Television Coin Show Wars

I was watching a bit of Barry Chappell's and Rick Tomaska's shows last evening. Now for those of you who may not know, Tomaska used to do segments for Chappell until earlier in this year when he struck out on his own (evidently taking Jack McNamera with him). It's my understanding that Tomaska association with Chappell's operation began with his role in assembling Chappell's premier collection of proof Morgan dollars. And certainly Tomaska has some bonafides within the hobby by virtue of the books he's authored. I can only assume that their parting was acrimonious, as each has been sniping at the other on the air since. But Chappell now appears willing to take this to a whole new level.

Recently Tomaska had offered a package of four Peace dollars certified at MS66 for $2,595. Chappell countered last night by offering the same for $1,995. He even went so far as to suggest that anybody who had bought Tomaska's product return them, and buy his instead, pocketing the $600 savings. He remarked that this matter was "personal" for him, and labeled Tomaska as "greedy.' Without getting into minute detail, let me just say that the whole tone of the presentation was one of ridiculing Tomaska.

I want to emphasize that I'm not taking sides here. I have no inside information that would serve as the basis for my doing so. I'm merely a small time collector who's never done any business with either party. It's just that I've never seen anything quite like this. Sure, you'll hear coin show guys vaguely refer to their competitors in promoting their deals, but this level of specificity and vitriol seems to me to be something entirely different.

If I have any of my facts wrong, feel free to correct me. But I'm more interested to reactions to this particular broadcast, and if anybody else sees this rather public dispute as having become somewhat unseemly, and whether some sort of line has been crossed.