St. Louis Silver Dollar Show - brief show report

[James_OldeTowne]

Unfortunately, there is little to report regarding the St. Louis Silver Dollar Show. Traffic has been, in a word, dismal. I'm not sure that there's any particular reason, but the coin-buying public is staying away from this show in droves!

 

I've hooked up with three forum members today - RYK (NGC and PCGS), Jaywalker (PCGS) and one other NGC member who wishes to remain anonymous. RYK was kind enough to take a couple of mercy purchases off my hand, and I look forward to reading his comments on the boards soon. Jaywalker upgraded a couple of Peace dollars in his set, and is still looking for a 1935-S in an MS-63 or better grade. There was one on the floor in a PCGS MS-63, but it has pretty prevalent slide marks across the portrait. Naturally, the dealer stated that it's a "lock 64"....

 

I have had a scattering of small sales, such as $40 Buffalo nickels or Mercury dimes, $10 Lincolns, and - gasp - I've sold three Susan B Anthony dollars in PCGS MS-66 holders. PLEASE don't ask me how I ended up with them.... The most expensive coin I sold went out of inventory early the first day, an 1869 Seated dollar in an ANACS MS-62 holder. It was a fairly nice coin, but lightly cleaned, resulting in the lower BU grade.

 

Since sales have been sparse, I've done plenty of buying for want lists. I'm sure I've picked up at least thirty coins so far, with plans to snag a few more. Fortunately, at slow shows like this, I have a long enough want list that I can always spend a thousand dollars or so, and plan to compensate a little for slow sales.

 

On the other hand, the Scotsman Auction was, once again, extremely hot. This despite the lowest attendance that I've ever seen at one of their venues. By the time I left the auction room at 11:45pm last night, there can't have been more than seven active live bidders, and that's including myself. Despite this, coins were going for astounding, and I do mean ASTOUNDING prices, thanks in some part to some of the internet bidding. I just don't see any reason why someone would consign common-date gold to Heritage, or Superior, or Stack's, or ANR when the Scotsman guys get such strong bids for their material. My friends and I were shaking our heads in disbelief as common gold Indians, Saints and especially commemorative gold coins sold for 50%, 100%, or even 400% above sheet!!!! Not one single gold coin went for even close to bid. They all brought premiums, even the large lots of generic circ's.

 

Morgans were also very strong, surprisingly strong considering I can't even get 5% back of bid on my Morgans just walking the floor. Better dates of course brought even better prices, but I didn't really see anything sell for less than 25% ABOVE bid. Several raw coins outperformed like-graded certified coins by substantial margins, so either there are a lot of buyers out there who are just plain too lazy to crack coins out for themselves (and so only by raw), or are speculators with some serious guts.

 

Congratulations to Scotsman on achieving such outstanding results. I'm a believer now, and WILL be consigning to their future auctions. (On a side note, Scotsman has THE BEST looking auction-helpers and registration girls in the business , bar none.)

 

Finally, and maybe most important of all, I was able to give away eleven coins to kids over the past two days. Apparently, many kids play hooky this time of year, because there were quite a few kids scoping out the goods, and doing the old wide-eyed-do-you-have-any-free-coins bit . I gave up six early-date buffalos and five nicer mercs to these future numismatic participants.

 

James

[cointagious]

Thanks for the report, James.

 

Verrrrrrrrry interesting.

[IGWT]

Thanks very much for the report, James. I live vicariously through reports of this kind because I can't get to shows very often.

 

I just don't see any reason why someone would consign common-date gold to Heritage, or Superior, or Stack's, or ANR when the Scotsman guys get such strong bids for their material.

What is Scotsman doing right that accounts for its success with this material?

 

I'm a believer now, and WILL be consigning to their future auctions.

Let us know when the Dip-n-Dilbert crosses the block.

 

Edited to Add: PS - Thanks for supporting the YNs

[DaveG]

Thanks for the report!

 

Scotsman's auction results are even more impressive in the light of the negative comments that RYK (SageRad over here) made about them losing bids, etc. in previous auctions. Perhaps they're improved?

[DirtyGoldMan]

My show report is posted across the street.

 

Pay no attention to James--I regularly look to buy nice raw type coins from him, and I enjoy viewing his sets, his upgrades, etc. Visiting with James is ALWAYS the highlight of the local coins shows. That said, I wish he would have sold me that duplicate 1917 SLQ

 

As for Scotsman, they have contacted me and apologized for previous mishaps. I will give them another chance, but I am not sure how willing I would be to consign with them at this point. I will let James be the guinea pig on that.

