Well i'm thinking of going and there are coin dealers there but i have a question about it. Well, i'm 14 and want to go but i only have about $80 to spend so my question is would it be a good show for me to go to or will it be mostly high-end and expensive coins or stuff that i could afford.This show has been held at other cities but its the first time in philadelphia Thanks
Matt, any chance to attend a large show is worth your while. You're going to be able to see all sorts of stuff that you otherwise would only be able to see in books. I say go for it and not to worry about only having $80 to spend. There should be plenty o' stuff there in your price range, but remember, choose wisely.....:smile
Thanks for the advice. Hoping to get some coins for my type set and just get some coins i like. Thanks alot.
I recommend that you make a wantlist. List the coins you are most interested in getting, what grade you want, and how much you are willing to pay. Then make the same sort of list for second choice coins in case your first choices aren't easily available. And while you are shopping, do a LOT of looking. That will be an education as valuable as any coin you buy. And if the coins you want are recent or low priced, look for the bargain area. There should be a WHOLE group of tables that deal in that sort of material. I'm coming up from the Washington, DC, area on Friday just specially for this show.
I'll be there tomorrow (Thurs) morning. Hope it's as good as they're beefing it up to be. All the decent hotel rooms are booked as far as I know in the area. Maybe I'll bump into someone from the CT boards. I'll be the geeky, bald guy with a loupe looking at all the coins.
Well, that description will certainly make you stand out in the crowd Could be a description of me (except I have hair, albeit gray). And I'll be wearing a CoinTalk tag with my chat name on it.
I went to my first show in Florida when I was 12. I did not have much money either, but I walked away with a few inexpensive treasures (one I still have -- a 1993 Silver Eagle). I also got a chance to talk with coin dealers, ask questions, get answers, and learn a lot about the hobby I love. Enjoy yourself, have a great time, and ask whatever questions you have about coins or the hobby overall!
Show was ok... Lots of good stuff but almost all booths were salty. No one was really interested on buying, except circulated silver and paper money. Got some nice stuff, and 1 that was not so nice. (fake toned Peace Dollar)
Back from the Philadelphia Whitman show (Friday). Although its size was about half that of a Baltimore Whitman show, there were still plenty dealers. On a guess 200-300. But no one took notice of my CoinTalk badge, so either: - they didn't see it. - they weren't there. - they ran the other way. I would rate attendance as very low. I hope the dealers have a better Saturday otherwise that show could be doomed. As a customer, I found it rather nice. I could belly up to almost any table I wanted to, and since business was slow, chatting with the dealers was easy. They had the time to talk to you. Always good for future business. I'll drop a wantlist on a couple of them. I bought three coins: 1. 1908 IHC MS-65 RB. This is the first coin for my short set (1885-1909) of IHCs. They will all be MS-65 RB and it will probably take a while since I'll only buy them from MFD and he will only sell me top-end coins. This IHC I'm confident would rate a CAC sticker. What's REALLY nice about the coin is that it's only RB on the obverse; the reverse is full Red! [Picture later] 2. 1836, Large 5, Half Dime, AU-50. To be honest I overpaid for this coin, at least according to my catalogs. But these coins (Capped Bust Half Dimes) are very difficult to find. I couldn't pass on it. [Picture later] 3. 1795, Lettered Edge, Half Cent. There's two Lettered Edge varieties and I don't know which one I got, but since they appear to catalog the same it's not important at the moment. I bought it raw and the dealer is going to submit it to PCGS for me. So the grade is undetermined but we expect something in the VF-35/XF-40 area with an outside shot at XF-45. And if it doesn't slab I get my money back. No worries about that since this is a top level dealer and we've been through this before. [Picture when coin arrives] I found some other coins that were what I wanted but the asking prices were high, often WAY high. One coin was slabbed G-6 but the dealer was asking for VG-10 money which was about double the value (difference of about $600). Other dealers were asking for more than Coin Values prices for their coins. The economy is getting better, but not THAT much better. It would be interesting to revisit them tomorrow and, if the show remains slow, to see what their asking prices are then.
