Decided to head down to Portland after work on Friday night for the PNNA show as I had never been. The venue was nice and our room had a cool view. The weather was great too (nice to not have to drive in pouring rain as is so often the case around here.) Saturday morning started with a trip to the post office to mail some coins to a fellow CT member and an eBay customer, which ended up being a nice diversion as we got to drive through some of the lovely old neighborhoods nearby with fall foliage still intact. Entered the show which seemed to have a fairly good turnout, but not overwhelming crowds. I had been there less than half an hour when I came upon this coin, which immediately spoke to me. A conversation I had recently with @physics-fan3.14 came to mind where he had shared that pulling the trigger early on in a show can actually add and not detract enjoyment to the day even if you sap your budget right away. With that in mind, we negotiated an agreeable price and I pulled the trigger on this beautiful Morgan. (Video:here) My images really don't do this coin justice- in hand the luster is intense, the colors complex with a fantastic original lavender toned skin on the obverse and blazing reverse. The dealer gave me his card and asked that if I ever want to sell it that I contact him first as he loved it and would buy it back. Always nice to hear. At this point my budget for the show had been depleted by 70% just like that, but I felt a great sense of relief at having found at least one coin I loved after having made the drive down. I went from table to table conversing with familiar faces from other regional shows I've attended... saw some really beautiful world coins as well which I hope to learn more about as time goes on. Nice that there are dealers who specialize in these. I am more of a type coin guy in general, so I was on the hunt for one that made my heart go pitter-patter. There was a dealer with a fantastic raw toned bust half set in a Wayte Raymond album with some jaw dropping coins, but those cost more than I brought to begin with. The next coin that called my name was surprisingly another Morgan dollar, which I didn't hesitate to pull the trigger on. (Video:here) The semi-PL fields and toning create a cameo appearance that is right up my alley. This coin is also remarkably well struck for an 1883-O. Haven’t checked the VAM yet. I spent the rest of the afternoon searching for coins for my little girl, who is growing in her excitement of numismatics. The trick is to purchase cool inexpensive coins that I don't have to worry about her losing as she likes to keep them in her own album (and looks at me like Gollum if I try to store them for safekeeping.) Since showing her this coin (which is worth your time...scroll down a bit on the linked page to view a video) she always says “Daddy, I need the sword coin.” The coin in the video is one of a kind, so I can’t make that happen, but after some looking I did find her a coin with a sword on it (1854 half penny token). I also saw a great Lorraine sword coin (@lordmarcovan) but at 5 she is not ready for $75-$100 coins just yet. I felt like my final haul was solid and she was floored when I brought them home last night: I particularly love these copper rounds and hope they will start an appreciation of classic US coinage for her... we'll see. One of her favorites was this Canadian Christmas silver round with a hologram snowman image: This was the only interactive coin I found at the show and I really wish more folks would carry these as I think it's great to draw kiddos in with stuff like this, even if their tastes refine further in the future. Even at $20 a pop, I’d have bought a couple more if they were available. Last, I sold a couple coins for fair prices to a courteous dealer who was kind enough to point me to a bust half specialist first to ensure they weren't rare varieties before buying them from me (I knew they were common Overtons, but never hurts to double check.) Great to meet honest folks. As a side note, since I am currently on the lookout for a draped bust dollar or a flowing hair half dollar I viewed lots of these coins on the floor closely. I was really surprised at how many of these early silver coins with quite blatantly cleaned surfaces are sitting in straight graded Top-2 holders even up into XF. I understand we are talking about 200+ year old coins here, but it was weird seeing that dead glossy circulated silver look on early classic coinage which makes it so obvious. It just underscores how important it is to educate oneself before spending big money on these scarcer type coins. Overall it was a great day and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The best part was seeing my daughter smiling, but I’m glad I got something cool too.
Great report and some cool finds! It's nice to hear that your developing another future collector. That Franklin looks promising as well.
I look forward to giving this report the full read it deserves when I am not on a poor mobile connection.
Nice report. I wish that there were shows close enough to me so I wouldn't have to drive more than 4 hours. The only trips I can report on are trips to Walmart and the bowling alley.
Thanks all, it was a good time. Hunting for her sword coin actually got me looking at some cool medieval stuff too so we’ll see if I finally dip my toe in the dark side and buy one.
Indeed! So far so good. The Franklin is pretty cool, I think it’s AT but she loves it. Was only $15 so can’t lose....
I wasn't sure if that yellow color was the photo or actually on the coin (if it was, then I'd lean towards AT as well). Still that looks like one of those where even if it is AT, it's still attractive. Plus at $15 (with the Capital Holder), you can't go wrong.
Yeah the obverse actually looks pretty solid, the reverse is splotchy and less so. I’m glad my kid won’t call me out for it. (...Yet. Lol)
