Featured Ancient Fun at CICF 2016

Chicago International Coin Fair, Rosemont IL
April 14-17, 2016

This is a show report of sorts, although somehow I forgot to take even a single picture of the bourse or people! I was too busy looking at coins .

I've only attended one other show, ANA World's Fair of Money, 2014. For an ancients collector CICF was more fun since there wasn't a sea of slabbed Morgans filling most tables , nor were there mile-long lines of poor saps waiting for Kennedy gold. CICF pushes world and ancient coins. Although considerably smaller than WFOM, there were almost as many ancient coin dealers.

The trip was an unexpected and serendipitous event. There was a work-related meeting that Saturday so except for the extra days of hotel, it was a freebie. Considering that there aren't any coin shows within a thousand miles of me, it was a most welcome gift.

The bourse was open to dealers and early birds on Thursday. My plane landed in the mid afternoon on Thursday and I scrambled to check in and run over to the convention center before the start of Heritage's Signature auction which began at 5 pm. I wasn't planning on bidding-- the catalog for that auction was very lackluster-- surprisingly so since it was a print auction. I wanted to lotview anyway, just for the experience.

Lotviewing was at the Heritage tables within the bourse rather than in a separate room. Hmm. Well, I certainly wasn't going to pay $50 for early entry to spend only an hour lotviewing! I just breezed through the lobby and walked into the bourse like I belonged there, sans badge or wrist band. Security didn't even blink . After chatting briefly with a dealer I met a couple of years ago, I headed over to Heritage, registered, and pulled up a chair.

Most of the coins were far better in hand... er, in plastic. That may be due to my increasingly poor near vision . Interestingly, most of the bronzes I viewed were brown in the catalog but deep green in hand. An example:



The catalog description does say the coin is green. I suppose the take-home lesson is to trust HA's written description of color instead the images, if color is important to you.

I attended the auction for a short while with the intent of bidding on a lot or two if it looked like I could get them for a palatable price.

The auction room was almost empty except for HA personnel. That wasn't surprising given the mostly unremarkable catalog (speaking about their ancients only since I don't know anything about world coins) and the fact that CICF isn't a huge show. Heritage does have a robust live bidding platform on their website and I bet most of the bids came from there. I was still perusing the catalog when my first lot of interest hit the block. I looked up just in time to register that fact and raise my paddle for a bid. My bid was countered and after brief consideration, I bid again and the other bidder quit. The price was satisfactory and it's a type that has been on my wish list for a while:


SICILY, Syracuse. Dionysius I (400-345 BC)
Æ 20 mm, 8.23 gm
Struck c. 390 BCE
Obv: head of Athena left, wearing wreathed Corinthian helmet pushed back on head
Rev: hippocamp left
Ref: Calciati 35. SNG ANS 426
As with most Heritage lots, this coin was slabbed and upon returning home it was freed within minutes. NGC gave it the baffling grade of MS 5/5 strike, 4/5 surfaces, Fine Style. "Mint State"... I think we've discussed that nonsense many times before. I wanted it simply because of the exceptional hippocamp

...

Friday I had all day free to spend at the show. First stop: Heritage, to pick up my hippocamp and to express my feelings about slabs. I'd been looking forward to this moment since soon after confirming that I'd be able to attend the show.

For my first coin show I celebrated by making a collage of my coin photos, printing it to fabric, and sewing some garments to wear at that show. It was great fun; pictures are here and here. I wanted to make another garment for this show. Since Heritage was the main (well, only) live auctioneer at CICF and they are the worst offenders when it comes to slabbing, I went with a different coin theme:



Here's the pattern's repeat:



With wicked glee I sauntered over to David Michaels (Director of Ancients, Heritage) and watched as he slowly noticed my blouse . He burst out laughing, asked if BigCollector* put me up to it, gathered his colleagues to see the shirt, and took a picture.
*For purposes of this public story, I'm using a pseudonym for this notoriously enthusiastic collector.

BigCollector is apparently known for his vociferous opposition to slabs .

As I browsed the bourse, most dealers who noticed my blouse said variations of the same thing after recovering from their laughter: "Has BigCollector seen it yet?"

I hadn't formally met BigCollector but was aware of him. Everyone assumed I must know him, so I kept my mouth shut and smiled.

At the HJB table, Harlan saw my shirt and immediately wanted me to make him one. He was very serious about it. He wants me to make him a plain-style T-shirt with this fabric. Then he reconsidered and said, "No, wait! Make two of them. I want to give one to BigCollector!"

