Jacks Official ANA show thread

"Great Thread Buddy, Great Thread..."

 

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Yeah, I was calling to see if you wanted to do lunch, but you didnt answer. lol
Oh well.

It was fun, I made a few purchases, of which I will post Sunday.

 

OK, all rested up and ready to cap off my Saturday.....

In a very reflective mood, you will see why. I'll get the buying out of the way quick. Added a bunch of stuff to my pockets, both raw and plastisized, yes, I bought a bunch of slabbers today. Spent my money again, not going back tommorow, seen it all 3 times and whats left I have no interest in.

I could not help but notice the amount of "general public new/no -bies" lining up the supply table buying Whitman folders, 2x2's, standing in line to buy state quarters, kids eyes wild with excitement looking at the displays, carrying around the YN treasure hunt forms.....collecting is healthy, a good sign. The Pres Dollar booth ( I think it was the actual mint booth, not sure ) had a constant line of traffic and generated ALOT of interest.

I saw the 1913 Liberty Nickel again today. Yep, it's a nickel. Thats what I got out if, same as last time. I felt cheated, lol....where's the thrill...

Had a good 15 min with David Lange during a slow time at the NGC booth, actually all the Big4 TPG's looked slower today than yesterday. I can announce with pride and joy...my avatar passed the muster, Lange called it a true GEM 65RD, and urged me to submit it, saying the show light is misleading ( see, an expert agrees with me ) and original color " could" be an issue on these early Lincolns....but he said mine should be no prob a gem slabber for sure. Awesome. A true Ebay cherry pick story.

Now , on to the "meat" of my Saturday.

I brought with me a bunch of raw Morgans, about 8 decent coins in flips, ungraded and no inserts with "my" grade or price. Raw as raw gets. What soon followed scared the "H" out of me.

I will have to say, it was an experience I will not soon forget, and that EVERYONE needs to do on occasion. I will admit, it has been ages since I have tried to sell to a dealer across the table, and when I read the threads about how healthy it is to keep you "grounded in reality", I would think to myself " bahhh humbuggg" selling coins for profit is easy, whats the big deal?

Well, the first thing I learned ( and I'm being a tad sarcastic here ) is: ALL raw coins are junk. Spend em. Melt them. They are so worthless, why do you even own them? Something is wrong with them or you would have SURELY had them slabbed !!!

Ok, enough of that. Now, there are several ways a dealer can buy across the table or decline to buy. The gentleman way to pass on avg 63 Morgans, common as dirt, would be the " No Thank You, these are not what I handle" or " There is nothing special here, I would not be a strong buyer on these". I did get a cpl responses like that. I had a few that tempted my patience and made me bite my tongue. Some outright rude. I will not name names.

I was lucky enought to get from them about 80% of what I paid, because I had took them in a package deal and paid a percentage of bid myself.

The experience really opened my eyes to the fact that one day, perhaps my daughter will be in those shoes, and THATS what scared the H outta me.

One needs to understand, when you are selling, knowledge is king and be prepared to get SOOOO lowballed it borders on criminality. My daughter will get RIPPED when selling my collection IF I DO NOT PROPERLY prepare her or leave preperations FOR her. I tend to believe a blind walkin to a B&M will offer same results.

This is where consignment auctions are the obvious choice. The fee and costs associated will GREATLY raise the chance that the coins will sell for close to what they are worth. Of course, if you have junk, it will not really matter, but you folks with nice collections, carefully assembled and with an eye for quality, really need to consider this.

I spent the rest of the day with many thoughts in my head. It's a dog eat dog arena, and today I think the score is " Lions 1, Christians 0 " LOL, I saw alot of folks getting hurt unknowingly, as the general public really wandered in with their little jars and bags full of coins to sell. Like dumping a bag of goldfish in my aquarium full of Cichlids....I felt the pain. $20 silver and $1000 gold really helps to get them folks down to the show, yannow?

