Preparing Yourself for the FUN Coin Show in Orlando - Doug Winter

Preparing Yourself for the FUN Coin Show in Orlando
BY Doug Winter – Raregoldcoins.com

Can hardly believe the FUN show begins next week! Goldbully posted this really helpful article on the CU forum, so I thought I'd post it here too. I will list the highlights, but click on the link below to read the entire article - for those of you attending any large coin show, it is well worth the read!

http://www.coinlink.com/News/general-collecting/preparing-yourself-for-the-fun-coin-show/

1. Bring a good lamp.

2. Pull the trigger on really cool coins.

3. Take an hour lunch break every day.

4. Have a game plan.

5. Look at auction lots.

6. Come as early in the week as you can.

7. Be safe.

8. Call your favorite dealer(s) before the show starts. Remind them what you are looking for and to hold any important coins for you until you arrive.

9. If you bring your family, keep them off the bourse floor.

10. Don’t forget to bring pricing notes.

And don't forget to stop by my table (#566 in the Budget Section waaaay in the back) and say hi!!! Todd (bluccphotos) will also be hanging out at my table so you can see/meet him as well!

 

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Charmy, I wish I could go... you need to come to a Louisville Kentucky show!

 

I really wish I could go, but that one is just beyond me. However, you and I will meet (again?) soon.

 

Nice article. Thanks for posting it.

It did beg a question about....

Bring a good lamp? Is Doug talking about dealers or collectors?

I never even thought of lugging around a lamp similar to the one I view coins under.

See you there...Mike

 

I wouldn't actually bring a lamp, but perhaps a lighted loupe. But they do have very small battery lamps or flashlights that stand up which might be useful. The point is that the lighting at many coin shows isn't significant enough to see all the details, especially hairlines, scratches, and flaws of a coin, as well as it's natural luster, so an extra portable lighting source would be helpful. Sometimes, the dealer may have a better light source that you can borrow.

Personally, as a dealer, I have a small halogen lamp that I bring to shows that I use when I'm buying coins from vest pocket dealers. I wouldn't mind loaning it to a (potential) customer if they ask. I also have a lighted loupe that I take when I'm "shopping" for coins for this very reason as well.

 

I still hold out hope I might fly in for a day and if so, I will definitely stop by to say hello, and thank Todd for his photos as well. Two things conspiring against me: 1) cashflow and 2) work. I wish FUN was a little later in the year...

 

9. If you bring your family, keep them off the bourse floor.

The wife and I have an understanding. If I promise not to make her accompany me to a coin show then I don't have to accompany her to Jo Annes, Michaels, or AC Moore's....

 

That's a great point about the missing of problems under show lighting.

At FUN, I think in 2007, I purchased a few large cents at FUN. I got them home only to notice a pair were quite hairlined -- something I've spotted in the past on the bourse but somehow missed. Luckily, the dealer I purchased them from was wonderful and allowed me to return them. Knowing that most sales on the bourse are considered done deals, I never forgot that, and I continue to purchase coins from him to this day. His name is Doug Bird.

Lesson learned. Pay attention to lighting, but stick to stand dealers who stand behind their coins -- particularly if you are inexperienced in bourse transactions. What's immediately obvious at home under loupe or lens, is often missed on the floor.

Have fun...Mike

p.s. I now carry one of those new LED flashlights that makes hairlines stand out under a loupe (it's harsh like a halogen). It really helps and it's tiny and REALLY bright. I'll show the flashlight to you when I stop by.

 

The nemesis of every married man!!! :bigeyes:

 

For my aging brain, I find it handy to print out the map of the bourse floor with the table numbers and make a list of dealers with their table numbers that I want to visit. You can find the map and list at: www.funtopics.com The FUN.org link given in the coinlink story does not seem to be correct.

 

Here's the Floor Plan: http://www.funtopics.com/Dealer_info/floor_plan_2010.pdf

And Here's the Dealer Directory: http://www.funtopics.com/Dealer_info/Dealer_floor_dir.html