I was really getting a sense of how much BigCollector hates slabs if everyone in the place immediately thought of him upon seeing my shirt. I agreed to make the shirts and will order more fabric this week. Guess I'd better order a t-shirt pattern too since my usual "make it up as I go" approach won't work.

I went back to browsing and some time later heard the distinctive sound of hammering. There was BigCollector, happily cracking out 35 coins while sitting at a dealer's table . He brings his own hammer and chisel to shows! That certainly makes a statement . Rather than waiting for a formal introduction, I walked over, got his attention, and said "I think you might appreciate this shirt," pointing to my blouse. After taking a moment to understand, he laughed. He was busy and I didn't want to interrupt so I went back to browsing after a very brief chat about our mutual hatred of slabs.

I was formally introduced to him later that afternoon. He was in the middle of a deal so we didn't talk extensively and planned to get together later in the day. He had a bunch of coins to show me but only had time to bring out the remarkable Otho drachm he picked up the night before in the Heritage auction. An aside: "everyone" at the show was shocked that there weren't more bidders on that coin. Despite its rather homely appearance, it is a rare and desirable coin and the seller must've been very disappointed in the hammer.

I was busily buried in dealer boxes all over the bourse the rest of the day and didn't run into him again. Too bad... I really wanted to see more of his purchases and to talk to him about various coins.

...

Prior to the show I contacted Perry Siegel (Herakles Numismatics) to let him know I would be there. I met Perry at WFOM, where we went to dinner one night and had a great time. Thursday we had dinner at Maharaja, a fantastic Indian restaurant a mile or so from the convention center. Once again Perry was a delightful dinner companion and an old customer/collector friend of his, Dan, joined us.

The next night dinner was at a rowdy Mexican restaurant, this time with Perry, Mark Reid (Time Machine), Bill Kalmbach (Nilus), and Dan. We had a fabulous time and it's always a mood boost being the only woman in a group of men .

Mark is a very interesting man. A former educator (many different roles) and Berkeley think-tanker, he was quite a versatile conversationalist. I also spent a lot of time talking to Bill and browsing his coins too. Bill lives in my former home city. Dan must have an amazing collection. I badgered him to join CoinTalk and to take pictures of his coins. We shall see if he follows through. At the show Dan bought the finest Antinous Alexandrian drachm (or hemidrachm, I can't remember ) I've ever seen. Very jealous .

Saturday's dinner was back at the Indian restaurant. I'd have eaten there for every meal if it were up to me. Actually, I did eat their food every day-- the portions were so generous that I had leftovers each time. Murgh makhani makes a fine breakfast . Wish I had some right now.

...

After winning my Syracuse hippocamp Thursday, I promptly left the auction in order to avoid temptation since I hadn't yet browsed the bourse. I did pretty well for the first few hours on Friday, exercising good judgement and restraint. Of course that all went to hell as the hours flew by. I came home with thirteen coins . Some were good deals, some weren't. Some were "smart" purchases, some weren't. That's just how it goes at shows unless you have a phenomenal memory, discipline, and good internet access. I had none of those things . While the total dollar amount spent certainly added up to a fairly painful figure, I'm pretty pleased with the purchases. At least I didn't make as many overtly stupid choices as I did at WFOM. I'll be posting the rest of my goodies in their own threads as I take pictures and make writeups. Some of the "lesser" coins will just be dropped into existing threads.

...

In summary, as a collector of ancient coins I found CICF to be very worthwhile. Word of caution though: things may change next year. HJB has an inaugural "big" show downtown and right now it is scheduled concurrently with CICF. Yeah, that sounds like a political mess... Rumors are flying and CICF may be moved to another date, perhaps another month. The HJB show sounds like it will be fantastic. Maybe I can find another work-related meeting to attend around that time .

 

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Great write up, that slab design is great & funny too. The hippocamp is lovely, really the green patina on it.

ANA World's Fair is gonna be in Anaheim this year and several east coast dealers who never attend long beach are gonna go, so I may go just to finally see Harlans "junk" box and meet some other dealers I have bought from over the years.

Just August is a hell of a hot month here and I don't like to be out in heat much due to a personal condition I have.

 

Wonderful story TIF !!! It certainly sounds like you had a very memorable time and your 'shirt' sounds like it was a huge hit LOL

I'm looking forward to your future posts and I LOVE the Athena/Hippocamp bronze!!!! I might have bid against you for it--unknowingly, of course

 

lol, awesome write-up TIF! That whole shirt thing... Lady TIF and the Collectors Three?

