JA's Baltimore Show Report

I don’t often do show reports, but here’s a synopsis of my trip to Baltimore yesterday. The drive from Lancaster PA is about 1 1/2 hours, and the only remotely interesting thing about the trip is driving along the top of the Conowingo Dam, crossing the Susquehanna river, built in 1928...



For those of you that haven’t attended this show, it’s held at the Baltimore Convention Center, which has the rather bland architecture of so many convention centers throughout the US. (I call it Soviet-Bloc Chic.) It is quite nice inside, however, and perfect for the Whitman Expo.



I arrived at 9:30. Stacks was holding their usual lot viewings on the third floor, but there was nothing I was particularly interested in seeing - at least nothing that I was planning to bid on.

When the bourse opened, I was unpleasantly surprised to find out that one of my favorite dealers and friends, Don Zauche, was ill and not attending. I wish him a speedy recovery. I spent the first hour looking at Mark Reid’s (Time Machine) trays. He has an enormous consignment of artifacts that’s going to take years to sell, but he usually has a coin or two that tickles my fancy.

I came away with this electrum hekte of Mytilene, Lesbos, with heads of Kabeiri and Kore. This is solid, well-centered, and smooth VF example, the first hekte I’ve owned, and the first electrum coin I’ve owned...



I also found this denarius of Severus Alexander, Providentia reverse, with a very bold die-clashed reverse. The upside-down image of the reverse gives you an idea of how hard the empty dies were hit against each other, although I don't see any evidence of a clash on the obverse, so the reverse die must have clashed with a different obverse die...



This is a long report, so I’ll do in several posts rather than try your patience with a dissertation. (I already do that in my auctions.)

 

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Very nice. I knew Doug went to Baltimore show many times, but did not realize how large the show was. I was actually at that Convention Center many years ago at one of my industry's trade show. Typically the industries that I attended always completely filled the halls, and sometimes more.

This is my last Coin Show purchase (yeah, last JANUARY!):


RR Anon AR Drachm Half Quadrigatus 225-212 BCE 3.1g 18mm Janus dotted border Jupiter in Quadriga LEFT Victory ROMA Cr 28-4 S 35 SCARCE

 

Thanks for reporting on this John. I reluctantly admit that I've never been to a coin show.

 

At 11 I attended a lecture entitled “Colonial Williamsburg’s Numismatic Collection,” given by Erik Goldstein, curator of coins and guns (can you think of a better job?) at Colonial Williamsburg. If you’re not familiar with Colonial Williamsburg, it’s a reenactment of an American colonial town, of astonishing scope and detail. Read it about on wiki here. Our family has visited several times, and we’ve always enjoyed ourselves and learned a lot.

The last time we were there, I found this little book in the gift shop...



This isn’t simply an overview of early American coinage, but a catalog of a small collection on display at the nearby Rockefeller Library. The display consists mostly of world trade coins from the collection of Joseph R. Lasser, and some coins found at archaeological digs in the area...



So when I found this book in the gift shop, I decided to drop in on the Rockefeller Library and take a look-see. (This was a few years ago.) It turns out the collection had been put in storage at the museum due to a construction project, so I walked over to the museum and asked to see it nonetheless. The receptionist informed me that viewings were by appointment only and I could write to the curator and apply to see the coins. She then had a security guard show me to the door.



Well, here was this same curator at the Baltimore Show giving a lecture on the coins I had wanted to see, and he came with some very exciting news.

It turns out that the Lasser Collection is much, much larger than you might expect from perusing that little pamphlet of a catalog. In fact, Lasser collected many thousands of world and early American coins. You can read a brief biography at CNG here. Colonial Wiliamsburg is now in the process of building a numismatic museum dedicated to displaying not only his collection, but the coins found in surrounding archeological digs as well. The new museum is slated to open in about 2 1/2 years, and will also have a working forge and mint, in keeping with the tradition of detailed reenactments at Colonial Williamsburg.

 

Me too I cant wait to get to one, one day.

Great show report!

EDIT: wow you posted that second part two seconds before me


Thanks,
Jacob

 

After the lecture I spent almost two hours at Andy Singer's table. He has great taste in coins, so I pored over everything in his trays. Unfortunately, almost all of his inventory was marked at "show prices," which doesn't suit my needs as a dealer. Although I almost almost spent $600 on a coin one rarely sees in high grades. I will divulge nothing further on that account, because if it doesn't sell at the show, I told him I might buy it at some point this week.

He did have some bulk Roman Republic denarii and the more I bought, the less expensive they became, so I walked out with eight. Nothing rare, but all the coins have nice centering, clean and smooth surfaces, and no damage. Who can argue with a handful of beautiful Republic denarii?

 

Now that's real treasure. Amazing, JA. Can't wait to see these RR at auction. I love them.

 

Sweet! What coin was it for 600$?


Thanks,
Jacob

 

If you want a $600 coin I may have one to sell you . On a serious note, sometimes I am tempted to sell my $500+ coins and take a trip to Asia and see the sites with my family, and just focus on sub-$500 coins. Lots of nice bargain ancient coins to be had out there. This really doesn't need to be an expensive hobby.

