I attended the St. Louis show yesterday with a coin club buddy of mine. I would say that there were about 120 dealers there and, at least for Saturday, very light attendance. I know this may not be good for the dealers, but I like not to have to battle to see what's offered. I had two objectives - find a nice 1959 Proof Cameo Franklin and say hello to fellow CoinTalk member AdamL. It was a great pleasure to meet Adam and show each other our purchases and to talk about what a great time we've had being CT members. We both hope we can get more CT members to meet up at a show there in the future. Regarding my 1959 Proof Cameo Franklin search, I did not find one at a dealer table. This was consistent with my friend's experience at the Baltimore ANA show. Guess this must be a tough date for Cameos. Amazingly, at one of the dealers where I inquired, he told me there was an older gentlemen named Wes wandering the floor with some halves and had 4 Cameos in the date I wanted! So how to find this guy? I couldn't just walk up to people like some deranged coin fanatic (well, that does describe me actually)! As I continued to roam the bourse, I overheard a guy talking about wanting to sell some of his cameos to a dealer. Needless to say, with apologies to the dealer (he didn't mind), I jumped in asking if he had any 59' cameo Frankies. He showed me all four and I had to go for the best of the bunch (NGC Cameo PR66* - Yeehaw): The line in the above and front of Ben's face is on the plastic not the coin (sorry, my pictures are not the best....kind of yellowish due to the lighting and my pics don't capture the crisp silver frostyness of the actual coin). So, I had a little cash left over from my budget and kept circling the floor like a hungry vulture. Stopped by and mooned over a 1868 blue frosty BN proof IHC at Aspen Park Rare Coins (way over my head, but drooled nonetheless). Evan Gale is a nice guy! Then as I reached the last row after my fourth or fifth pass, I saw a Conder Token that caught my eye and the lion told me he needed a home (my first Conder): This is a 1795 Half Penny Middlesex (England) DH414 Pidcocks "Exibition" (note mispelling, no "h"). Pidcock's show was one of several popular travelling menageries or wild beast shows that drove through towns. Since people didn't travel much then, this was a source of entertainment. Pidcock was one that owned exotic animals and this token advertised his show while also serving as small change in circulation. So, in summary, I had a great time, met a CT buddy, found my birth year Franklin, and obtained my first Conder Token! This is why I love the hobby.
Great report! I was just getting ready to type one up myself. I'll just add a bit. ALL of the dealers, except one who was rude to me, were very nice and helpfull. There were more YN's than I have seen there previously, and the dealers treated them very well. Also, there were a number of drawings throughout the day where YN's won prizes. It was really nice to see the way the youngsters were treated, and friendliness in general among the dealers and collectors on the bourse. I bought 4 common date Walkers for my set - two BU and two AU. I also bought several cheap ancient Roman bronzes and two dirt cheap circulated Mercs. I'll get pictures of most of them posted in other threads eventually, but I might wait untill I get my hands on my brother's camera with macro, because scans just won't do any of the coins justice.
Catbert: Thanks for showing me your Benjamin. ( I can now put mine in a sack, in a bottom drawer, never to see daylight again!) So,....that's what they're supposed to look like? Congradulations on a great coin!
Hey guys. I'm glad you had a nice time. I'm sorry I missed the show. I'll have to try to make it out to one before too long. That's a beautiful Franklin catbert. And Adam, you know I'd love to see your bronzes.
