St. Louis Numismatic Association’s Show Report
One of the highlights of my travel schedule is traveling to St. Louis, Missouri (my home state) to attend the annually held February show. I have been attending this show for over THIRTY FIVE years and it never ceases to amaze me. Held in the recently renovated Airport Hilton (you may have seen it in the movie “Up in the Air” staring George Clooney), the bourse floor is set up in my favorite ball room setting. Small, cramped, and not easy to get around in, this is the environment my career started in and I love it! Mike Orlando and the volunteers from the St. Louis Numismatic Association did a great job as usual.
I got up early Thursday (2:50 a.m. to be exact) to catch the first flight to St. Louis. I didn’t need to get there that early, but I have always thought that it was best to be a few hours early than a few minutes late, especially for this show. Many of the attending dealers save their “cool” coins for this event and I wanted to be there when it opened. And I was.
The show opened at 3:00 and the entire hotel lobby was filled with waiting coin dealers. To the “Newby” it may seem like controlled chaos, but to the veterans it was like putting on their favorite sweat pants on a snowy winter day; and then watching football all day. I have known many, if not most, of the table holders for a large portion of their careers. This is one of those shows that just makes you feel comfortable and reminds you why you collect coins.
As with most of the shows these days, you can’t just walk in and start buying really cool coins. Most purchases come about because of long established relationships (ha, I got it in there), and the Midwest shows are not any different. While it wasn’t on the same level as FUN, CSNS, or ANA, this was a very busy little show. Lots of things happened there. From pure bullion (K-rands and American Eagles), to circ. collector pieces, to high grade (sometimes top pop) coins, virtually every dealer was busy with collectors/customers.
Along with getting to see many of my old friends, several of our retail customers were there. It is always a nice feeling when collectors come to a show specifically to see us. But it is also nice to meet new clients who have been following our web site and finally introduced themselves. And let’s not forget all the new customers who we met for the first time. St. Louis shows are kind of like winning the tri-ficta at the track.
Our purchases for the web aren’t the largest but we are happy with what we got. Remember, many of the coins we buy are on want lists and never make it to our web site. Keeping that in mind, please feel free to send us a list of items you are looking for. I promise Christine and I will do our best to find you the best pieces available.
Our next show will be PCGS’ Invitational show held at the end of this month. If you get a chance for a little time of fun in the sun, come see us in Las Vegas, a totally different venue than St. Louis, but every bit as exciting. And remember…we love to talk coins.
Bill and Christine