 

Haha, If I had the money I would. I'm just curious.


Thanks,
Jacob

 

If I were you and had $600 to spend, I'd allocate $100 to common late Roman bronzes, $200 to budget Roman Republic Denarius, and $200 to common 2nd and 3rd century silver coins, and $100 towards picking up one or two common Greek coins.

You'd end up with a nice little diverce collection of coins from a large period of time in the ancient world, and I'd think you'd enjoy the 15 or so coins far more than your single $600 coin.

 

If I buy it I'll let you know.

 

Here is something I didn't even know existed, a charity token from St. Lambert's Cathedral in Liege. Evidently these tokens were bought and contributed to the cathedral, whose priests would then give Requiem Masses for specific deceased loved ones. It was not a scheme of indulgences or anything of the sort, just a way of raising money for the maintenance of the structure, which rivaled the size of the cathedral of Notre Dame. Some are dated, some are not, but they were all minted in the decade of 1680-1690.



Here is the cathedral as it stood until 1794, from an old engraving...



In an incredible act of unbelievable lunacy, French revolutionaries decided that it was a symbol of the power of the Prince-Bishop, and should be demolished. By 1827 it had been completely razed to the ground! Holy Mother of God, people can be stupid.

 

At Richmond, Andy had that group and another with lesser (mostly more worn) coins at about half the price. I found nothing since I had the few that were not chariots and I'm not trying to own every horse Rome made. I notice you did not go for the lesser ones. Does that mean that even CT sales are above Republicans in the under $50 range?

I talked to a dealer/friend who was not doing Baltimore this time but has in the past. The question each dealer has to ask is whether the table, room, food and parking costs would be recouped by sales or contacts made. I see the days of my going to Baltimore being numbered as 'show prices' become more common.

 

Not at all, I'll buy anything I like in any price range I can afford. I love bargain bin sales. Perhaps the lesser ones had all been sold before Baltimore? I didn't see that he had any.

 

I bought two coins from Del Parker, with no regard to resale, so I'll probably have to play the long game on these, or eventually take a loss. Del acquired a type set of the denarii of Plautilla (from a collector that assembled a complete type set of the denarii of Caracalla), and there were a couple VF+ or almost EF specimens in the lot which I couldn't pass up even at show prices. I mean how often do you come across high-grade denarii of Plautilla? Curious how these coins have very different portraits. I wonder which is more accurate...

 

Last installment of the report. The Colonial Coin Collectors Club, or C4, held their annual convention at the show, which included a number of lectures like the one mentioned above. I also attended a talk entitled, “Transition From State to Federal Coins,” given by Chuck Heck. Chuck presented a number of Colonial types, Federal patterns, and the earliest official US mint issues, discussing how various themes and ideas on the coins were carried from the foreign circulating coins of early America, to the Colonial issues, to finally the US mint issues of 1793. There was lively discussion and debate afterward.

As a collector of ancient coins, I felt very much at home with this group. The discussion they had was very similar to discussions we have here at CT, centering around numismatic and historical themes. It's interesting to note that the earliest Greek coinage presented gods, goddesses, mythological themes, and particular civic characteristics, while eschewing the busts of specific rulers. The Seleucids started putting their kings on their coinage, and by Roman Imperial times it was de rigeur for coins to propagandize the current emperor. That aesthetic remained the rule (with notable exceptions of course) throughout the Western world until the colonies took King George off of their coins and replaced him with civic and philosophic themes. The primacy of the ruler on the coinage was broken, and even George Washington objected to having his bust on any of the issues. In some sense, the colonists had come full circle to something akin to the early Greek aesthetic.

All of this talk of colonial coins gave me the itch to acquire one, so I asked for plenty of advice from a few of the members of C4, and came away with this copper of New Jersey. It's not certain exactly why the state had the alternate name Nova Caesarea, but it is conjectured that the contemporary pronunciation of Jersey might have been easily corrupted into the contemporary pronunciation of Caesarea.

I know this is long-winded, and I apologize, but one more thing. The dealer that sold me this coin perhaps thought that I was coming from the world of "perfect" moderns. Before he showed me a single example of a colonial coin, he carefully explained to me how the aesthetics of collecting these types was very different - how sometimes collectors of colonials have to settle for less-than-perfect coins, with oddly-shaped planchets and uneven, off-center strikes, and how they learn to love the coins for their imperfections and the stories they have to tell. It was a bit surreal to get that talk from a collector of modern coins, a talk we collectors of ancient sometimes have to give to collectors of moderns. But enough. Here's the last coin I bought yesterday, and I'm thrilled to have it...

 

I don't know, John. I believe you have a misattribution.
I think that is actually a Carthaginian Coin...

................................................................

 

The Concordia seated has an excuse for being different. Laodicea mint


I don't have a Concordia Felix but the Eternal concord advertised on mine is as big a lie as the happiness on yours.


There are many 'looks' on the Rome mint coins of Plautilla. Perhaps, some days, she spent a lot of time on her hair; others, not???

 

Then there's the PIETAS AVGG reverse where she didn't bother to sweep her hair behind her ears: