Market Observations and GSNA Show Report

[TomB]

Howdy folks, I just got back late last night from the three day GSNA show in Somerset, NJ. I enjoyed myself very much at the show and would encourage all members who are near NJ to attempt to attend the show next spring. The following are some of my mental notes from the show.

 

There were a fair number of extremely attractively toned Morgan dollars at the show and, contrary to the current Greysheet article written by Bob Campbell, the prices of positive eye appeal pieces were quite high. Not only were the prices quite high, but, a number of coins were sold at those levels. So, it appears that the toned Morgan market is not out of steam yet. There was also more slabbed Seated Liberty material on the floor than I can recall seeing at previous shows. I don't know if this is a function of greater numbers of Seated material being slabbed or that there just happened to be the material at this show. Many of these coins were in the VF-AU range and were problem-free, original coins. Very few modern coins were in slabs. By "modern" I am writing about post-silver issue coinage. The slabbed clad coins that were there were generally in dealer bargain boxes and not moving. As one dealer told me, "This is the evidence that someone didn't know how to grade when they broke open their Mint Sets". I think that statement could be very true. Larger gold coins moved very well but there wasn't as much action on smaller gold issues or modern gold commems. GSA dollars held firm in their price increases and many people were looking for nicer GSA pieces as well as for nice DMPL pieces in the MS64 grade range. There were also a few attractive, pre-Federal foreign coins that were raw to be had. These were not selling at high levels but were moving. A number of nicely toned Washington quarters were there, however, I thought these were priced above what was a good level and did not purchase them. That might seem like an odd statement given my specialty, but, the market for these is going in places I do not necessarily want to follow.

 

I had a busy buying day on the first day of the show, Thursday, and picked up a wonderfully toned Pan-Pac half dollar grade NGC MS64. The coin does not have the typical, dark navy-purple-brown toning to it. Rather, it has shades of medium depth green through aqua and dusky gold with very nice patina, in a cat's eye pattern on the obverse. The reverse has an off-white, dusky gold patina and the characteristic toning ring around the rim. However, the toning on the rim is in the aqua color that is on the obverse and not in a darker hue. A very nice coin in a good grade. I also bought other coins, some of which are already gone. Laura from Legend was cruising the floor and she stopped by njcoincrank's table. This (njcoincrank) is one person that I wish would post on the NGC board. EVP also stopped by my table and deftly lifted a very nice Trade dollar from my inventory, however, I nabbed him before he could get away with it!

 

Friday was slow as many of the more enthusiastic collectors/dealers came Thursday while many of the more casual collectors waited until Saturday. I was able to look at most everything I hadn't seen previously and also picked up a coin or two at very reasonable levels.

 

The last day of the show, Saturday, was very busy. I don't know if the actual floor traffic was high, however, there seemed to be a continuous stream of folks at my table, many of whom were sitting there talking with me. A lot of coins left that day. Several PCGS and NGC board members also made it to see me and to bring coins. Airplanenut brought quite a few type coins and foreign coins to share and he made a terrific buy on the floor in the form of a circulated SLQ with great eye appeal. GP also came by. I had first met GP two years ago at the GSNA show and we had a very nice conversation for quite some time on Saturday. Joining us were Wilborg and Fatman. Just to let everyone know, Fatman is not a fat man. Wilborg was generous enough to share with us a box of tremendous coinage, the kind of coins that people should buy but nearly never do buy. He had a number of original, lightly toned, unmolested classic commems with outstanding eye appeal. This segment of the market is undervalued, in my opinion, at the moment and Wilborg is well on his way to having a serious cache of these coins. He also brought some fabulous Buffalo nickels to share. Again, his taste for original coins came through in the eye appeal displayed. As far as I am concerned, there isn't much that is more American in numismatics than classic commems and Buffalo nickels. Fatman had no coins with him but he stayed for a while and was a pleasure to speak with. Another member I had met previously and who made the trip was DaveG. If you are interested in Seated coinage or early, Southern gold then I suggest sending your questions and comments to DaveG as he can pick out the original coins with superior eye appeal all day long. He displayed a shilling he bought at the show that had a monster reverse and then showed a pair of slabbed Seated halves that he had picked up. The ANACS AU50 piece looked severely undergraded to me and was a coin that I would buy in a second if ever offered to me. Do you hear me, DaveG?