 

@TIF I thoroughly enjoyed your travelogue! Thanks for taking the time to write your this, you made me feel like I was attending the show as well.

So much to say...I love your Syracuse hippocamp, great detail, I also have a fondness for this mythological beast. ...I will be looking for BigCollector at the next show, anyone who brings his own hammer and chisel to shows is fine by me!...I have a broken ankle now, but when I get out and about, I will be headed for some Indian and Thai cuisine, I lived vicariously through your description...Perry and Bill are some of my favorite vendors, they always makes me smile....your clothes are amazing, very creative, and I want some!

I have never been to CICF, but think I will in the near future. Sounded like you had great fun! I look forward to your posts showing us your new purchases.

 

I haven't gotten through more than a quarter of this post (HJB table part)and it is already brilliant. The clothing is astonishing. I love it. But I have to get on a conference call and can't finish reading it for awhile. Just wanted to say "fun post"

 

Great write-up. That shirt is brilliant. I'll keep an eye out at Target, for when the fashion world notices..

 

Ha! Brilliant. I'd like to place an order for that shirt as well. Must have it!

 

I love your sense of humour and your write ups!

 

REALLY nice Hippocamp! Gorgeous coin. I spoke with Perry a couple days ago, and he said he saw you at the show! Indian food is some of my favorite too, so I will have to meet Perry for some! He mentioned your outfits too, they look great. Sounds like a fun time...looks like it is on my travel list for next year! Thanks for the wonderful write-up!

 

Good goin' TIF. And wonderfully entertaining write-up.

 

I only can disagree with one point on your post. Your hippocamp strikes me as correctly graded at 5/5 4/5 recognizing the perfect reverse strike and the textured obverse. We all know that NGC Mint state translates to normal people EF.

I believe that many big houses are shooting coins in black and white and then tinting their print outs to look like color. Lighting coins to look good in black and white is a lot easier because surface glare tends to take on a blue tint that is hard to balance into a normal full color image unless you are willing to put a lot of effort into minor lighting adjustments. The first we saw of this way when gold coins were color and other metals were black and white but anymore I question whether the people who balance the catalog images have seen the coins. I know we ask too much for our 21%.

Does Big Collector wear the same size shirt as Harlan Berk? So many things to consider. In the 1840's it was fashionable for tradesmen to be photographed (daguerreotyped) holding the tools of their trade. I would love to do a portrait of a collector holding hammer and chisel (or chainsaw) and call it "The Numismatist".

 

Doug, I agree with the strike and surfaces grade and that the coin is EF. What I wonder though is how any coins with less than a 5/5 grade for surfaces could even be considered MS (if you are the type who uses the "MS" grade at all, that is...)

As for shirt sizes, I think BigCollector might be a tad smaller in shirt size so I will adjust accordingly. Fortunately, knit fabric does not require fine tailoring skills.

 

Wonderful show report, coin and shirt! Great stuff.

 

Ah. That may well be the case, that they are lighting for and shooting in black and white and then colorizing the catalog. I did note some electrum coins which looked very pale in hand and as gold as aurei in the catalog.

I can totally picture that shot!

 

Great post Tif. I loved your writeup. It captures perfectly the hustle and bustle of a good coin how. As for the clothing, if you ever want to make another t-shirt with that design just let me know-it was truly great.

The hippocamp on that coin is stunning-congrats!

 

Fabulous write up, great outfit and love your Hippocampus TIF! I need to do the CICF some day as the only coin show I go to is NYINC (which is worth the trip if you ever can make it).

I have one of those on a 1915 Panama Pacific $2.5 gold piece from my pre ancient collecting days. This isn't my coin, but all moderns look the same. This made back when America had real money and coin designs had the original female which graced our coinage since the birth of our nation: Liberty.

 

Gorgeous coin! I see why you kept it. I always loved just having the Liberty designs instead of presidents, etc...

 

Wow, great write-up!! ...

Yah, you always make me smile (sounds like you had a great time ... oh, and it sounds like you totally nailed your outfit!! => it's awesome)

Sadly, my green-patina idea didn't go over quite as well ... HJB had me removed from the event and banned permanently (sometimes, I am soooo misunderstood!!)

 

Great writeup, great show (from the sounds of it), and great coin! And, it's also great to see you bring your unique sense of fun to the wider Coinworld .