I attended my first coin show in Tukwila, WA. It was the Pacific Northwest Numismatic Association 60th Annual Convention. I was invited by my neighbor across the street who is a high end gold coin dealer. I helped him at his booth and got to look around the show. These are the main impressions I came away with: 1. Overall, I was impressed with the integrity and helpfulness of the dealers. I found 3 dealers who I would be able to do business with insofar as building my collection. 2. There was a large cross-section of folks walking the floor. There were "survivalist" types in camouflage as well as "buttoned-down" Dino Rossi, two-time candidate for governor who was with his kids. If you are a single guy, this show is not a "chick magnet". I estimated that the crowd was 85% male leaning towards 40 and older. 3. I bought my first graded coin, an MS-64 1881-S in a "rattler" (original PCGS slab) for $60. I sold 3 common Morgans I had in lesser grades to another party to fund this buy. The coin is frosty and beautiful. 4. Related to above, I doubt that I will ever buy (or sell) a coin online. My opinion is that no photograph can ever replicate with enough accuracy all of the nuances inherent in a coin (that was quite a mouthful). I have auction books at home with extremely well-executed photos, but for me, "coin in hand" will be the way for me to assess possible purchases. 5. I learned more about grading. I took two coins to the show that I had graded myself and showed them separately to two different dealers. Both dealers graded these coins identically. On the one coin, I graded a MS-64, both of them graded it an MS-63, not so far off. On the other one I had graded it MS-63, both of them graded it MS-60. Both of them gave me solid reasons backing their grades which I found quite educational. They showed me graded coins and pointed out some of the fine points that distinguish one MS grade from another. I shall be doing business with these folks. Not only were they helpful to me, I had a chance to watch them interact with other customers as well. I had fun, learned a lot and met some people I will look forward to seeing more of in the future. The only gripe I heard was a reply to a statement that the show organizer made that "Tukwila was the biggest regional show north of Portland and west of Chicago." The dealer said "Tukwila was the biggest regional show without donuts", but smiled when he said it. I look forward to going back next year.
I totally agree that doing business with real people and to feel the coins is so much better than looking at pictures. I started visiting shows recently, visited the Stanwood and Kent shows but I missed the Tukwila show I felt Ace and Magpie Collectibles were very easy to do business with. There was a dealer who "threw" my coin on the table and said 50 cents(I sold it for 50$ to another dealer) ! I was outraged by his attitude. Grrrrr
I enjoy the people part of it too. I didn't see any "grouchy" types, but there were a few dealers that were "all business". I prefer the ones that are having some fun with their business. Makes it more fun for me too!
Glad you had a great show !!!! Those old rattlers are sometimes very nice coins indeed !! As for " never" buying inline, I see you point. Pictures are only an indication of what a coin MAY look like in hand, it is an art and very difficult to capture a coin in a digital image. Mine included. If you do deal with a dealer with a website, and there are many great ones, you will allow yourself more options and more selection. Develop a network of those you can trust. Start small. The internet is a shark tank, but there are many great dealers online. I do agree, nothing beats the thrill of a coin show, they are some of my favorite weekends !
My only regret is that there wasn't adequate time to carefully look at all of the displays.. I'll post the "rattler" in a few days..I bought it from Mike Young who has a coin shop in (are you ready for this) Silverdale, WA.
Sounds like you had a good time and learned a lot. I agree about coins in hand versus pictures. I really only have one local dealer - so I do buy off the internet. I like heritage the best, but have used several online dealers.
Excellent point re: online For myself, because there are enough dealers around where I live, I probably won't need the internet. But internet shopping is a necessity for folks lacking brick & mortar outlets within reasonable distances. Heritage has a good reputation and I'm sure there are online dealers who are ethical as well (one lives across the street from me).
