Going To My First Coin Collector Show In Over 35 Years This Weekend...

I am so happy I went to a coin show. I think I'm done with buying over the Internet. I need to do more shows. For such a seemingly small venue with approx 20 tables, the place was very busy with people walking around browsing. I didn't think any tables in there were a professional coin store. It appeared most were mom-and-pop type dealers who do this once a month. I saw people sitting in chairs browsing coins with their loupes. Others were hanging out by the coffee and donut counter. Yes, a lot of slabbed coins but also bags of loose stuff. I walked up to two tables and pointed, how much for all your mints sets. They gave me a price and I handed over the cash. I'll find out what I got in the coming weeks when I open the stuff. I even bought the one guys loose "mint" coins that he had cut into squares... he even gave me the plastic container.

Excellent!

The prices two of these tables had on their mint sets/coins were less than I was paying for the same date ranges via my favorite Internet sources. Plus, they gave steep discount for buying bulk so I had to jump in. The one guy was older than dirt and that's the one whom I bought the most. He kept pulling more sets out from under the table and putting very attractive prices to just get rid of them. My estimate is that end result, I paid approx 2x face value for everything.

Tonight I finished cutting up the sets and based on first pass I'd say approx 10% are keepers that will grade MS65 or better.

Just one more fan of a coin show. It was kind of a shame how small the Countryside show was last Sunday. Used to be about two to three times that big. And mostly not a lot of donuts left when I got there. Next one should be better since I thing the newest Red Book will be available. One dealer at these shows always has them for a lot less than most other places. I did buy a knife there. Itasca show next Sunday is a lot smaller but I usually find better deals there.

Well, let me clarify what I'm finding now that I made my second pass. I definitely have a few keepers, some of the dimes would grade at MS67. And I think one of the Kennedy halves might be an MS66 but the value isn't there. I have to assume these mint sets have been fondled by so many where technically I'm buying the leftovers. All the key dates are long ago picked over.

This would not be an easy money business model. I think the hunt for a GEM is what keeps me going.

I did pull a 1988 Penny from a mint set approx 1 year ago. Came back from PCGS at an MS68RD which has a PCGS value at $900. Late yesterday I walked into Stacks Bowers NYC office and consigned it over for their May Baltimore auction. However, while sitting inside their store with glass-top table display cases with what looked $1mil or more in value, my penny wasn't looking like a big deal. I hastefully agreed this would be for their web auction portion of the Baltimore event with starting bid of $1, no reserve. So. Not exactly selling it on ebay but hopefully I can get a few hundred for it. I also gave them a Jefferson nickel that does qualify for the hammer drop portion of their May event... probably the only reason they agreed to take on my penny as I had a few items.