My Baltimore Whitman Coin Expo recap (November 19, 2021): Coin shows are back, baby!

I attended the Baltimore Whitman Coin Expo today (Friday, November 19, 2021) and was on the bourse continuously from about 10:30 AM to a bit past 2 PM, with no lunch break. This was my first show since the COVID pandemic started, and it felt good to be back. The number of dealers and crowd size seemed similar to what I remember from pre-pandemic. Masks were required (as per Baltimore city ordinance) but there didn't seem to be very strict enforcement; most people did wear their masks, though some dealers only put them on when a customer came close to their tables. Most tables had an average of 1 customer at any given moment. Most of the dealers that I remember were present. Don Zauche's widow was there, still selling coins under her late husband's name. Harlan J. Berk still has his $15 "junk" box, in case @furryfrog02 wants to stop by tomorrow. A few dealers I spoke to said they had seen a big increase in online orders during the pandemic, which helped them greatly when the coin shows were closed. It was overall a good show for me, with some very nice purchases plus some cheap but fun coins, although I didn't find anything I'd consider truly amazing. Here are some quick photos of what I bought (apologies for the poor photos, better ones will come when I get around to full write-ups of the coins).


First, I ended up buying these 6 coins from Allen G. Berman. The Sasanian drachm is from the Zarang mint, which I think is scarce (and even if it isn't, the name starts with a Z, and that's cool, too). The Parthian drachm of Orodes II, in addition to having a nice portrait, has the very rare T mintmark for Traxiane- definitely a hard-to-find coin. I got the small Kushan bronze because these smaller-module coins (which are either AE drachms, units, or quarter units depending on which reference you like) are harder to find than the larger versions. I also picked up two small Parthian bronzes and an Elymais bronze, just because.


I bought four coins from Tamco Numismatics. The Islamic figural bronze with horseman obverse is from the Seljuqs of Rum, and a type I've been seeking for a while. The Hormazd IV drachm is a decent portrait and from the mint of Yazd (which also has a Z in it, therefore worth buying). The two Parthian drachms of Phraates IV are both Nisa mint (scarce) which I picked out of a pile of the far more common Mithradatkart issue. Also, the elongated flan of the rightmost coin shows the ends of the diadem behind the king's head- these are usually off the edge of the coin, but because of the oval flan shape they are visible here. The Khusro II drachm and Byzantine bronze of Justin II and Sophia are from The Time Machine and are pleasant, middle-of-the-road coins. (Also, I photographed the Byzantine coin's obverse upside-down on purpose, it definitely wasn't just a silly mistake on my part.) Finally, the Yazdegard drachm is from Alexander Scorupsky and has a CNG provenance; I bought it for the unusually nice state of preservation.



Finally, I spent a bit of time picking out modern coins from the junk box of a world coin dealer whose name I forget. All of these are from the $2 per coin box, except the holed one on the second row which was $5. I already have pretty good ideas on the ID for most of these, but feel free to share your thoughts.

Overall, I had a great time today and am very glad that the Baltimore coin show is back. I got some very nice coins, had friendly conversations with many dealers (only one of whom noticed my "Squid Game" t-shirt, unfortunately) and managed to stay within my budget. I look forward to hearing from other people who attended-how well did your experiences match mine? What treasures did you find?

 

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Nice write-up and good to hear that it was a good show. The same is being said on the PCGS boards.

Great looking coins from the pics. Of course, I like the Parthians best.

 

I will be there tomorrow morning! FFIVN is excited and has his list ready to go for what he wants to look for. My daughter wanted to come too. She's 5 but loves looking at coins with her dad and brother. Hopefully we can find some treasures for everyone

 

I look forward to seeing your coin buys.

 

Question...Don Zauche wasn't he a doctor and his wife a nurse turned coin dealers?
I seem to recall my wife and I years ago stopping by his table..

 

He wasn't a doctor that I know of, unless he had a PhD. He studied Classical History or Archaeology, or some such thing that you might expect from a ancient coin dealer.

 

I recall a doctor but you maybe correct...he was a good size dealer,lots of quality specimens?
Heavy mustache

 

I don't ever remember him with a moustache, but yes, he always had a substantial inventory. One time I sat down at his table in Baltimore and stayed there until I had spent all my money! Totally worth it.

His wife Marcella sets up now - I talked to her for a while in Gettysburg. She really doesn't know enough about the market, but the other dealers were helping her out, which was nice. She told me she simply intends to sell off his stock and then close the business.

 

Thanks John Im thinking it was him I remember. As I recall he was probably one of the biggest dealers selling Ancients. I know my wife and his had a nice conversations .

 

Didn’t Don have a small beard?
R.I.P.

 

Sorry to detail the thread. Those are some great new coins @Parthicus ! I"m glad you had a good show. I'm looking forward to getting back to the Baltimore Expo one of these days.

 

I bought two coins.
Images tomorrow.

 

Don, I recall, taught high school German before retirement. My first coin from him was in 1990 making him a relative newcomer compared to many of my favorite dealers. Because of his price structure, he was a major source to me. My catalog shows that I still own 406 coins from him but I have been selling a lot of my cheaper coins (many through JAZ's CT sales) which included many from Don. He was a great guy and is missed.
The first:


The last show I saw him provided a dozen new coins to me including this Pescennius Niger of Caesarea.