Is "downgrading" by a potential buyer a common problem?

Also where the costs of attendance are highest. Coincidence? I think not. By the way, don't tell anybody, but psssst, come closer, umm, shows are not an optimum place to buy coins. Thought you might want to know.

I attend and work for the ANA at EVERY ANA show, but buy a coin on the bourse quite rarely, for the very reason you cite. I do always buy the World Mint Passport, but that makes me an idiot, right? After all, they're all moderns AND worthless world coins, right? [side note: watch when these sell on eBay - they tend to do EXTREMELY well typically. Yet no traditional dealer will touch them. Food for thought about what "one trick pony" dealers believe.]

Chip, you've discovered one of the best things about ANA shows - the exhibits. Now find more. Money Talks. Sundman Lectures. Take a class to learn how to judge exhibits. Legacy Series Interviews. The banquet. Specialty club meetings. You can keep busy all day at an ANA show and never even hit a dealer's table.

 

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I've seen it both ways. Coins at a show that were priced significantly lower than my LCS, and vice versa. The problem with shows is, some dealers won't give collectors the time of day. Or for me at least, when I go, I ask if they have what I am looking for, most of the time I am met with a snarl or I don't know of anyone here who would have that coin. Really? Your're a dealer, surely there is a network. Someone always knows somebody. That's why the last time I went to the Baltimore-Whitman show I stuck to dealers through coin talk who attended the show. No problems. No BS. I myself as a collector know the hits and losses I may take on any given coin, and I am prepared for that. The best thing I've found though is sell to or trade with another collector.

Coin shows also give me the opportunity to hunt for coins that none of my LCS's have. So some of us don't have a choice but to buy off the bourse.

 

Well for me, there is a nearly total lack of LCS's (the few that are here are mostly bulk bullion guys), so that's out. My closest city (9 miles) has a population of over 80,000 and nary a LCS in sight, save for the "we buy gold" variety. OTOH, of the biggest bulk metals buying guys in the nation is another 12 miles away.

This is the mother lode country for flea markets, antique markets, farmer's markets, country auctions, and other outdoor extravaganzas. There are also several highly active coin clubs in the area, including one of the nation's finest, Red Rose, so yes, collector to collector is king. That club has two local shows a year that draws circuit dealers from a 75-100 mile radius.

If I want to browse huge varieties of inventory on a random weekend, there's only one choice for me - a local coin/estate auction. And no, this is NOT the kind of auction with a glossy catalog and phone bidders. You're lucky to get a photocopied list of lots.

 

I can agree with that. I have been to several ANA shows (and CSNS shows) where I was there the entire time the show was running, and never got to the bourse floor.

 

"I attend and work for the ANA at EVERY ANA show"

I will say hello if I see you at the WFOM.

"I do always buy the World Mint Passport, but that makes me an idiot, right?'

Naw, that is not what makes you an idiot.

" you've discovered one of the best things about ANA shows - the exhibits. Now find more. Money Talks. Sundman Lectures. Take a class to learn how to judge exhibits. Legacy Series Interviews. The banquet. Specialty club meetings. You can keep busy all day at an ANA show and never even hit a dealer's table."

Being a working man, I usually can only make the Saturday show, work is slow right now so I might be able to make it Friday this year, knowing if I plan for that work will pick up, and it will probably be Saturday.

 

I'm a working man too. It's called VA-CA-TION. Can you say "va-ca-tion"? Nice try. Do I blow my vacation days on ANA shows? Yup, I do.