 

Also to be seen at the GSNA was some interesting exonumia at njcoincrank's table. He had with him a plaster cast of the Laura Gardin Fraser reverse for the Washington quarter. This is the design that was accepted by the Commission of Fine Arts and was subsequently used, with some modifications, on the 1999 George Washington gold commem. To see the plaster cast was fantastic. It was mounted in a frame with a letter of description below. Tom Reynolds also made the show and those of you interested in superb, early copper will recognize the name immediately. It was a treat to just look at all the color shades that this coinage can attain.

 

Overall, the show was very good for me. I had to remove a few things from my table so that I could offer them to people who could not attend the show. I was also able to buy some nice coins, many of which are gone, some of which I intend to keep. The food was quite good, as usual. Don't laugh, coin show food is notoriously bad yet the food at the GSNA is always excellent. Lastly, the board members who made the effort to attend were great and it really made the entire weekend much more fun.

 

The attachment should be the Pan-Pac half I bought for myself.

[truthteller]

No fair, no fair. First toned commem you bought in months and you're going to keep it!!! C'mon, how much? Thanks for the update. I used to talk to small time eastcoast dealers who moved to the LA area. They used to tell me that eastcoast small shows frequently had 20 or less dealers. But the dealers were usually big names and had great coins. The west coast has too much distance for notible dealers to attend, so small shows tend to be quaint, nothing more. I agree with your assesment on dollars, no wavering in prices. Pretty toned commems are begining to achieve high numbers, monster coins, of course, have monster pricetags. Nice update.

 

TRUTH

[gmarguli]

That Pan-Pac is nice. They can frequently be found with nice toning on the obverse, but the reverse is usually "plagued" with the dark ring of death.

 

A very nice coin!

[braddick]

Thanks Tom for the show critique. That is my favorite read on these forums. You made me feel like I was right there in the room.

Also, great PanPac! That obverse is one of my top five favorite designs for any coin. Even my PCGS GD04 looks great!

And, of course, you're right about the color. Most are an off purple that is not attractive.

I like the color on yours. Has anyone ever seen one of these though in full GEM that is brilliant? I know I haven't.

Thanks again Tom. -You may have mentioned it on another thread and I missed it, but will you be attending Long Beach?

[toyonakataro]

Thank you for posting the report.

Pan-pac 50c is my favorite commem(except for $50 ) and it's the only commem I actually own, but your pan pac makes me ashamed of mine:o

Thanks for posting cool piucture

 

Question: Do you also attend show in west coast? I'm planning to attend a show in west coast this year....I wish I could see your inventory.

[rkfish-migration]

Hi Tom!

 

Thanks for the report on the GSNA! Always enjoy reading your comments!

Very well written and thought out! Very nice Pan-Pac!

 

Steve

 

[GP_]

Great report! I have to admit, Tom has the best eye for color I have ever seen! Always a pleasure to look into his "not for sale" box of toners Not to mention his knowledge of this hobby is top notch, and always a pleasure to talk to

 

Unfortunately today has been so busy i cant remember the dates of what i bought at the show already.(ok who am I kidding, I forgot by the time I left the show) I hope to take some pics when I get home tonight anyway. I bought a MONSTER toned Washington from TomB and even got a nice bonus blue toned Lincoln. While walking the floor I picked up a nice early O mint half dime as well

 

One thing I noticed was there just wasnt much middle price range selection. I found plenty of common stuff, and plenty of "mortgage payment" stuff but did not see too much in the range I was looking at. Well excpet for the Washington I mentioned

 

Next year I will have to make sure I am finsihed working on my house so I can get to and bring some of my babies to show off

[gmarguli]

Has anyone ever seen one of these though in full GEM that is brilliant? I know I haven't.

 

Yes, they are out there. I've seen a few. One was sold recently (NGC MS66) that was 100% brilliant and had really flashy white surfaces. Really nice looking coin that had likely never been dipped. It was being offered well above sheet and in fact, well above online price guide levels.

 

Many of the brilliant ones have been dipped. You can frequently see traces of the black ring on the reverse on these dipped ones.

