Well, I ended up going to my first show on Sat. It was indeed pretty small, but I'm glad it was because I think I would've been too overwhelmed if it had been any larger. There were about 50 dealers, I think. I started off my just going by every table just to see what people were offering. Lots of U.S. stuff in general, and lots of Morgans in specific. Not too much gold. Only one guy was exclusively ancient/medieval, and it was pretty high-end and expensive stuff. I was mostly searching for silver world coins, and luckily there were a lot of bulk world bins, and most of those were half-off. I only had a few hours there, so I wasn't able to go through al lthe bins, and I ONLY spent around $65, which the wife appreciated. I will try to post pics of all the coins I purchased with prices and all that. And I was finally able to pick up a VF 1912 D Lib. nickel, completing my 1900-1964 U.S. type-set! I'm very pleased with that. Also thinking of picking up a proof '00 Sac dollar now. Didn't realize how pretty they were until I saw 'em as a frosty proof. Overall, I had a blast, picked up a ton of free magazines, and met some very nice people. Even thinking of joining a Denver coin-club now. Plus, EVERY dealer cut at least a few bucks off the purchase price on everything I bought. The sole exception was one dealer, but I was buying a proof '03 nickel with great cameo, and it was already only $2, so no loss there! Oh, and I brought my Red Book and one other book on world coins, but I forgot to bring my loupe! Ridiculous.
now that you mention it i forgot to buy my loupe. great job on those coins. I will try to buy the loupe as soon as possible.
a word of advice - the half off bins are just a gimmic to get you to the table and to unload junk. the coins are marked up knowing that at 1/2 the price they seem like a deal. just dig through the boxes for your coins. the better coins are usually the same price as the 1/2 off and are in better condition. just my observation -steve
I noticed the 1/2-off bins full of American stuff (esp. proofs) were def. overpriced, hence making the 'half' price seem reasonable. However, the world stuff didn't seem to have that problem at this particular show.
Also, PICTURES ARE NOW UP IN THE MAIN GALLERY!! Scans aren't great, but they give you an idea. My favorite purchases for the day were the Cambodian 1/8 Tikal (or 1 Fuang) coin, and the counter-stamped Costa-Rican coin, mostly b/c the wife and I are going to Costa Rica in month, and b/c my wife used to work at a French-Cambodian restaurant in MA. Best deals were the 10 Kroner ($5, list is around $8 in Unc., but there were some milk spots) and the Dutch 1 Cent piece (lists around $8 as well, I think. Got it for a buck!). The Lib. Nickel completed my 20th cent. type-set, and I got it for $35, which I think was fair. Anybody know much about the 'French' coins? All were from a bargain bin at $1 per coin. I know zip about the 20 Cent piece, as well. Any info would be appreciated!!
Can't see but one side of each coin, so identification is difficult. Is this the first one? French Indo-China km5a 1 Piastre (1895-1928) The second? Kwangtung Province y423 20 Cents (1912-1924) The third? France km806 1 Franc (1866-1870)
Those are them! I didn't include the reverses because they're too worn as it is, except for the Kwang-Tung Provice, which is in decent shape. Was this a French province? I'll have to Google that... *** EDIT: Guess Kwangtung is not a 'province' of an imperial nation, but rather just a province of China. Interesting. ***
