Coin Show etiquette.. any advice?

If you find a dealer who is willing to spend time talking and giving you information/advice, but you are not ready to buy a coin, buy a book from them. They make a sale, you've gained valuable information, and you can never have enough reference information in your library.

 

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Welcome to the CTAF, @Clavdivs ! You're way ahead of me. I've never been to a coin show. I've been to one coin shop and that's where I bought my very first "Widow's Mite." I'm an armchair, internet, and credit card kind of collector. The only coin collectors that I talk to are the ones on this forum.

 

If you're really from Baltimore, you're missing out, badly. Three MAJOR shows per year, plus other smaller ones. Seriously, take a walk on the wild side and join us in "meatspace".

 

Yes, it's true I'm afraid. Every year I say I'm going to go and then I chicken out at the last minute. I'm afraid that being there will trigger an ancients spending frenzy

 

For an ANA show, or NYINC, I understand the fear. Baltimore HAS ancients dealers, but not in excess.

 

As now has become expected I see this thread on the Ancient Coins board of CT has attracted posts by those who have no interest in ancient coins and assume that their answers will be the same as those for the board on which it was posted. For example, there is no price guide on ancients that you can flash. It would be really hard to evaluate an ancient coin being offered to a dealer from an adjacent position while that might be possible when talking about a slabbed Lincoln cent. Ancient dealers frequently spend a lot of time educating collectors knowing that they personally and their business as a whole will benefit in the long term from developing the knowledge of their customers. Knowledge here is a lot more than prices and grading. When I was a 15 year old just starting in the hobby, I was helped a lot by a generation of dealers now long retired. If nothing else we all know that we might benefit if there are 15 year olds who want to buy things rom our estates. There is nothing worse than a hobby that dies because there is no one left who cares.

There is nothing wrong with a spending frenzy. Set a budget, 'study up' for that budget by not buying wildly the month before and go to the show looking specifically for mites to give away at church. It is good to practice self control.

 

At our show, those are the people the dealers ask security to remove. You want to buy coins from the public, buy a table.

 

Any collector-to-collector transactions should be done outside of the bourse.

 

I’ve been to a few shows in the UK, where things are maybe different. A dealer I know well introduced me to someone selling from the floor and invited me to look at his stuff. I bought a couple, and the floor seller gave the dealer a cut. Entirely informal arrangement, but happened twice with different dealers.

Other thing is: bring cash. I don’t know about the US, but electronic payment is now normal for amost everything ... except coinshows, where few dealers have facilities for card payments.

 

Did someone say 15 year olds? Thats me #2020

 

And us old guys welcome all you young numismatists, cause, like Doug said, when we're gone someone needs to carry the banner.

 

...or at least bury us so we don't decompose in the streets.

 

My advice would be to just be conscious of your behaviour. Don't just reach into display cases but ask first. Don't bring back packs or bags into the show, or even bulky coats for that matter. Unscrupulous people use those things to steal from the tables. It's been said before but if you are looking at a coin make sure the dealer gets it back in his hands and don't just leave it on the table. Things go "missing". Most ancient dealers love talking and don't mind if you stay and converse with them. Just make sure you give room for others to buy and look. Every dealer I've ever bought from at a show will give a better price if they can and aren't offended you asked. In fact the first dealer I ever bought from in person told me to always ask for a better price!

It sounds like a lot of rules but really it's just common sense and shows are a lot of fun and a great way to learn about ancients.

 

You really should give the Baltimore show a chance Deacon. I'm right down the road in Maryland and look forward to it every time it rolls around. The most recent show, in March, provided me the opportunity to meet John Anthony. I had heard Doug was going to attend, but didn't have the opportunity to meet him. There are also some really great ancient dealers and if nothing else it provides for some wonderful conversation.

I've found that if I put budgeted cash in my wallet and leave all other forms of payment at home I can't overspend. It also forces me to be really selective and not jump at the first coin that catches my eye.

 

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/acmshow.html

In 2001 I had so much fun at a Baltimore show that I wrote one of my favorite pages (above) about the day. Of course, prices have changed a bit but you still can have fun at the show and not bother with the expensive dealers who can be identified by neckties and no one seated at their tables. I don't know how much longer the reasonably priced crowd will continue to support Baltimore as show/motel/food prices continue to rise. I skipped the March show at the last minute partly because the dealers I most wanted to see will be in Richmond the first weekend in May and Fredericksburg in September. Death and retirement have claimed a few of my favorite dealers. Are there new ancient dealers wanting to do shows waiting in the wings or will today's 15 year olds not remember the experience when they are my age? Are there even 15 year olds who are interested in owning my coins when I am finished with them? My 15 year old grandson has no interest now but may have a few thousand to learn to love or sell sooner or later. If I live to be a hundred, it will be today's kids who are buying coins while today's middle agers will be on Social Security (or not) and cutting back new purchases. Scary thought, eh?

 

@dougsmit , I reread your two coin show pages and they are lots of fun. You captured the feeling of a show perfectly. If I were close to a big city I would go to its coin shows. I would not expect much and not expect better prices than eBay, but I would enjoy the experience, especially if I met up with friends for show-and-tell when the day was over.

 

It may go the way of the gun shows. As I watch the steady progression of the then young dealers thru the years growing old, and the types of guns that were coveted change and disappear with them for the newer black guns, I wonder if the same type of thing will happen with us. Maybe the "new collectors" will covet something entirely new like the recent flood of errors or perceived errors they are finding, and keep numismatics going, but in a different direction.

 

I'm the only 15 year old collector I know.

 

I know a coroner or two