Drove up from down state Thursday afternoon, about a 2 hour drive. Arrived a little after 2:00 on opening day. I had heard the tables were sold out, 180 tables. I knew everyone was anxious to get back in the full swing of things. (They held shows last year with plenty of precautions in place, but was not fully attended). I went on opening day hoping to get first choice of my want list, as I entered the Bourse it was surprisingly active. After making my rounds, I soon discovered it was mostly dealers to dealers transactions, trying to refill their inventory. Ran into many dealers without tables, there to buy, buy buy, all hungry for more coins for their customers. A lot dealers were firm on their better grade coins, due to they said they can not find replacements. Stayed about 3 hours, wife was getting hungry........time to leave. Headed back first thing Friday morning, atmosphere was a bit more relaxed, by 2:00 I had spoken with about dozen dealers, all reported they were having a good to great show. I took a break late afternoon, went back to hotel and took a power nap. Needed to get a little rest before the auction at 6:00 Friday night. The auction was long......over 1000 items up for grabs. Almost all items going above catalog estimates. I had 5 coins in the auction, 3 went above catalog listing estimates. The big, big action of the evening was the Proof Philippines coins. What a suprise to everyone there! Over 25 different lots available, all went for amazing prices. Just a few examples: Lot 156: $1300-$1500 est = realized $5,000.00 Lot 157: $725-$825 est = realized $2,500.00 Lot 158: $350-$425 est = realized $1,100.00 Lot 159: $600-$800 est = realized $1,200.00 Lot 160: $700-$800 est = realized $1,900.00 The rest of the lots all had similar results. If you have any Proof Phillippines.......must be a great time to sell! By 10:30, they were on lot 700. I was ready to call it a day. When it all was said and done, I picked up 2 coins at the Bourse and 1 at the auction. Will be headed back up in November to do it all again.
I just hope that this doesn't turn into a super-spreader event, given the prevalence of Covid in Missouri right now. Last thing our hobby needs is bad publicity!
