Big Coin Show Aggravation

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Last time I went to Long Beach, all but one coin I bought was under $600. Outside of the “big” tables (Legend,etc.) There are plenty of $3-400 coins at major shows.

Granted, if you’re looking for a specific $3-400 coin, you might not see it. Sometimes they’re not in the main display cases. Sometimes they are. You have to look around and ask.

 

CoinFacts is a good site to watch. If you look up a coin, they sometimes show dealers that are trying to sell that exact coin. You can contact that dealer and ask if they plan to be at a show you are going to.
https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1922-no-d-1c-strong-reverse-bn/3285

 

One other thing that works for me. When I run into good friends, I'll ask them to watch for what I'm looking for. I sometimes do the same for them. Last year at Fun, a good friend took me to a few coins he knew I would want.

 

You buy what you collect. Sometimes you buy small, sometimes you buy larger.

 

I go to 1-2 major shows and 1-2 local small shows per year. I have my short want list, but my expectation is I won't find the coins at a reasonable price. Most of my purchases are via auctions, especially pricier coins. I often look at lots for upcoming auctions at major shows.

So why go to shows? Three reasons: looking at coins, socializing and learning. I often meet old friends and make new friends. Some are collectors, some are dealers, some are both. Great to catch up with them and sometimes share a meal. The learning aspect at shows is huge. Yes, sometimes learning occurs at exhibits and presentations. But most of my learning is done by walking around and talking to dealers and other collectors. Many dealers, if they don't have customers at their table, will talk to you at length. Dealers know a lot about pure numismatics, but also, by necessity, a huge amount about the commercial aspects of coins ... sources, pricing, negotiating, dealing with TPGs and more. I've learned a huge amount about TPGs from a dealer with a reputation for being crusty and arrogant. You just have to catch him in the right mood to get him to open up.

Dealers vary a lot in their knowledge. Some might as well be selling nuts and bolts for all they know about numismatics; others have written books on the subject. It doesn't take long to determine which ones can teach you and which ones can't.

Another way of learning at major shows is to look at auction lots, including coin series that you aren't familiar with and don't currently collect. One aspect is learning to grade better. Pull a slab out of the box covering the grade with your thumb. GTG, then see if you were right. If far off, try to see why. Looking at auction lots is also a great way to get acquainted with areas of collecting you've never considered collecting. Never looked at US colonials or coins from Great Britain or ancient Greece or ...? Easy to have a quick look. In the auction lot viewing room, you get a nice seat at a table, often with a free beverage, and a nice light. The servers will bring you whatever you ask for. You have to ask by lot number, but catalogs are available. The server will bring an entire box of coins that includes the lot you requested. So you get to look at dozens of coins in addition to the specific lot. You can look at as many lots as you want. Be sure to take a reference book or two when you go into the viewing room. I take the RedBook and 1 or 2 others.

So, if I spend to fly and get lodging for a major show and don't buy anything, am I disappointed? Not at all! Main purpose was to look at coins, socialize and learn ... any buying is just a bonus.

Cal

 

Nope. And it seems very unlikely that this will ever happen. It's just not worth the time for every dealer to input every coin they are bringing to the show into a common system for that one show - and then what, update it every time a coin changes hands while they're trying to do business? I'm sorry to say, but this is just an unrealistic expectation.

Yes, this is exactly what you have to do. I do this for the two weeks prior to any big show. I find the list of dealers and I contact/look through online catalogs for about half a dozen dealers that I think are most likely to have the material I am looking for. Whatever I find, I ask them to put on hold for me and bring to the show. Right now I have three dealers holding material for me to look at at Whitman. Without contacting them in advance it is likely that the dealers wouldn't even necessarily bring this material to the show for me to find, as dealers almost never bring all their inventory with them to a show. So if you're not looking for something extremely popular (in which case you'll probably find it anyway), without contacting dealers in advance, you're putting yourself at a major disadvantage.

 

If you want to avoid going online, I think contacting your regular dealers and perhaps new ones that you know will be at the show ahead of time is the best way to fly. Not every dealer brings all of their coins, but if they have the coin you are looking for, most will set it aside and bring it to the show for you to view if you just let them know before they leave for the show. We do this every single show for multiple customers. Also, if your dealer doesn't have it, they can hopefully create a want list for you. We do this as well. Hopefully I'm not going out of bounds here and being 'salesy', but Northeast Numismatics would do this for you. Right now we have a No D in XF and one in a details holder, but we get them in all the time.
Good luck!
Brian

 

@calcol, @Jaelus, @GDJMSP, @nencoin, ALL-

Brilliant feedback! Answers all my questions! Thank you!

 

I used to go regularly to small local/regional coin shows with a list of coins to search out. I don't anymore for a number of reasons.

I found that most of these shows had the same dealers year after year and most of the coins that weren't slabbed seemed identical to the ones I looked at previous years. I imagine the bigger shows are different but they usually don't bring with them the coins I'm usually interested in. Talking to some of the dealers who have a brick and mortar shop, they mentioned that they had what I was interested back at their shop. So what I would do is get a business card so I could contact them after the show.

It is nice to go to a show to look around but I usually get burned out quickly. There was a time in my younger days that since I had a wad of money in my pocket I had to come home with something. I always regretted that mindset later on when I no longer had the money to buy the coin(s) I really wanted when the opportunity arose.

 

Another good idea. Just go to the shows and collect business cards. Contact them at my leisure, there's no rush.

 

Yeah, one of the giveaways here is "do they have a significant amount of space dedicated to things that aren't coins, e.g. watches, other collectibles, etc." Don't overlook these tables, because you can find some gems or underappreciated coins there sometimes. There's a guy who comes to the local shows where I am who has a bunch of watches, jewelry, and other stuff, but also has a tray or 2 of ancient coins that I sometimes buy from.

Hmm! I'll have to seriously consider dropping by the Heritage viewing room at Long Beach next time I'm there. This sounds like fun!

All of this is true, but I don't think anybody has really contradicted any of it. Multiple posters have said not to count on finding this specific coin, and I don't think anybody mentioned "better prices" anywhere. Although, you can frequently get better than eBay prices by cutting eBay out of the deal -- but I don't think that's what's being referred to here.

 

Doesn't PCGS have an app whereyoucan locate coins by typing in your request and it tells you the table numbers wheretheyare located. This is/was offered at the largest shows. Don't expect this option at small shows. The next shows would be Baltimore/Whitman and the FUN show. Dealers sign up for this and it may be not be a fit for many of them. Call PCGS to see if they still offer this service.

 

It's called CoinSearch and will be in operation at Baltimore. See link. Cal

http://www.collectorscorner.com/marketnews/?name=CoinSearch

 

For a couple of years they had something at the ANA show where dealers could upload their inventory to a server and there was a kiosk close to the entrance where collectors or dealers could got to enter a coin and see who had it. But it was not widely used, and the dealers didn't/couldn't keep their inventory updated so it would quickly become out of date. So it only lasted two or three years.

 

@calcol That's the one I was referring to. Thanks for the help.

 

That's what I'm talking about. Now we're cookin with grease!!

 

Yeah, I could imagine that being way too much work for the dealers for way too little benefit.