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 Replies: 9 / Views: 1,784 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
573 Posts |
Just curious, I've heard it mentioned that a lot of collectors avoid going to coin shows. Do you? In my experience, it's tough going to shows because I am just not interested in purchasing US coins and depending on the size of the show, there just may not be anything there I want. I go to local shows because they're local, no hotel, no airfare, but at around 70 tables, there's not much to choose from, if anything. I've had a lot of luck at the FUN shows, but it's not cheap to get and stay there. I've been to shows in Dalton, GA and they've been iffy, even at ~400 tables. Does anyone just totally avoid going to shows? Edited by beem
02/08/2020 09:54 am
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
7955 Posts |
I am a world coin collector with somewhat narrow collecting themes that make it a longshot to find anything of interest at a U.S. show.
I can count on one hand the number of shows I have attended. Not that I have a bias against them.
That said, I did see some nice world coins at two dealers at a show in Columbus, OH I quickly popped into last year (but I did not go there prepared to buy).
Edit: Around 15 to 20 years ago, Karl Stephens and Dmitri Markov were both at a big show in Philly when I still lived there. That may have been the only show where I bought world coins
Edited by tdziemia
02/08/2020 3:55 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5246 Posts |
Although I am not from the US, I do go to California regularly (SF area) and even the smaller shows seemed always to have some foreign coins of interest. So maybe some areas of the USA are more strictly oriented to US coins. |
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
I won't travel for shows but if it's local I will generally go. I may not go out of my way if I know the show isn't going to be great that time but I am also lucky that the local ones are only a few miles from me.
I know everyone always preaches the big shows and that FUN is supposed to be well a lot of fun (whomp whomp), but I really just can't justify spending hundreds if not a thousand or more on travel, room, and food just for a coin show. Would rather do that for a vacation
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Pillar of the Community
United States
819 Posts |
My local shows have several dealers that have world coins most are in tubs
You can dig around in. Most are about. 10-20 cents each. The more expensive ones are in binders. I am in the SF area
Next show is the first part of June.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1156 Posts |
Fortunately, one of my relatively, local shows is the Whitman Baltimore Coin Show, held three times a year and it attracts a few dozen world coin dealers. PGCS and NGC also have tables there so that's where I often will submit coins for certification.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1801 Posts |
I go to local shows and I find interesting foreign coins at about 1 out of 3 shows with the following exceptions. The Long Beach show has a large area of the show populated with just foreign dealers, often find stuff there and once a year I go to the USMexNA show in Scottsdale AZ which features most of the prominent dealers in Mexican and Latin American coins. Always find some great stuff there. I will point out that often I have found coins for sale at local shows where the dealer really didn't do their homework and I have picked up scarce varieties for the cost of common coins. If the dealer is not a foreign coin specialist, they often have picked up the coin in a bulk purchase and price it to move.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
573 Posts |
Thank you to everyone so far, this is great info.
tdziemia, I understand. I went to FUN in Jan really looking for a couple of coins and there were none to be found. But I did find some other great coins and some were at great prices.
basebal21, it is no doubt expensive, but I would surely recommend doing it, go to a big show. Plan ahead, try to get a hotel within walking distance of the show (take uber if it rains) and use google flights to get a good deal on airfare. I was able to do the Jan FUN show fairly inexpensively.
jgenn, thanks for the tip on the Baltimore show, I didn't know they did it 3 times a year. Those are all big shows?
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Quote:
Baltimore show, I didn't know they did it 3 times a year. Those are all big shows? Technically yes, but summer is usually pretty bad. Go in the spring or winter if you're going to do it |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3184 Posts |
I would go to shows if their are any close by. But I can find a lot of what I want online nowadays but its still neat to go to a show even if I find nothing I want.
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Replies: 9 / Views: 1,784 |
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Posted 02/08/2020 09:53 am
