George's Fantastic Knoxville Show Report With Tons of Unusable Information and No Pictures!

I was going to do a satire of @The Penny Lady's wonderful show reports but I think I will quit while I am ahead ... I am not clever enough by half, and the pictures of Mickey D's quarter-pounders and cheap beer that I envisioned are somehow a bit too true to life. So, no pictures. And no satire, at least not intentional.

Anyway. The show was slow for my part, but then again, it was the first time I had made even a cameo appearance (a Cameo appearance is a different thing, on better metal) in two years, so I did not have high expectations. The show, organized by the Smoky Mountain and Fort Loudon coin clubs, is always well-organized, and so it was again. Good job, guys. Among the presentations were one by resident Bust half expert Dr. Glenn Peterson, and one by John Frost of the Seated Liberty Collectors Club (another announcement I missed). All of the tables were full, and I felt fortunate to get a table with not a lot of advance notice.

The attendance was really excellent, and the catered food was tasty as well. But retail traffic was slow. It did not help that the Dow Jones dropped 666 points (Eek! Mark of the Beast!) on Friday, the first day of the show--thanks, Janet Yellen, who also gave Wells Fargo a spanking on her way out the door.

Or maybe it was because it was Groundhog Day, and the little varmint called for six more weeks of winter. Believe me, in this neck of the woods both the 666 and winter weather are taken seriously. There was a lot of dealer-to-dealer talk about why gold wasn't up, the yield on the 30-year approaching 3%, whether to mine for bitcoin or buy monero, a lot of uncertainty in the air.

The wholesale business, as usual, was better than retail. There just aren't a lot of customers around here who are ready and able to plunk down four- or five-figure sums for coins; that was to be expected. Since I do some of both wholesale and retail, again my expectations were sanguine. My wholesale might have been better if it had not been for one dealer who asked me on Friday morning to put aside several thousand dollars' worth of my nicer stuff until he could make an offer. Sure, OK, no problem. I put them at the back of my case. By Saturday afternoon, when folks including myself started packing up, I had figured out that the words coming out of his mouth actually meant nothing at all. I guess I am slow on the pickup, but anyway, lesson learned.

At my first show in two years, I was saddened to learn of the passing of three longtime dealers whom I had seen at various shows, and each of whom I was personally fond of--and I like to think it was mutual.

On the other hand, I really, really enjoyed seeing some longtime customers (you know who you are) and meeting some new folks whose acquaintance I had met either here or on CoinTalk. And it's always flattering when those longtime customers save up a bit to buy a spanky new (or old) coin or two. So thanks to those who bought, as well as those who just troubled to come by and say hello. I tend to be on the gregarious side, so I definitely enjoyed some of the conversations I had, including the difference in proof and Mint State 1880 Shield nickels, the earliest-dated European coins, the American Silver Eagles, art and design in numismatics, the Mexican 8 reales and Spanish colonial coins (those pieces I had were a big hit, by the way), why mints form close to gold and silver mines, and toned Lincoln cents versus Red ones.

The absolute highlight of my show, though, was when one elderly gentleman came up to my table after (he told me later) walking around the entire show looking for me, and he sat down and called me a "mentor," and that he had really enjoyed all my postings over the years at CoinTalk (and maybe here, not sure, although I tend to post some of the same things on both). I was a bit embarrassed, even though modesty is not my strong suit, so I said, "Well, I do know a couple of things and have been known to make some stuff up," but he wouldn't have it. "No, no, George, you really do share your knowledge with others and I have learned so much from you." Well, that absolutely made my show, and in my book qualifies as an encomium. And by the way, today is, I'm pretty sure, his 90th birthday. So, Happy Birthday Don, and best wishes for many more.

Saturn and Neptune were really happy and delirously excited to see me.



Now it's on to Chattanooga next month!

And I hope you enjoyed my little show report, even though I have already told myself ...



Kind regards,

George

 

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That was a really interesting description of your show. Thanks for posting, even if you didn't show every single bite you took and glass of wine you drank.