Central States show report from yours truly

Another Central States show, another show report from yours truly....(Thursday, 5/2/24)

~There was a line to register but it was not too bad at 9:40 (open was 10)....this year they had a separate area for those that bought tickets online (last year there was no clear distinction but this time it was marked); the entrance fee was $15 (discounted to $10 if you bought online before 3/31/24)

~At 10 am there was a decent crowd that entered the show; many, including me, turned to our left and got into the line for the free slab. It was an Anacs Iowa State Quarter with “Celebrate Iowa” on it. Someone missed a chance to add a Caitlin Clark label!

~My first goal was to sell a world gold coin. It was NGC slabbed as a 70 and had a low mintage but was an odd weight. The first two dealers that I figured would be interested both passed on even making an offer. A third dealer was willing to go about 3% under melt and I made the deal. I was hoping for melt (thought the 70 grade would help) but was ok settling at this level given the higher price of gold now and the fact that this particular coin isn’t well known (I had only seen one sale at auction in 2023 which was higher than I expected to get today but I knew this was not an ideal coin to try and auction, especially if spot took a hit during the process).

~I brought some other coins to sell (all toners) and that ended up being a mixed bag. I made a trade with one NGC Morgan that I had been trying for a while to sell. I let it go at a loss as a partial payment towards a PCGS toned Morgan. I was happy to move on from that Morgan and turn it into something that I like more. Another success was selling a toned business strike Silver Eagle. I’m somewhat pivoting from collecting these, focusing more on proofs. The handful of other coins did not sell. Several dealers mentioned that the pricing was fair but that they would not be able to make much or did not want more inventory (my pricing tended to be from 25 under cost to 25 over for most-just one was above that range). I tried for some trades but outside of the first one, that was fruitless. One guy I believe I made a strong trade proposal to-a nice toned CAC rattler plus cash for his nice non-CAC, non-rattler, lower graded toner (the color on his was nicer, hence the extra cash on my side)-just did not want to budge. I liked his coin, and would have come close to a record price for the date/grade combo, but wasn’t willing to go moon money.

~As far as buying, I picked up more items than I expected to (5 total). One was the Morgan from the trade, then there were two toned modern commemoratives (color really spoke to me and you don’t see these often with toning), a PCI toned world coin, and just before leaving-a Canadian Maple. PCGS called it cleaned but I don’t see any clear signs of a cleaning. QC would make more sense. Still the coin appealed to me and the price was fair.

~General observations/random comments:
*some tables were quite busy and there was a decent crowd walking the bourse (not huge but acceptable)

*I did not notice much buzz for gold (would have expected more given the increase in prices-people often seem to flock to it when prices increase); there were dealers with bullion as always but it did not seem to dominate the show

*Of course there were plenty of Morgans and other common coins mixed in with some ultra rarities

*Older holders/unusual slabs were out there but not in big quantities; I saw a pair of “108” rattlers (not the 1st gen white label but the 2nd gen that have gained a big premium as well), a few white label NGC slabs, and a black 1st gen NGC….all of those dealers knew what they had, so there was no cherry picking opportunity….PCI slabs as well as some self slabbers were available too…I also saw one Blanchard….no Compugrade (still wonder if I will see one outside of eBay or this forum)

*CACG slabs are becoming a bit more prevalent at dealer tables (I did not see any where I liked the coin and the price)….CAC also had a table to take submissions….only PCGS had show grading though (as always, there was a line at their table near the start of the show)

*I saw one dealer opening Vault Boxes and streaming it at the same time….he let out a loud exclamation as he pulled a red core (as I was passing by that table)

*A small pet peeve: I stood in front of a table for a while as some guy was asking random questions with no intention to buy or sell anything (I ended up leaving and circling back around to that table)

*In general asking prices were high on toners (well above my prices and significantly more than I would expect to pay at auction)….some common coins that I follow were priced high too (for example, a 2001 Silver Buffalo Commemorative that regularly sells for $100 these days, was priced in the 140-160 range….also some common blast white MS 63-65 Morgans were 20-50 more than you can generally find them for on eBay or other auction sites)….the toners I know could always sell if someone really likes the coin but the more generic items generally would need to be closer to the going rate in order to entice informed buyers

*As far as world coins, there wasn’t as much of a selection (as expected). Mexico and China were fairly well represented. I saw a coin on my want list-an Eritrea Tallero. The price was ok, the holder was a small white Anacs slab but I decided to pass as it just did not have the look I wanted (a few too many hits…plus I was spoiled by a super lustrous example I saw a while back-price was moon money though on that one). There was no PCGS slabbed Uzbekistan coin either (again did not expect to see one but would have been super excited if I found one at a decent price)

Here is the Canadian Maple (some of you might want to cover your eyes ...it has also found a new home already):

 

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Thanks for the very detailed show report! That Maple toner is wild!

Your Buffalo commemorative observation got my attention. I normally pick those up for $100 as well. Wonder if that was a markup specific to this show or if there’s been a shift.

 

I plan on attending the CoinX show near St. Louis this fall of they still have it. I've only been to two shows so far but I love them! Glad you were able to come back with a few things.

 

Thanks!

And I think it was just several dealers with high hopes of catching someone that did not know the prices or those who just price everything high. These still sell for around $100.

 

Looks like that show is planned for Thursday, October 31, through Saturday, November 2, 2024.

https://www.scoins.com/silver-dollar-rare-coin-expo.aspx

 

I briefly stopped at one table there because I saw a big bin of crown sized silver coins. I asked him what the deal was and he said they were individually priced and they were priced when silver was lower, so I took a look. I pulled out a few coins that I had recent experience buying or selling and his were way higher. Like an 1870s Belgian 5 francs I just sold on eBay last week for $30 he had marked for $65. All his "deals" were like that. I can never figure out who buys from these guys. It has to be people who either don't know the market or who refuse to buy online.

 

It seems that way with some.
I also know some are just there to run a museum-they aren't trying to sell but just to display their items and chat with others.

 

Sounds like you had a great time at the show. I was hoping to get a report about it. Nice toner you posted.

 

Great report.
Thankfully I'm no good with colors, so I just past on about 99.9% of them.

 

Great report, thanks DDDDD !

I wonder why Central States charges admission and other shows -- like FUN -- do not ?

Also, as for the lack of gold interest among the attendees....this rally in gold has been driven by institutions and Central Banks. Retail -- as shown by the exodus from gold ETFs -- has actually been a net seller !!!

 

I’m guessing different shows have different models on how to make money. Some likely charge more for dealer tables while others rely more on the public. Also some venues are more expensive, so the dealer and public fees are higher.

Another possibility is that having a higher entrance fee reduces the tire kickers. Those willing to spend the $15 fee are more likely to buy/sell.

 

$15 is certainly not prohibitive. My astronomy club charges $38 for a 1-day ticket to our signature space expo....access to 100 vendors, several lectures by world-class speakers, workshops (extra $$$).....per hour, probably cheaper than a movie.

 

I agree that it’s not prohibitive. The only complaint I have is that they still charge the $15 for Saturday morning (free after 12). Many dealers start leaving Friday afternoon and by Saturday it’s a ghost town. So one doesn’t get much value on Saturday.

 

We had the same problem with people packing up on Sunday.

It deprives people of access to all the vendors AND it's a bad look even if they are still "open for business."

It's on the folks putting the show on to enforce a rule that says: no packing up BEFORE a certain time.

 

I would think FUN would have the most aggressive pricing on both tables and admissions but I could be wrong.

To me, that's the show that if you told most coin collectors they could only go to 1 big national show, that's the one they'd choose, travel costs aside.

Right ? Wrong ?

 

Great write up ddddd. What modern commems did you pick up at the show?

 

Enjoyed the read, your beautiful coin, congrats.

 

I heard that the firm of Harlan Berk was there, or at least it was announced as such on Aaron Berk's podcast.

I haven't been to a coin show since about 2011. I picked up a lovely, huge Ptolemaic coin during my most recent show.