Having spent myself broke again, a bit of dissapointment set in after my experiment gave me a whack of reality to the side of the head, my lack of wonder and awe looking at a 1913 Lib nickel from 6 inches away, and seeing piles after piles and stacks ( no pun, Stacks had some nice stuff ) of generic Morgans and gold in plastic ( alot of them with stickers) , it was time to leave.

The biggest coin show in my Arizona lifetime was over for me, I grew mentaly more in 2 days than I have in 5 years of coin clubs, local shows and as a VP dealer on the bay. With the money show winding down, the spring warming up, and the thrill of the weekend fading, I drove home in a very reflective mood. I made some new friends, met some great Cointalkers, Monkeyman, Magman, GDJMSP, Jd White, Mark Feld, THANKS to all of you for making my weekend one to long remember.

Bring on the summer Arizona heat, bring the dust back to our little town, the dealers will pack up and will move on to the next show, and Phoenix will return to normal. I will look forward to April and a trip to Michigan, the big MSNS show,oops, I mean family vacation... just a coincidence I choose that week......ya think?

EDIT: I cannot finish this thread without thanking and giving a high 5 to the Mesa Coin Club and the ANA. Smooth and flawless...well done folks, I am proud to be a member of both.

 

I also felt cheated on the Nickel... I mean, you'd think it'd be glorious or something... but its a nickel with a "3" instead of a "2" at the end... lol but anyways.
There were so many Morgans and Gold there... more than I want to see really, haha. Its like I never really want to see a Morgan again!
Also, Jack, sending you a PM now with a brilliant idea.
edit: by now I mean tomorrow, lol.

 

is this just the beginning for megashows in Arizona?

 

great report. i really did enjoy it. makes me wish i didnt live across the country and i could have been there. well done sir, well done.

 

Jack (and everyone else that contributed)
Thanks for the great reports and tibits of information on the ANA Money show.
I have a few questions:
1) Was there a lot of world coin dealers?
2) With all the talk about so many Morgan Dollars ... in general was the pricing showing a positive trend.
3) Does Doug wear his Outback hat to these type functions or is he more conservative when out at such a big numismatic event as this ????
4) Did you take any photos ???

 

There were alot of world coin dealer, ancients and paper money as well, more so than any other show I have attended. I took no photos, and I paid little attention to Morgans, sorry.

YES, I was wondering the same thing....GDJMSP looks just like his avatar, and yes, he wears the hat and glasses, lol.

 

thank you so much for taking the time to report on the show. hope i can go someday. how much were common raw morgans going for (the ones they pile in buckets or boxes)? what about the ms 63 morgans? have the prices remained the same and is any of the quality 63 or 64's emerged since the rise in precious metal prices? how about higher grade type coins? did you notice if higher quality nice items were being brought out due to the metal increases? sorry for all the questions, but i greatly appreciate your time...thank you again..........steve

 

Great thread Arizona Jack! Thanks for the reports and insights.

 

Jack,

Thanks for the great thread. It was very informative and something I hope everyone reads! I think people really should pay attention to your wrap-up post as it is an excellent reminder of what you are in for if someone were to sell your collection to a dealer. I was at a small local show this weekend and witnessed some of the same behaviour. I wanted to scream - sell it to me.....

Anyways - I wish I could have come out there and maybe someday I will get to go to one of these big shows. I bet it was a really great experience - especially to meet all of the folks you mentioned - that would have made it worth it regardless of the coins!!!

Best Regards

Darryl

 

Wow ! Quite a rocket ship ride, Jack. Wish I could have been there. Thanks for the trip report.

 

...never mind. See Dougs images below.
..JD

 

Way to not include me in that picture... lol

 

Hehe yeah.
Jack was supposed to call me when he met up with some others, but then I guess his phone died. :hammer:

Also, that was taken Friday, I was there Saturday.

 

Well, I followed the posting ruiles that state 200 pixels wide, but I guess -the- moderator can post whatever size he wants... eh?
:whistle:

 

I think that's for an Avatar?... :mouth: