(also posted on the CU forum, in a slightly different version. this is the "improved" one) I attended the Richmond, Va. Coin Show today for the second time. It was really nice outside, so I decided to limit myself to about 2 hours. I found free parking in historic Jackson Ward, and entered at the first door of the Convention Center with a “Coin Show” banner, whereupon I discovered that I was actually about 1 and a half blocks from the show room, inside the Center. Beep!Beep! A chauffer-driven electric shuttle appeared! Coin show? Asked the driver. Yep! I replied. Off we buzzed to the show entrance. My pilot was a member of the Richmond Coin Club, and this was a really nice service for them to provide. The show seemed fairly busy, in that I had to wait several minutes at some of the tables. It looked to me as if there were 60 or more vendors. There appeared to be a good deal of positive energy in the room, quite a few buyers, and also quite a few people bringing in coins to sell. My first stop was the Reeded Edge station, strategically located directly in front of the entrance. I was helped by Robbie (forum member Shortgapbob) who assisted me in satisfying my desire to own an Antietam Commemorative half. The choices were an NGC MS66 (white, with great luster) and a PCGS (green label) MS65, with subtle toning around the rims and a really nice skin. I settled on the PCGS, it just felt “right.” It also felt right, somehow, to buy this coin from a dealer based not far from Sharpsburg, where the battle was fought. The Reeded edge folks are very approachable, and have a nice selection of coins for the average collector, as well as some high-end beauties. A fellow standing next to me was trying to sell 3 gold dollars to the other Reeded Edge staffer. Eventually, they agreed on a deal for 2 of them, but the seller was dismayed to learn that the third coin was probably a counterfeit. He was amazed. (not a forum regular here, I guess!) The Wayne Herndon table was next door, and I window shopped their inventory. They had quite a few bust, seated, and Barber coins but I had about blown my budget with the Antietam. I strolled to a table staffed by an older gentleman, neatly attired in suit and tie! I suddenly felt a bit underdressed in my plaid shirt and jeans, but then I thought, “Hey, it’s not like he’s selling Brasher Doubloons or anything! “ A coin on his table caught my eye, it was a Panamanian Balboa from 1947, a bit dark, but with some lovely iridescent toning. It has a great design, and the price was the same as the silver dollars in other dealers’ junk boxes. He knocked a couple of bucks off the price before I even had a chance to pull out my wallet, and made change from a red tin box which he said once contained a first aid kit from WWI. I thought that was neat. Larry Briggs was there, with a large selection of coins, but I did not have a chance to speak to him, because he was in a complicated transaction with someone who had a lot of Morgans to sell. I’ve been looking for an 1840 SL dollar for a long time, and he had one in his case. It had a nice “circam” look to it and just a few marks, but was a lower grade than I wanted for my set. I admired it and moved on. Another dealer I spoke with was very happy with a large bullion sale he had made, as well as winning the pot in a poker game last night. It’s all good! A second dealer’s approach was heralded by the smell of fried food wafting in over my shoulder, from the tray of freshly cooked potato chips he was dipping into. He and the first dealer settled on the sale of some silver rounds the size of moonpies, after which I purchased a HT token, the one with the Merchant’s Exchange that also mentions the “tontine building” on it. The dealer was interested in my explanation of what a tontine was, and why belonging to one was not a very good idea unless you happened to be a sociopath. I wandered some more, and stopped by a table with some British Trade dollars. I’ve wanted one of those (along with a Indochina TD) to flesh out my Trade dollar collection. I wound up buying one in a 2x2 marked ‘xf’ but the coin looks uncirc to me, with a tiny obverse chop. Another great design. At another dealer’s table, I got to hold a raw “Wildman Taler,” another coin I intend to own someday. I find their crudeness fascinating, like folk art. I had a nice chat with Gary Groll, of Charlottesville, who sells Conder tokens and 18th. Century medals. He had some great specimens in his case,elegantlyl displayed, including a token mocking token collectors! It showed a man seated at a table covered in tokens, while behind him a figure approached holding a dunce cap ready to place it upon the collector’s head. For a brief instant I saw myself as the collector/capee, and my wife as the would-be capper. Just briefly. She tolerates my hobby. Next to me a youngster and his Dad were hatching a deal for some Weimar coins with a dealer out of Va. Beach whom I had dealt with last year. It was nice to see the dealer spending a lot of time with the Y.N. as he narrowed down his choices. His Dad pretty much stayed back and let him negotiate on his own. Col. Ellsworth, of Butternut coins, had a large display of early copper and seemed to be constantly busy. I didn't have any large cents on my wish list at the moment, so I moved on. I didn’t see Rich Uhrich or Gene Bruder, who were there last year. There was an ongoing door-prize raffle, and activities for Boy Scouts and others. I didn’t check to see about the lectures, but there was to be an auction tonight. I may return tomorrow to look for some additions to my circulated SLQ collection. All told, an enjoyable couple of hours.
