YOU are Invited: The First Official CoinTalk Meet and Greet at FUN 2020

The thing that really struck me about that Saint you bought, @GoldFinger1969 , is the absolutely stunning and original color. The gorgeous color with that luster made a coin that both Bill and I approved of - and that's a hard feat!

 

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Coming from great graders and vets like you, along with Messy fresh off his NGC accolades, that means alot. Thanks PF.

Any luck finding a subsitute coin for the HA one ?

 

I saw Laura Sperber of Legend on Thursday but didn't see her again. Did she set up the booth and just leave ?

Also, did John Albanese attend ? I don't think CAC had a booth.

 

@physics-fan3.14 is correct. That one is a stunner. Nice catch!

 

I've been called many things, but I have to say - Ishtar is a first.

 

Oh jeez..... I know sure as the sun will come up tomorrow.... I know I have to read these blasted things before I hit the post button. Repairing my faux paux now.

 

I did what you guys said the last 2 years: I didn't pounce on a coin I really didn't love just to have it in my hand/household. Solid advice, as usual.

I did feel a bit of pressure to buy one at FUN, because if I can't find one to buy there, where am I gonna find one ? Maybe HA Auctions, but you find it and if someone else likes it, you can end up paying 50% over FMV.

So I'm one happy camper.

 

I wasn't aware that FUN and Whitman (and ANA and Long Beach ?) have 2nd (shorter) conventions after their big ones.

Surprised they turn around and do it again in 6 months rather than a year. LOTTA work, even if there are fewer dealers, speakers, workshops, etc.

 

I've actually had a *lot* of success since I got home. I'll be posting them once they arrive.

 

Not so sure I agree with the above. If you make a purchase at your LCS, you can certainly pay over FMV. However, in an auction where there is more than one bidder, doesn't the gavel dictate the current FMV?

 

I get where you are coming from, MD.

I guess what I was trying to say is that when dealing with a semi-scarce coin, or one that is not super-abundant (i.e., 1924 or 1927 Saints)....you could have recent auctions at $2,500 for a certain coin and maybe 2 weeks before Christmas, with 2 guys hoping to give that coin as a present, the bidding goes way over to say $3,200.

You would think established pricing and priced guides would limit the bidding price but not all the time. I do think HA auctions are usually pretty disciplined, but I've seen a few where the price blew above the top estimate and recent sales prices by 20-30% or so for obscure or rare stuff.

 

Absolute beauty on the saint and an old green pcgs too my favorite holder. I’d send to cac as a bean would only make it better

 

Thanks, Maine !

I thought about it but you know what....I'm just gonna enjoy the coin for now. Maybe later I'll submit it. I just want to take it out and show it to F&F as I bought it.

I've never submitted a coin for CAC or done the crack-out game. I can see myself submitting for CAC down the line but would hope I don't play the crack-out game.

Me, I think the coin is strong for the grade and I think most of you would agree, as did Physics and JohnMilton who saw it in person. It's kinda unfortunate I need a tiny sticker to confirm what a dozen knowledgeable graders think but....I guess that's the hand we are dealt with, huh ?

 

Actually, you should hope to become capable of playing the crack-out game. Not with this coin, but if you are able to spot a coin that is undergraded, it's a game that is worth winning. Even if it's a "wrong plastic" coin that needs to be cracked and submitted elsewhere for the same grade, that can be a win. I don't play this game often, but it's one worth knowing how to play.

 

For a coin here or there, I guess if I had conviction (and experts like you confirmed it) it might be worthwhile.

I was referring to the folks who crack out virtually ALL their coins, Messy. For them, the hobby is just about buying something misgraded, getting it correctly graded, and then selling it for a profit. Or just getting a higher grade, regardless of whether it's deserved or not (see below).

I don't condemn it, I just don't think that's what I want to do with my valuable hobby time. I want to enjoy the hobby and the coins and learn from people like you and others here at CT.

And then of course you have that ridiculous situation that I read about (and posted here) with the Franklin Half-Dollars and the FBL...where the coin got upgraded 1 1/2 numbers and went without FBL to with FBL. $500 coin goes to like $12,000 or something like that.

 

Well, that's more of a business model than a hobby. Not always a good one, either. There's someone who used to take a table (or part of one) at CSNS that played the crack-out game. Submitted stuff for show grading, too. Then he spent the rest of the show griping about grading and cracking stuff back out of holders to try again. Seemed pretty miserable, actually.

If you develop the skills necessary to play that game and apply it to acquiring choice coins for your collection, however, you'll enjoy the hobby and not make many ill-advised purchases.

 

THAT'S what I want...to be able to make quality purchases, forgetting about the $$$. Not paying MS66 prices for something that is really an MS64.

I've definitely gotten alot better -- at least on the coins I have interest in -- just by reading vets like you, playing the GTG threads, looking at pics, and studying. But I was way off on more than half the coins in that NGC contest you won.

 

1792 Pattern Disme PCGS MS-62
A couple Libertas Americana medals in silver and bronze
All three types of 1793 Large Cents in AU/MS
1793 Half Cent PCGS MS-63
A couple extremely rare broadsides related to the Libertas Americana medal

Among a few others. Easily $2 million in coins.

At other tables, I saw:

1796 Half Cent, no Pole PCGS MS-66 RB
1793 Chain Cent AMERI. PCGS SP-65
1796 Quarter PCGS MS-63 CAC
1827 Quarter PF-67 CAM
1794 Large Cent, Starred Reverse, PCGS XF-40

among other rarities

 

I got to play with a silver Libertas Americana that Tony Terranova bought at the Heritage auction. Very cool medal that may find its way into a future calendar.