[michael]

great strsight forward report keep them coming james

 

5 out of 5 for this thread

[Hoot]

I've sold three Susan B Anthony dollars in PCGS MS-66 holders. PLEASE don't ask me how I ended up with them....

 

I don't really care how you ended up with them, I want to know, though, how you sold them!

 

Hoot

[RobertB]

On a side note, Scotsman has THE BEST looking auction-helpers and registration girls in the business, bar none.

 

The most important part of the story.

[michael]

did you see any three dollar gold opn the floor??

 

and waht where the grades and dates and also where th grades accurate and how was the overall eye appeal of the coins and where the prices strong overpriced for waht thewy where??

[James_OldeTowne]

((( What is Scotsman doing right that accounts for its success with this material? )))

 

Based on my discussions with the auctioneers, they don't even know! Discretion requires that I not mention any names, but I can tell you that two of the biggest and best-known buyers, in conjunction with the internet bidders, were driving up the bids, so I guess there must be some pool of pent-up demand that these guys have latched onto. Scotsman was just as surprised as I was by the ultra-hot demand for gold! I WISH I knew the secret.

 

((( I've sold three Susan B Anthony dollars in PCGS MS-66 holders. PLEASE don't ask me how I ended up with them....

 

I don't really care how you ended up with them, I want to know, though, how you sold them!)))

 

I've figured out a brand-new slant on this. I have a case with all my slabbed coins valued at $20 and under, and a big sign that says FREE COINS. When people ask about them, I tell them that the coins are indeed free, but they must pay the slabbing fee which is about 12 bucks. If they buy three or more coins, then it's 10 bucks. Of course, they usually come back with wanting to buy one coin for 10 bucks, to which I grudgingly agree. However, I did have one customer buy three common-date wheat cents for $30! This really did work pretty well for me. I probably sold about ten cheap slabs this way.

 

((( did you see any three dollar gold opn the floor?? )))

 

Michael, I did indeed, in fact, I saw an ultra-gorgeous 1859 in an NGC AU-58 holder. I generally do not look at gold, but my buddy who set up with me does, and so we patrolled a few cases, and he pointed it out to me. It was as smooth and silky a gold coin as I've ever seen, and it featured a halo of coppery-red color around both sides - just a work of art. I didn't look at any high-grade gold, though.

 

Speaking of gold, I forgot to mention that yesterday, RYK (SageRad on this forum) brought buy his "D" mint early gold. I am not a gold expert by any means, but I can definitely appreciate the supremely original quality of the coins in his set. Robert has wisely chosen to collect these coins in higher circulated grades, when they have acquired a thick, beatiful patina that really lends character and color to the gold surfaces. It's much more meaningful to me to view coins like this, that were really used for their intended purposes, and have that hands-on character, rather than ultra-grade coins that have been dipped or enhanced in some way. Robert, thanks for the opportunity to see those coins - quite an education!

 

James

[James_OldeTowne]

Saturday, the final day of the show, saw slightly more foot traffic, but it looked like I might get skunked for the day - until the last two hours (1:00). Then, I got two sales in a row that made my show palatable. One collector picked off one of my favorite bust halves:

 

 

... and another picked up my best large cent:

 

 

Prior to those sales, I picked up a whole slew of early coins, primarily dimes and halves, and I'll post images of those tomorrow. Some of the coins are really sweet.

 

There is another Silver Dollar Show next year, and I will be signing up for it, but I hope Scotsman figures out how to draw more traffic. There was much grumbling on the part of other dealers. On a positive note, one of Scotsman's representatives, Rick Raaf, kindly took the time to go to each dealer's table and solicit suggestions on how to improve the situation. So obviously, they recognize that there was a problem, and they want to do something about it. At this point, one couldn't ask for anything more. Now, I suggested that a Superbowl half-time commercial would contribute to the name-recognition factor, but for some reason, I don't think that one is going to happen....

 

I'll post images tomorrow!

 

James

[Oldtrader3]

Good report, James. I have noticed that gold auction prices are still very strong for properly graded coins. It is the marginally graded material that is not selling. I have passed on several MS63 Eagles recently that I need for a set, but they just didn't make the grade.

[michael]

thanks for the reply james

 

i look forward to your show photos tomorrow!!

[James_OldeTowne]

Images posted here .

 

James