The Richmond Coin club is holding its spring coin show this weekend continuing through tomorrow (Sunday). I attended yesterday and today. There were 50+ dealers at the Shriner's Hall and they were very busy. My aim was to fill some holes in the type set and maybe pickup something else that piqued my interest. I was not disappointed. Both days, the show was very well attended, with a lot of buying and selling going on. While I don't generally collect bullion, 2 dealers were quoting sell prices of 28$/oz on 10z silver bars. People were buying gold too although I did not inquire on prices. It was good to see some old friends at the show. I stopped by "Coins Make Cents" table to see Rob and Casey Catron, who often have some toned Roosies for me, no luck on Fri but today Rob pulled a raw 49-S with some nice blue/gold toning out of a set he had just bought. This will go into my Capitol Plastics Roosevelt dime holder. They have been doing the southern show circuit and report strong sales of all sorts of coins and their website is doing well too. The main issue is buying enough new material for stock, which sounds like a pretty good position to be in. I also picked up a crazy toned Merc dime today. Moving on, I spent some time both days chatting with Mike Olson, out of Delaware. Mike usually has some nice original early coins, but he was about sold out of seated halves and quarters. I took a hard look at a nice Athenian Owl he had (I'm a sucker for birds and animals on coins) but ultimately the search for Type examples won out. The Reeded Edge is one of the larger dealers attending the show, and it was good to see Jon and Robbie. They always have top notch coins at various price points and love to discuss coins and stamps. While I was seated at their table, Jon said "here's a nice coin for you!" and hands me an 1836 RE Half MS63 with lovely golden toning. Gulp. Also looked at a 1796 SE dollar in xf40, totally original, and a 1794 large cent graded MS61 (looked way better) with a CAC gold sticker. Gulp again. I did however make a purchase from them for ye olde type set (pics later). Great guys to deal with. I meandered around and pretty much looked at all the tables. Encountered a seller I had not seen before, The Broken Cabinet, based out of Austin TX and Maryland (he shifts from one location to the other). Ed is a friendly guy and had some really nice seated, Barber, and bust coins. I did end up buying 2 coins for type (photos later). A fellow next to me bought a stack of seated quarters from him and counted out bills from a vast stack of hundreds he had. Me I just had my checkbook but Ed was ok with that thankfully. A couple of near misses: one dealer had an 1803 draped bust half in vf that looked totally original (raw) but darn if there wasn't a significant rim nick right under the date. At another table, in the corner of a case loaded with blinding white Franklin and Walker halves was a lone very dark coin... an 1808 bust half in a 2x2 with gorgeous original deep tone and a nice price for a Fine example; on inspection though there was a broad but shallow dent in the left obv field, fully toned over, but I'd never be able to overlook it. pass. Sometimes unexpected things turn up. There was a dealer doing a brisk business in Biblical era coins ; I noticed he had a tray of Colonials! He had some lower grade state issues (but good quality) even a couple of St Patrick farthings. What caught my eye was a Machin's Mills issue which was mine for a fair price. My overall impression is that the market is strong; many people are constructing type sets so demand for mid grade coins like doubledimes and Trade Dollars is strong; might be a good time to part with your duplicates. some photos of new buys: 1857 20$ ANACS OWH EF40; my Type 1 DE ; totally original with nice copper gold color and no major hits; from a mintage of <500,000. from the Reeded Edge of course. 1837 quarter, ANACS OWH EF40, some very nice aqua and gold toning when tilted, probably not the original skin but thick enough to be quite attractive, from the Broken Cabinet: 118
and a couple more: also from the Broken Cabinet, an 1804 half cent "spiked chin" NGC AU50, a coin I have wanted for a long time ( actually I have a very worn one with major rev cuds) but this has nice detail. And here is the Machin's Mills :
Finally ,here is a toned Mercury dime from Coins Make Cents. My photos don't do it justice as it has full luster and the gold color really pops in hand under a light, in the photos it looks dull so try to use your imagination:
Enjoyed reading your report and viewing NEWPS! The Reeded Edge inventory is always very nice and I have nothing but great things to say about them.
Great report on the show and your experiences. I really appreciate when our members take the time and trouble to report on these events. I also really like that '37 quarter.
thanks for highlighting that Paddy, I saw the one through the 7 but hadn't really noticed the others. I just got the Tompkins book, maybe I should look it up. So little time!
You know Hawk eye lol...besides my eyes are trained to search for such items on coins. But must admit arent as sharp as they once were. And anytime I so enjoy the hunt...and find
Thanks for the comments. As further evidence of a "hot" coin market, one dealer, in the process of selling some scarce seated quarters to a collector, looked up recent APR's to determine his asking prices; the guides just aren't keeping up with the "coinflation."
I got by Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon too. Picked up a wide assortment, an Augustus denarius, an 1888 maundy set of Victoria Jubilee head that look proof-like and some modern silver. Also a couple of other minor ancients. Good show
I was there yesterday for 2.5 hours buying for David Lawrence Rare Coins. Wish I knew you were there and we could’ve met! I also bought a stack of classic type from The Broken Cabinet. His coins weren’t cheap, but some were reasonable for this market. Did you see that poor old fellow that fell at the show Saturday? Made a huge boom. But he seemed okay after sitting down for a bit. Scary!
Was that you at Broken Cabinet buying that stack of seated quarters? If so I was standing right next to you. I was talking to Rob at Coins Make Cents when that gentleman fell, I think he was in a folding chair and fell over. Fortunately he was up soon so I didn't have to go into doctor mode. I agree that the coins weren't cheap, but a very similar bust quarter to the one I bought was priced a hundred dollars more on ebay. The half cent was fair and in line with current prices. He had several nice barber halves in VF but you have to get a grip on yourself at some point, LOL. We'll have to see about meeting up at a future show and grabbing some lunch. I'm a local.
There was also a fellow collecting seated half dime varieties making the rounds and he and I kept showing up at random dealers' tables at the same time, kind of became a running joke (we have to stop meeting like this! Hello, stranger!) I never did get the guy's name but he was really into the varieties.
I had two seated quarters pulled but didn’t buy either. They were too much. So I’m not sure if that was me or not!