FUN Show Report
Having a coin show the week following the Holiday Season might not seem like a good idea to most people, but to coin collectors this is the first of many “must attend” events. Usually it is a time to get away from the hustle and bustle, the cold, the rain, and the snow, time for a little warmth and sunshine to start the New Year. Generally that is what we would get, except for this year (and two years ago). After Christine and I arrived late Tuesday evening it became apparent that the low temperature, and possible frost that could accompany it, was on every-body’s mind. Not mine. I was ready for a coin show, one that historically set the standard for the year to come.
As has been the norm lately, Christine and I got up early the next day and proceeded to lot viewing for the official FUN sale. Much has been written about auctions recently, and I’d like to share a few thoughts on the subject. Many numismatists, collectors and dealers alike, have said that the auctions at major shows take away from the bourse floor. They take coins off the bourse and make them available to everyone. No longer can a collector, or dealer, find that special coin, at a special price. Auctions, according to many, are the eight hundred pound gorilla in the room. Indeed auctions have taken the market to a new level of sophistication. They make the coins available to many that might not be able to attend a show, or even view a small portion of the coins on the floor if they did. They provide a record of what coins have sold for in the past. They allow collectors to bid from the comfort of their own home. The list of benefits goes on and on, but I find them somewhat sterile, almost cold. Not from the lot viewing point of view, or even that of the auction itself (although I have been in the “room” of a major auction when there was less than ten people there). I have never had someone showing lots to me that was cold, and likewise I have been in auction rooms during a sale when the auctioneer was funny, witty if you will. But I always thought something was missing…
As I started to say, Christine and I viewed lots for a while (for clients) before the bourse floor opened up. Called our customers with our findings and then left for the show.
On the bourse both Christine and I started to walk the floor, but that came to an abrupt end when people started showing up at our table. Some came to look, some came to chat, but mostly they came to show us their coins for sale. It is nice to know that people think of us when they have a certain type of coin. I’ve said it before, and most likely will say it again, but if it weren’t for the relationships that Christine and I have built over the years that would never have happened, at least not on the scale that it did. That scenario kept up a good pace throughout Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning and then did a virtual flip flop. No longer could we buy coins like a drunken sailor, but we sure could sell them. One customer came by after being shut out in the auction the night before. Who would have thought!
It seems that every show Christine and I attend we get the opportunity to meet new collectors. Not new as in they just got started, but new in that we haven’t done business with them before: at least not with me. Several had met Christine before, and done business with her. They just weren’t aware she had joined me at Numismatic Americana. Sometimes I felt like I was a spouse at a high school class reunion. It is good to see her get reacquainted with old friends.
As has been the rule lately, we bought and sold some pretty cool coins there. One example was a GEM proof 1895 Morgan dollar, a splendid, black and white specimen. And while that coin didn’t make the journey home with us, many great ones did; everything from GEM Flying Eagle cents to several top pop Barber proof coins. Truly something for everyone! Christine has just finished imaging them and is starting to make the available to you. Take a look and give us a call if anything catches your eye. And remember…we love to talk coins.
Bill and Christine