Coin Show

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by dougsmit, Oct 15, 2021.

  1. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    Today I went to my first Coin Show since 2019. I bought five coins and am now in my normal phase of regretting the purchase of a couple of them. Since I have so few new coins this year, only one gets shown here today.

    One dealer of the three present with ancients had three sestertii of Nerva. I have always wanted one. Two were 'someone standing there' types and the third had a really messed up portrait. I bought the one with the better detail on the obverse (still not a great coin by any means). Within an hour of my purchase, another dealer present bought the other two.
    Nerva, AE sestertius / FORTVNA AVGVST
    rc1615aa2185.jpg

    There is another show in a few weeks but I have not decided about that one yet. Of the three dealers, one had raised his prices noticeably even on mediocre coins. The other two were more like I recall pre-Covid. One dealer said this was his first show since Covid started. Another said he had done seven shows in the last seven weeks.
     
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  3. ominus1

    ominus1 Well-Known Member

    fine portrait on that Doug...kool! glad to hear you're back in action! :)
     
  4. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    Jimmy Durante would be envious of that schnoz!
     
  5. Curtisimo

    Curtisimo the Great(ish)

    Nice coin Doug. Great centering and solid portrait. It’s good to see you posting new additions again. A Nerva Sestertius is on my list eventually.

    How was the show overall? Did you notice any difference in the number of dealers with ancient coins? I look forward to seeing your other purchases.

    I have posted my Nerva denarius many times in the past so... here it is again :D

    4625AC62-9633-4E2F-A31D-A1E223C6FDA3.jpeg
     
  6. Andres2

    Andres2 Well-Known Member

    Congrats Doug, I like it.
    Here's a bronze Nerva in a so so condition:

    P1180560.JPG
     
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  7. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    I asked two of the dealers how the show was for them. Both noted less traffic from people just looking but a higher percentage of people actually buying something. I asked the show organizer (old friend) who was there with ancients and he told me only the three I knew so I did not go around asking. I saw a couple others with lowest end coins but nothing of any possible interest. It was a small club sponsored show with mostly local dealers who all have day jobs. The three with ancients are retired and not having to feed families with the profits. How they survive doing the schedule and eating the junk food mystifies me. Most customers and some dealers wore masks. One had signs requesting customers wear masks. He had the best coins and prices and was usually busy. Things have changed.
     
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  8. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

    Like you, Doug, and probably most members, I have not been to a show for some time but I just got my third booster shot last week and a local club show has its monthly show coming up and this will be my first show in a while. Like a number of others it is a small show but I am pretty well known and recognized as a collector of ancients. I hope my old friends will be there because they used to hold any ancients they got and whether I wanted them or not they would show them to me and ask about attribution and probable selling price. I really felt good when they would ask me that and I really miss that numismatic camaraderie. Big frog in a little pond. By the way, i was able to become known as a collector of ancients because I would always stop at every table, every month, and ask it anyone had picked up any. Most of the time the answer was, No, but every once in a while, even those guys who were heavily into US coinage would say something like , "Yes, I did pick up a couple". Do that for a while and they will hold these coins for you to look at and for me, most of the fun part was attributing the coins for them and giving them a ball park figure for pricing them. And yes, sometimes I would buy one and since this is just a hobby for me, not a business venture, I would give them more than a fair price. It's not good to foul your own pond. Anyway, I am so looking forward to getting back there and I hope there won't be any empty chairs there.
     
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  9. eparch

    eparch Well-Known Member

    Is Nerva's the perfect Roman nose ? Some portraits show a long straight nose (which I thought was the definition of a Roman nose) and some, like mine below, have a kink in them

    upload_2021-10-17_9-43-44.png

    IMP NERVA CAES AVG P M TR P COS III AVG, laureate head right
    / FORTVNA AVGVST, Fortuna standing left, holding rudder and cornucopiae.


    RIC II 60; BMCRE 107; BN 72; Cohen 67.
     
  10. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    That is a fine nose. While there will always be the standard grading considerations for wear, strike and surface, we seem to have a special consideration for Nerva's nose. My denarius is only fine for wear but at least VF+ for nose. I do believe that my new sestertius would have considerably more appeal and market value if it had a better nose.
    rc1600bb0377.jpg
     
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  11. Marsman

    Marsman Well-Known Member

    I miss the coin shows in The Netherlands. I Liked to go there and meet the few others who are interested in ancient coins. No one around my family and friends show even the lightest interest in my hobby :(

    Beautiful sestertius Doug !
    Still looking for an affordable Nerva sestertius to complete the five good emperors in sestertii.
    Have this one though :)

    32677DD0-9CC5-48A2-9D63-48E54FB4CB72.jpeg



    Nerva as
    Nerva As
    Rome mint
    Obv. IMP NERVA CAES AVG P M TR P COS III P P, laureate bust of Nerva right
    Rev. FORTVNA AVGVST / S [-] C, Fortuna standing left, holding a rudder in her right hand & cornucopia in her left hand.
    27 mm / 10.87 gr
    RIC 83
     
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  12. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    I have not been to a show since January of 2008. Tempus fugit.
     