[Hoot]

Thanks Tom for such a wonderful description. If I would stop spending money on coins, I might make a few shows! Gotta make use of those frequent flier miles for a show once or twice!

 

That PanPac is mine. Please sent it to me and I'll provide you my finders fee. As for the design, it's also one of my favorite commem designs. What Pat said, "That obverse is one of my top five favorite designs for any coin." is almost astonishing to me (and I agree with him), because Charles Barber designed the obverse. I hate most of Barber's work! Sorry, just a personal thing.

 

Hoot

[Wihlborg]

Tom,

 

It was a pleasure to finally meet and speak with you in person. To anyone who has not had the chance to see Tom's box of 'wonder coins' I have to say, you don't know what you're missing! Although I did not find any of the early commems I was looking for at the show, I was able to pick up a very nice NGC MS-65 1929 Buffalo nickel on my way out of the show that is toned in shades of blue and lavender. Overall I had a great time, and really enjoyed being able to share some coins and coin talk with you, Bob Beels, and board member GP.

 

John

 

[DaveG]

Tom,

 

Flattery laid on that thick might get you anywhere!

 

I suppose it's possible that I might (sometime in the future) be willing to sell that Seated half, and if I do, I promise to offer it to you first.

 

It was great to see you and Jeremy again and to meet FatMan.

 

By the way, that was a very nice Draped Bust quarter you have!

 

Will you be at Parsippany in two weeks?

[TomB]

DaveG, have I ever told you what numismatic savy you have, how witty you are and what an excellent gardening column your wife writes? Let's see, what else can I write to help dislodge that seriously undergraded coin from your tightly wrapped hands. I will try to get to Parsippany in the morning in two weeks. Probably right around or before the show is officially opened to the public, I'll just use the dealer entry. I won't have a table, however.

 

I have to apologize to Wihlborg as I kept writing his user name without the h in the middle. Sorry!

 

Just in case GP still cannot remember what he bought at the show, it was an 1860 half dime and a 1958-D Washington. If he bought anything else he didn't show me.

 

Just as an aside, has anyone ever noticed that Ms. Liberty has no elbows on the Pan-Pac half? It's a pretty disturbing way she is moving her arms. Physiologically, it looks like something that would require surgery and is making me rather ill thinking of it. The coin that I bought has better color than is displayed on the scan, after all, it is only a scan. The luster is muted as these are usually found. The reverse luster is better than the obverse. One last thing, the coin came with an original envelope that they were sold in. That was cool!

[Higashiyama]

Tom -- I wish you hadn't mentioned that about Miss Liberty's arms, it is really disturbing. They look rubbery. I have admired this obverse many times, but never noticed that before. Maybe yours is a rare die trial of an earlier variety.

 

Someone mentioned Charles Barber, but the coin is especially cool as an unusual Barber/Morgan collaboration. Some people find the reverse a bit uninspired, but I like it.

 

My Registry Pan Pac is a severely overgraded PCGS G04. I am thinking of sending it back to see if I can get a downgrade. The s mintmark is entirely worn off. Serious question --- when the rim is well worn into the edge lettering, shouldn't the coin grade no higher than AG? I think I was robbed on this submission.

[braddick]

Tom -- I wish you hadn't mentioned that about Miss Liberty's arms, it is really disturbing. They look rubbery. I have admired this obverse many times, but never noticed that before. Maybe yours is a rare die trial of an earlier variety.

 

Someone mentioned Charles Barber, but the coin is especially cool as an unusual Barber/Morgan collaboration. Some people find the reverse a bit uninspired, but I like it.

 

My Registry Pan Pac is a severely overgraded PCGS G04. I am thinking of sending it back to see if I can get a downgrade. The s mintmark is entirely worn off. Serious question --- when the rim is well worn into the edge lettering, shouldn't the coin grade no higher than AG? I think I was robbed on this submission.

[GP_]

 

Just in case GP still cannot remember what he bought at the show, it was an 1860 half dime and a 1958-D Washington. If he bought anything else he didn't show me.

 

One last thing, the coin came with an original envelope that they were sold in. That was cool!

 

 

Dont worry, thats all I bought No way I would buy something and not show it off

 

and well the original envelope, thats just cool!