I seldom EVER buy ANY coins at a national show. I will buy a few this weekend in New York at the NYINC, but not many. I go to national shows virtually EXCLUSIVELY to learn, and judge exhibits, and learn about exhibiting. And the in case of the ANA, to work for them. I can't offhand remember the last U.S. coin I bought at a major national show - maybe a really nice Buff. Virtually EVERY U.S. coin I buy is at an in-person Pennsylvania auction. Major show buy/sell spreads are just too horrific in most cases.
Thanks John, It was not U tube that got me but a commercial for 1 tenth gold coins. They were a good deal but what i was talked into was not. If i had known about Coin Talk prior to that I would have $1250 to $1500 more in coins today then I do. I learned from it and it did cost me.
Thanks for your article. I didn’t realize a lot of these YouTube videos are designed to separate people from their money. I hope CT features this thread.
YouTube video thumbnails are designed like comic books to attract the attention of youngsters and older (but no wiser) folks alike - here is a sample (once the fish is hooked, the bad info flows
Which is reason enough for a lot of people not to travel to one. If you spend money traveling you almost have to buy unless you are going solely for a lecture or course.
As far as buying coins, big shows usually mean big bucks which are out of my retired pay scale. It is nice looking at rarities that one normally doesn't see at local shows.
I'm going for basically EVERY lecture I can fit in among my other responsibilities. I've given 9 lectures at national shows and attended countless, and I'm nominated this year for one of the service awards for the ANA.
I'll politely disagree on this one Kurt. You see, the travel expenses-- airfare, hotel, food, car rental or Uber, all add up. The way I look at it, that extra $800-$1K I could put towards a Coin I need for my collection. Now, that's not to say I don't love shows, but if I want a certain coin worth $3K, that coin including travel costs would now cost $4K. I do love attending them though, as I've said before, shows are an important aspect of the hobby. Hopefully in the next couple years I will make it out to FUN. Long Beach is currently my ATF show.
I have seldom paid (a few times) over $100 airfare each way. Philly has become an extremely competitive airfare market, with Trenton and Baltimore close by. Heck, just last week Frontier was offering a $100 ROUNDTRIP to Orlando on the "right" dates for FUN, from HARRISBURG, 20 minutes away, with traffic. If you know how to work International Drive in Orlando, and know when to book, you can snag <$50 hotel rooms. Uber? No. Car rental? No. Municipal bus. $3 - airport to International Drive hotels. Instead, I'm spending $90 roundtrip to New York on Amtrak, and I'll WALK from Penn Station to my hotel, AND from my home to Harrisburg Penn Station. It all depends what your luxury expectations are. One year at Dallas, I volunteered to be "bumped" from an overbooked Southwest plane. They gave me a $200 voucher. I had paid $49 for the flight.
Congratulations! I'm posting this in your honor. It is the first of the 3-medal sets that were produced for the ANA National Conventions from 1969-1982. The images are courtesy of Bob Campbell @robec Chris
I had no idea anyone graded these. Now I wonder why. I find the grade on the 19mm extraordinarily generous.
For the longest time, I couldn't get NGC to accept them for grading, but after hassling them for about 5 years at the NGC Luncheon at FUN, they finally caved in and graded all 42 (14 years) of the medals. 1969-1982 are the only years that the 3-medal sets were produced. Chris
You mean other than the ribboned variety, right? Because including those, there have been 3 varieties every year since, too.