  13. Sulla80

    Sulla80 Well-Known Member

    Congrats on the Nerva & return to coin shows, @dougsmit. It would probably make and interesting thread "why I regret purchasing this coin?" I can think of many categories: "not as nice as I initially thought", "not the variant I had imagined", "why did I think that price was reasonable", "why didn't I notice that obvious flaw", "why didn't I examine more carefully".... or in the case of this coin: "Does this make any sense in my collection?"

    Here's a coin of Trajan, who had a much less interesting nose than Nerva. This coin is not a Roman Republican/first century BC coin.
    Trajan AE As Salus.jpg
    Roman Imperial, Trajan Æ As (10.45g, 27.5mm, 6h), Rome, struck AD 103 - AD 111
    Obv: IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P, laureate bust right, slight drapery
    Rev: SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI, Salus, draped, seated left on throne, with patera in extended right hand feeding snake coiled up round lighted altar; resting left arm on arm of throne
    Ref: RIC Trajan 515 As
     
    Last edited: Oct 17, 2021
  14. Ryro

    Ryro Trying to remove supporter status

    Congrats Doug! I need a Nerva sest and your new coin is a beauty.
    I recall that you don't do auctions nor fleebay and had me worried that you were finished collecting:nailbiting:
    I look forward to seeing some of your other purchases and hope that you do go to the show in a few weeks:)
    Here's my Nerva:
    share4852618574022572099.png
     
  15. Thomas R Reynolds

    Thomas R Reynolds Active Member

    I spent several months preparing for my first coin show in 2 years. Got my lists together, saved as much money as I could. cancelled my appointments, etc. Drove 35 miles all the while excited and thinking of what I was going to purchase, got in the front door of the Convention Center and whoa and behold here was a huge sign quoting "Coin Show is Cancelled". That was it. The only explanation. I was quite upset. Another show coming in January. Hopefully that would be open. (show that was cancelled was in Ocean City, Maryland end of September).
     
    Last edited: Oct 17, 2021
  16. PeteB

    PeteB Well-Known Member

  17. nicholasz219

    nicholasz219 Well-Known Member

    The ANA was very much like what you describe, @dougsmit. Same dealers, mostly same coins as pre Covid with 100% or more markup. I struggled to spend a very modest budget.

    The headcounts overall were very light in my opinion but it did look like the people there were seriously buying. It did look like a lot of dealers buying from other dealers though and this was day three of the show.
     
  18. Nvb

    Nvb Well-Known Member

    I laughed out loud at ‘someone standing there types’…

    Glad you got your Nerva Sestertius.
    One heck of a shnoz on that guy…
    I wonder if he could have given this world record holder a run. I’d say the side profile is pretty comparable tbh

    upload_2021-10-18_1-49-59.jpeg
     
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  19. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    When you collect generally, many coins make sense. The question is whether you want a coin that is available now or want to wait and see if something better shows up. Upgrading is expensive since dealers will rarely give even half what you paid. I have resold some coins for less than I paid thirty years ago so I do not buy things I don't like. The Nerva should be a keeper for me but I would like it better without the reverse problems. Price? Yes, sometimes you take a day and go to a show and decide to pay too much to avoid going home empty handed. Since coin photography is important to me, I tend to 'fall out of love' easily with coins that resist my efforts to get a good photo. Light is bad at some shows and I was too lazy to examine more carefully with a light I had in my bag. That was not very smart. The other 'problem' that comes up is buying something you forgot you already had or thinking that you were upgrading only to discover that your old coin was better. Rushing to look at too many coins does not pay off. All coins have some good points and some not so good. After you buy a coin, the faults can seem more troubling on some coins and less on others. Tell which is which in advance is a skill I have not perfected.
     
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  20. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

     
  21. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

    Whether it's at a show or on line what I most look for in a coin is its appearance. I like my coins with a smooth surface, if bronze, then light in color. If I take pleasure from looking at the coin, handling it, then for me it is a good acquisition. Honest wear does not much concern me, just a sign of all those ancient folk who spent it at the taberna. if it looks nice in my hand at the show, it will look even nicer in my tray at home.
     
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