Nicely detailed coin show report. Lengthly, but OK. Noticed you said also posted on the CU forum. What is that? Free parking? All the coin shows I go to have free parking. Sounds like that place if pretty big if you needed a shuttle to get from one place to another. How often are those shows? Sounds like you'll be going to them all the time.
CU forum= Collector's Universe= PCGS US Coins forum. The Richmond Convention Center is a huge enclosed space, from the entrance I used it was a good 2 city blocks to the show. I parked in a residential area, if I had used the pay deck it would have saved about a block of walking. They have a show there once a year, and I will be back next time. Here is my Sunday update: Sunday September 20, 2009 4:51 PM (NEW!) ()Rich Uhrich explained on the PCGS forum that he was attending a show in Pa. at the same time as the Richmond show, otherwise he would have been there.) Thanks, Rich, I hope you had a good show, at least you didn't have to deal with the I-95 traffic. Maybe next year. I returned today, and the hoped for post-church post-lunch rush didn't really materialize, although things seemed to pick up a bit after 3pm strangely enough, as people were starting to pack up. My first stop, once again, was at the Reeded Edge table. This time I remembered my list of SLQ's I need for my circ set (I probably could have remembered the ones I DO have, all 5 of them!). Robbie helped me find what I needed, and I ended up with a nice, natural looking group including a 19-s. I meandered over to Col. Ellsworth's table (butternut coins) and had a few seconds to drool over the chain cents as they were packed away. While I was looking at the SLQ's, a fellow walked up to the table and showed the Col. a coin he had dug up near Williamsburg. I had a look at it too. It was a 1794 half dime, and appeared to be in vf condition with nice surfaces and no damage that I could see. It was suggested that he join the PCGS collector society and send the coin in for grading and authentication. He said that he plans to trade it for a "really nice Civil War artifact." If it were mine, it wouldn't be going anywhere! I met 'Doc' Yancho of Rare Coins of Raleigh, who was nice enough to give me some pointers on SLQ grading, his specialty, and I picked up a couple of more common dates for my set. I may have him keep an eye peeled for some of the tougher coins. Larry Engle, of Central Virginia Coin in Charlottesville, showed me a binder with some really interesting US tokens- mainly later stuff- but I couldn't resist buying one of the large brass tokens from the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, and one from the 1933 Century of Progress. Both cost me about $55. We swapped some stories about a really bizarre little auction place up on Rt. 29. I look forward to seeing him again. As I left, i caught the electric shuttle car to carry me the 1 or 2 blocks INSIDE the Convention Center to get to the exit closest to my car. The driver and I waited for an elderly gent in a wheelchair and his son, as they needed a lift to the block-away elevator to get to their hotel. The Dad was moving VERY slowly due to Parkinson's, but was able to get in and out of the shuttle with very little help. His son explained that 3 years ago his Dad was still playing basketball and singlehandedly took down a huge tree right next to their home! Most cases of P.D. that I see are slowly progressive, so to be practically immobilized in such a short time would be devastating, I imagine, yet here was this fine old gentleman having a good day at the coin show with his boy, although now he was the one who needed to be looked after. Isn't it a fine hobby that can carry across generations like this, and still be accessible to those of fragile constitution? Thanks to the Virginia Numismatic Association for organizing such a well-run show, with the accompanying talks and auction, and for providing the indoor shuttle service, which proved to be much more than a convenience in some cases!
Great show report! I love lengthy detailed reports like this, however, there is a slight problem: no pictures!!!
Event parking for the show was $6 in the lot adjacent to the Convention Center. I parked next to the door on level three that connects the garage to the Center so I never went outside in the big bad world. As a collector of ancients, the show was less satisfying since the ancients and foreign section contained four dealers and the handful of other dealers scattered about with any ancients offered little. I have never been to a show with wider aisles or more empty space due to the massive room it was in. It was a pleasure to navigate and exceeding well run. While the dealers were fewer than I'd see at Baltimore, the ones that were there had some items of interest and it was good to see old friends. The big disappointment was the sparce attendance at the lecture on Roman coins but I knew well that Richmond is no hotbed of interest in ancient coins.
