Hi all! I attended the second IMEX show in Nashville on Friday. After a late start, I arrived at the music city center about noon. The venue I'm sure was held at the same location as last time. My brother in law kaw dropped us (my sister, nephew and I) off at the front doors and it was a lengthy walk to the show location. Check-in was quick and essentially the same as last time. You filled out a registration card, paid the $10 admission fee, obtained a wrist band and in you went! I will say the check in was so speedy because not a single other person was in front or behind us. So, not a great sign. I first met up with an Instagram friend to deliver some free goodies, a bunch of NGC and PCGS boxes I no longer needed. I grabbed a water for $4.50 (yikes!) and set out walking the bourse in my usual fashion. Notebook and pen in hand, I like to give a good run through, keeping a list of dealers to return to with suitable material. The bourse was...quiet. I was there for 4 hours and at no point was it ever busy. I had a great conversation with Bob Evans, the chief scientist of the SS Central America ship wreck recovery and enjoyed that display. I also spent some time with Nowland from coinsoftexas. He appreciates the history behind world coinage like I do and we chatted a bit about a couple pieces he had. I did spy a rather handsome panpac gold dollar at his booth. Because of the slow trickle of customers, most dealers were gladly willing to spend a few minutes discussing things. I talked to the folks at Heritage (and drooled over some upcoming 6 figure coins) and stopped by the Whitman table. I then dropped off a small consignment with Great Collections. So, the bad news is, I think this show is toast. When you take away the non dealer tables (HA, GC, Hugh Woods, etc.) there might have been 60 dealers there, a far cry from the number being thrown out on the FB page. I'm not a dealer, but I heard more than a few complaining about most aspects of the show when I asked how it was going. A couple did tell me they were doing well, that sales were good, but I think they lucked out with finding a buyer. The seasonal local Gallatin show is better. Now, back to the good. There was no shortage of high end material. Lots of gold, early and late, MS and proof. Plenty of type coins, modern mint issues, several specialized dealers (early cents, cents, Morgans, bullion). Several dealers had an extensive world selection and most had at least a few world pieces, much to my delight. For me personally, I consider it a successful show. I came back with a total of 5 coins. 4 raw and one certified. I'll be posting a thread on the certified one in the world coins forum. Teaser: It's my 3rd taler! Here are the raw coins I purchased.
