC convention center....plan to spend the day....its a huge show

[michael]

a great show report and fantastic bust half

[TomB]

Michael, the CBH in my first post is an excellent example of collecting with a focus on eye appeal, as per your thread that you recently started. The coin is only a VF30, in my opinion, yet I paid EF40 money for it. This was a relatively large percentage increase in price, but a trivial actual dollar difference. These are the kind of coins, regardless of grade range, that I attempt to put into my hands.