I just recently moved to VA, near DC and will be here until summer of next year. If anyone has interest in meeting up to talk coins or see a show, let me know! Looking at you @Paddy54 Also, is anyone going to the Annandale, VA coin show on Sunday December 11th?
Yes, me and Mrbreeze will be there when it opens. Send me a pm if you want to exchange numbers and I can text you.
A tad too far north of me, but now that you're back in the States, maybe I'll meet you some day, if I ever resume going to shows. That's something I haven't done over the last decade or so. I've played with the idea of going to the FUN show in Orlando again, like I used to. Maybe if I do, I'll see one or two of y'all there.
Looks like I’ll be there right around 10am for maybe 2 hours. I shot @H8_modern a PM. If anyone else is going to be there, please reach out!
Total fail on my part. I checked my inbox just the one time this morning before the message came in and then got distracted by shiny things until I got home. So sorry I dropped the ball on that.
I got there shortly after 10. Wandered around for a while and chatted with a few of the dealers. Bought only one coin, a 1920 Maine Early Commemorative, NGC MS-65. One I've needed for a while for my Silver Early Commems set. Looks like I can't post images at this time.
Fail on my part as well. Forgot to check CT before bed. TL/DR, I really enjoy looking at coins and talking about them. I only got to spend 2 hours there, but could’ve easily spent all day. I spent most of my time chatting with a number of world coin dealers. One was Ernie Swauger, whom I know from a coin club that some of our esteemed admins are also familiar with (@GDJMSP @desertgem ). Ernie had some beautiful coins from all over, and made me wish my budget wasn’t so constrained. He did confirm that my recent 2T coin purchase was a good one, which was comforting. It was great to see him again, and catch up on how things are going. Last time I saw him, was at the Baltimore show in 2016 I think. I’ll likely see him at the Vienna show, and certainly at the Baltimore Show next year. I spent some time with another dealer, who attempted to sell me what he claimed to be a siege coin. Here’s an image of a similar one online: His was a 3 Pfennig and showed 1771. Naturally, I was fascinated by the crudeness of it, and the idea that it was siege money. He was pushing me to buy it, telling me I’d have to pay more if I tried to buy it after the show ended. Of course, especially for a coin over $200, I wasn’t ready to buy until I knew what I was looking at. Despite digging online in both English and German, I couldn’t find anything that supported it being from a siege in Hildesheim. The dealer then calls up a Mr. Korchnak, who he claims sold him the coin. It turns out Mr Korchnak wrote a book on siege coins, which I’m adding to my Christmas wish list. My quick chat with him left me confused, as he didn’t confirm it was a siege coin, but said online prices/sales for such items were high. I soon found out the coin was a Torzeichen, which in English is a toll paid to enter a city gates, which comes with a brass token (receipt) that is usually returned upon exit. The dealer wrote the info I gave him on the card for the medal, and thanked me for the help. The medal was pretty cool, but not something I was willing to spend a lot of money on (that specific one sold for 125€ 2 years ago). I’ll probably keep an eye out for them in the future, as I find them interesting. Thinking it over, I believe the dealer thought he had a siege coin, and don’t feel like he was trying to dupe me. I am glad I walked away from it, though. The last dealer I’ll bring up is a gentleman by the name of Tim Lehman, who was unfortunately unable to show me what I was looking for (German States coinage), but happily talked with me and another customer about world coins for a bit. I’m mentioning him because he gave me contact info for a German dealer (meaning dealer in Germany), who he said would be able to help me. I always appreciate dealers willing to help, even when it doesn’t mean another sale for them. I’m hoping the new contact can become a future source of coins, particularly when I’m living in Belgium. Sorry for failing to take any photos. I had a great time seeing so many world coins and talking with people who have similar interests. I hope my wife will let me attend a few more shows in the near future!
