A fun afternoon at the coin show!

[jtryka]

Well, today was the monthly coin show in South Bend, so I took the drive over and spent part of the afternoon there and found all sorts of bargains!

 

Well, the first table when you walk in the door is my friend the foreign dealer (he's usually the only one there that focuses on foreign coins), I looked around at what he had, and saw he had some Mexican onzas I needed (I had an 82 and 83, and bought an 88 at the last coin club meeting, so I decided to put together a set. So I picked up nice BU 1984, 1985 and 1986:

 

 

Then I looked at the case and saw he had a couple of proof silver Panama Balboas (they peg to the dollar, so the silver Balboas have 26.73g of 0.900 fine silver just like a silver dollar). He had a 1973 and 1974, both at the same price, and since I've been wanting a proof one, I picked the 1973 since it looked a little nicer:

 

 

Then I did my usual search of the junk box of foreign silver that he sells for melt, and found a couple quarter balboas from Panama, and a 1953 25cts from Cuba (before castro they also pegged to the dollar, so this one is 6.25g 0.900 fine silver like a US silver quarter). Then he pulled out a box and said, these coins are nicer, but they are also priced at melt, but he didn't want to keep them with the dirty worn coins. So I happened to find a really nice unc 1961 Phillippine peso for the Jose Rizal centennial and a circulated 1934 German silver 5-mark coin. All priced for melt!

 

 

Then I went to the dealer that I bought my 1830 Small-0 bust half from (see the PCI-5 threads), and although he didn't have any nice bust halves to catch my eye, he had a really big silver coin in the case that said $5 on it (face value not the price), he complained that he'd been trying to get rid of it for a long time, and I figured it had to have at least an ounce of silver, and he only wanted $9 for it, so I got that as well as 2 unc. 1984 Olympic silver dollars and a Maria Teresa thaler restrike for only $7! It turns out the big mystery coin was a 1966 Bahama $5 which contained 1.25 oz. of silver! Bargain CITY!!!

 

 

Finally, I went to a table from a fellow coin club member, and I found an 1864 small motto 2-cent, which is the last coin I need to complete the set, but unfortunately I ran out of money by then! So he agreed to put it aside and I would pay him at the next meeting. So overall a fun day!

[toyonakataro]

I wish there was a monthly coin show in my area, too. We have a local show only twice a year.

Do you see many kids at a show like that?

Great show report and thanks for sharing the pic

[jtryka]

It's a pretty small show, maybe a dozen dealers, but there were a number of kids there today, including a couple of families.

[EZ_E]

Sounds like fun, Jeff! The photos make for an exciting thread filled with your enthusiasm.

 

I was bottle feeding the baby goat while reading and typing this which, I guess, only happens in Arkansas.

 

I'll be heading to SW New Mexico for an assignment in 10 days. I'll be sure to keep Caleb far enough from the border lest they make taco meat out of him.

[James_OldeTowne]

Oh man, it looks like you had a really enjoyable show! I love the kinds of coins you posted - attractive, affordable, available, and eminently enjoyable. It is always so refreshing to see someone enjoying the hobby the way coins are supposed to be enjoyed - for the love of collecting.

 

I have a friend in the coin club who specializes in semi-prooflike and prooflike Mexican issues, and he's compiling information for a book he'd like to write on the subject. He enjoys other Latin American issues as well. I'm going to link this thread for him,

 

 

James