The show began on Friday but I was working all day, so showed up a little after 10 this morning when it opened. The show is held in the Acca Temple ballroom which is a very open venue with lots of room to move around and allowing for good ventilation. The Richmond Coin Club puts on the show twice a year and they do an excellent job. They have a scavenger hunt for kids, and hourly drawings for prizes ( 6 tickets for 5$). The Shriners sell hamburgers, hot dogs, and sandwiches on site, but there are many good places to eat nearby. I am happy to report that it was BUSY. There were 1 or more people at just about every table, all morning, generating a healthy buzz. Given the good ventilation, high ceilings, my N95 mask and 3 doses of Pfizer on board, I felt pretty safe. I will note that masks were worn by about 30% of those attending, though. I did not assess buy/sell prices for bullion coins (sorry) but people selling those seemed pretty busy. Stopped by to say hi to Rob and Casey Catron (Coins Make Cents) from York, Pa, and picked up a few toned Roosies, which they know I like. Meandered over to a gent from Va. Beach who is at every show; he has a lot of Morgans and Peace that don't interest me all that much, but he had just purchased a Morgan collection and 1 raw coin caught my eye. For some time I have wanted a well circulated 78-CC, but I have always been clobbered in bidding for nice examples online. He had this coin though, at a reasonable price, and it's only off by 1 year. Honest wear and a few dings and nicks. Looks like the regular MM, not that "capped die" thing. Spent some time talking with a dealer who was telling me how hard it was to find decent sales material ( he sells mostly choice circulated seated and barber coins, which always seem to be in demand) and how he had been driving all over the place to meet other dealers the past year. He used to deal a lot of CWT's but had sold most of them off; I spotted this little guy in a corner of his case and a price was quickly agreed on: This little piggy went to market ( and was never seen again) Unc with a tiny spot of green on the rev I will need to monitor. Next to him was a dealer with a lot of binders; including one with CWT's and HTT's. I haven't looked through a binder in a long time so this was fun. ended up with this HTT from Buffalo NY (HT212, Low 324 R2) featuring a padlock and anvil ; and a storecard for Gustavus Lindenmueller (1863) a little rough around the edges but pretty nice central strike and some mint red peeking out. Every beer drinker/coin collector should have one. There was a fellow selling his small but select collection that I recalled from the last show that I attended about 2 years ago; he had a nice PR64cam '74 seated half, with attractive toning, but his ask was way over price guide; I decided I needed to do more research. He had just sold a 5$ Dahlonega piece and I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to see it. He also had a Bechtler dollar (cleaned). I ended up, as I usually do, at the Reeded Edge table, at the back of the room on a sort of elevated dais; you have to climb the mountain to get to them, as it were. Robbie and Rob always bring some mouth watering coins and my largest purchase is usually from them ; today would be no exception. .... Rob had just finished selling one of the gold Kennedy's ( the ones that caused such a ruckus at Rosemont a few years ago) to a fellow who kept peeling off 100$s from a wad in his pocket-- when I noticed a couple of coins in a case that I just had to see up close, coins I had never had a chance to hold or examine before. First: AU55, CAC, with virtually no marks and surfaces that didn't show any visible wear; just a dream of a coin. and the other one: XF40, no bean, but a beautiful original coin. apparently the owner is working on a set of key dates and traded this in for a higher graded one. Rob generously offered to sell me either coin but considering my retirement prospects and the likely spousal reaction I politely declined. However, as I scanned their other cases, something the size of my middle fingernail caught my eye and wouldn't let go. I already have a couple of these in raw AU and well worn circ, but this thing was a little blazer and I just had to have it. A price was quickly arrived at and a check written (no wad of Benjamins) and I slipped it into my pocket. Just a few marks shy of a 65, I think, as the luster just swirls. (reached my limit for photo posting, so will put images in next post). With that, I was pretty well tapped, but happy to have made it to a show for the first time since 2019, even with a minigreenhouse N 95 on my face, happy to see some old friends and pick up some nice coins, and to see that coin collecting is alive and well, at least in my little neck o' the woods. Have a nice weekend.
Love the 51 o its on my list too finding one as sweet as that wow! Legacy coins a dealer friend actually called me this morning from the show as he sold a coin of mind he said it was a good show.
I don't remember stopping at Legacy's table, but there were 55 and I only spent about 3 hours there. Glad your friend had a successful show. Dealers were looking forward to Baltimore and FUN.
imaging the 3 center was tough as it is tilted in the slab so I had to prop one end up to make the coin level with the camera. worked out ok I guess.
Looks great like I said the 51 o lll and a 38 o half dime both New Orleans mint have been on the list just not found the right specimens. But you had a heck of three hours great pick ups congrats.
Your 51 o looks to be the RPM 001 slightly repunched north unfortunately the variety isnt significant enough to comand a premium.
I think the shows are coming back to life. The last couple of monthly shows in Cleveland that I attended were BUSY, including the one last weekend. I got there about an hour after the show opened and there were people waiting to check in. The parking lot was FULL and so was the venue. There is still life in this hobby. Covid hasn't killed it. I also saw some younger people there, I'm guessing high school age, and younger. I was hoping to find some nice circulated Walkers but I didn't really find any that tickled my fancy, but I did buy some Merc dimes. Premiums are still on the high side. One guy had a tray of large cents that he was selling at $15 a pop, and they were HORRIBLE looking, corroded as hell as if he had dug them out of the ground...I passed on that.
The shows around New Hampshire and Massachusetts seem busy too. It's picked up compared to a year ago or whenever they started
OK, you had me at the wholesome circ Morgan and the CWTs, but oh! That ‘51-O trime! I’ve wanted an O-mint trime (or the O-mint trime, I should say, since it’s not like there are any others that came mintmarked) for a long time. Most of the ones I’ve seen have had streaky/dirty dishwater toning and/or problems. What’s the grade on that one? Looks like a real sweetie. Guarantee you I couldn’t afford it.
Hello Rob, it's a 64. there are a couple of marks on the rev that I think limited the grade, but as soon as I saw it in the case I thought: That's mine! I have 2 others, one an AU with a planchet flaw and the other pretty well beat up with interesting color :
