I was lucky enough to be able to spend a few hours at the show, well, a lot to say about the National Money Show. As for show attendance, it was definetly busy. First, the ANA exhibit (I'm not sure of the name) with older currency, bank notes, Confederate currency, and some beautiful coins was very well put together. I was drooling looking at two 1913 Liberty Nickels and some of the U.S.'s first silver dollars. It is quite a feeling just looking at coins of this magnitude. Next, I took a glance at the 2007 Red Book, and for all of you who have been earnestly waiting for its debut, no need to bother. No new features were added, all Whitman did was add about 10% to the values and 20% to the gold and silver bullion values. Whitman needs to proof-read 'cause they still didn't fix all the errors (especially concerning mintages) and they need to learn to use periods and commas correctly. For the next part, keep in mind I'm 14 and on a limited budget. With that said, about 60% of the show was devoted to the usual Morgans, and pre-1933 gold was also in abundance. I haven't been to any other major show, but it seemed type coins and some off the beat stuff were somewhat well represented. TONERS, now there were some CRAZY prices being asked. If it was a coin, and it had the slightest hint of color, $$$$$$$$. I was surprised that there was almost as much paper currency as coins, though I don't know if this is common to all shows.(Arn't coin collectors supposed to dislike paper currency ) I didn't see as much silver and gold bullion as I thought, but definetly the rise in spot prices has had an impact on all prices. Saying prices on many items were "strong" would be an understatement, although I don't know if it had to do with this being the first day of the show. I enjoy modern proofs (individually), and was looking forward to picking some up, but these prices were, once again, CRAZY. I could pick many proofs up for half the price and lower locally. For my collection, I managed to acquire some very nice war-nickels and Indian cents. Personal observation: Many ( around 40%) dealers are willing to discount prices for YN's, 3% will basically give the coins away to YN's, and 57% are downright rude to YN's. Conversation between myself and one dealer in particular: Myself "Could I please see that bin of Indian cents behind you?" Dealer "We have Indian cents right there (points to glass case of slabbed 1856's, 1877's, and 09S's) Myself "I'm looking for some more common raw ones" D "Are you sure you want to see these (points to bin behind him) Thinking to myself "No, I just asked for kicks" Actually: "yes" Two minutes later he hands them to me, I pick one out that is slightly overpriced at 12.50. After five mins ignoring me, I get his attention and ask if he'll take 10. Him- "Oops, 12.50 is the price we pay, so it'll be 13.50." Awhile bargaining, we agree on 10, I take out a 20 and hold it up to dealer. He just stands shooting the **** with the dealer next to him (by now it's 6 P.M and I'm the only customer around him.) Finally, he takes the bill and puts it away. "Sir, I think you owe me 10 change." "No, I don't." I'm thinking wtf, do I need to ask one of the police outside the door to help him count out the change he owes me? Well, needless to say, as I'm calling an officer standing nearby, he decides to give me change. Edited to add: And, with all the publicity ANACS has recieved in recent weeks, I thought I would let ya'll know there were quite a few new type slabs. Either dealers had exclusively new ANACS slabs, or they had a mix of PCGS, NGC, and old ANACS holders. Didn't see much inbetween.
Fantastic report. Glad you noticed so much. If you found a lot of problems with the 2007 Red Book, contact Whitman and explain what you feel should be fixed. I did and they sent me a book of thiers on Morgan Dollars free for my comments on their book. Also, you should have taken down the name of that igorant dealer and posted it here and on every coin forum you can find. No need for that kind of person not being exposed. Again, great detailed report. By the way about how many dealers were there? How many other YN's like you were there? That would be a decent indication of the hobby's future. Were the 2007 Red Books for sale or just for show? And as for paper money there, yes I've seen plenty of that at coin shows around here. coin shows around me usually are becoming full of error coins. How was the error coin situation there? I repeat if you noticed definite errors in the Red Book you would be surprized at how thankful they are for any assistance with finding problems.
Carl, Quite a few dealers but still plenty of empty space. Very few YN's in attendance, although today will probably be busier in that aspect. Whitman corrected major problems, but there were hundreds of minor mintage problems such as 5,0000 or 10,0000. The new Red Book is for sale. There were four (that I noticed) tables mostly devoted to error coins.
