Golden State show was hot, no, gloomy, no, pretty good.

[truthteller]

Well, after a 2.5 hour drive, I arrived in Arcadia for the Golden State show at about 12:30PM. It was already about 95 degrees outside, so I rushed into the Masonic hall where the air conditioning was working fine. I took a cursory walk around the show, all tables full, about 45 dealers. Although not bustling, very active for the first few hours. I managed to look at every dealers table and searched for Mexico coinage. I found one dealer who had a very fresh inventory and sat at his table for a good 45 minutes. I bought about $1000 worth of nicer Mexico, which was a pleasant surprise and picked up a very, very nice raw Oregon trail for a very, very reasonable price. Several dealers were a bit disappointed with the turnout, somewhat gloomy. Yet, I noticed activity throughout the day. Superior Coin Galleries set up, which was very unusual. In addition, many mom and pop dealers were set up. A few noticeable larger dealers were absent, probably due to summer vacations. I literally looked at hundreds of coins today, and the time went by quickly. I expected to stay 2 hours maximum, but ended up there 4 hours. I was very, very pleased with my purchases. Although no killer commems, there was tons of collector coins and currency in the $200-$500 range. This show is traditionally a quaint club show, but sometimes a few larger out of town dealers set up. Not the case this time, but that's OK. One dealer I talked with was very happy to see the new Anaheim show evolve and hopes to switch over from Long Beach to Anaheim.

 

Overall: B-

 

 

TRUTH

[supertooth]

Truth---- Are you sure that you are ok? Not sick or anything? A grade of B- is about an 80 by today"s standards. Another "positive" report. All kidding aside---it is great that people still love coin collecting. Sort of like baseball. You can do a lot to it---but it just keeps coming back. Or is that the "energizer bunny"? Bob [supertooth]

[IGWT]

I'm starting to rely more on Truth than on CND "Market in Depth" reports. Thanks for continuing to share your observations.

[truthteller]

Truth---- Are you sure that you are ok? Not sick or anything? A grade of B- is about an 80 by today"s standards. Another "positive" report. All kidding aside---it is great that people still love coin collecting. Sort of like baseball. You can do a lot to it---but it just keeps coming back. Or is that the "energizer bunny"? Bob [supertooth]

 

 

In general, for the last year, the club shows in the Bay Area and So. Cal have been fairly well attended and supported by the local community. Club shows are generally 40-50 tables. Most smaller shows have mom and pop dealers who bring out nicer inventory since they set up more infrequenly. The larger shows such as Long Beach have seen a major decline in public attendance. Why spend $20 just to park and enter, when a club show is free parking and free admission? I talked to a dealer at the Arcadia show and surmises that coin collectors are a cheap type of folk and will not spend drive time, inconvenience and then $20 to get to coin show. I agreed. He also explained his current table at Long Beach is over $1000, and Anaheim would be half that. So Anaheim looks more like a collector's show, than a wheeler and dealer Long Beach. Admission is $8 for Long Beach and $2 for Anaheim.

 

 

TRUTH

[braddick]

"Overall: B-"