Money Show in Fort Worth
Alan Bruns
It's the largest show I've ever attended by far. I had a list of needed
bust half Overton numbers I hoped to reduce by one or two (however far
the budget would reach). I arrived a bit after 10:00am, parking on the
street a few blocks away from the convention center (metered street
parking free in FtW on Saturday/Sunday). I started clockwise around the
outer edge of the exhibit hall and came pretty quickly to the Smithsonian
and BEP exhibits, and that of the US Mint. The gold coins and high-
denomination bills were pretty cool and the people running the areas were
very friendly. I watched a BEP guy print a layer on one of those "hand-
pulled" souvenir sheets, with help from a girl scout.
I spent about 2 1/2 hours in the place, mostly at the tables of 3 dealers
who had nice quantities of old half dollars, and found about 8 that I
really wanted. In the end I chose a couple nice ones at Sheridan
Downey's table. When I first got there, Mr. Downey was helping a couple
boy scouts fill in some answers on a sheet that I assume they were
working to earn a merit badge. The dealers who had volunteered to do
this had signs up, and there were a lot of kids (boy and girl scouts
both) making the rounds. Those dealers were really doing great work, and
the kids and their parents were really enjoying it.
I was sorry to see quite a large number of dealers packing up before
noon, especially since the show is still supposed to be open for business
on Sunday. But then I was also sorry to see that the place wasn't
crowded. Fort Worth and Texas have pretty much missed most of the
recession (also having missed most of the home-price runup leading to
it), so I expected to see more people going around the tables. Comments
from a couple dealers were that this was an OK show, not bad, but not
particularly good either. A small crowd meant that I was able to see
into pretty much all the display cases right away, so it made it nicer
for me, and I got through a lot more quickly than I would have, if I'd
had to work through a crowd.
Two fewer empty holes in the Dansco made this a very successful show for
me.
-Alan Bruns
Mr. Jaggers
Congratulations on those two new coins. Were they by any chance the 1815/2
and the 1836 reeded edge? 8>)
The primo days for big shows are Friday and any days that preceed it. By
Saturday a.m. a lot of dealers and buyers alike have accomplished their
goals and have taken off or are ready to take off, which is why many shows
actually end on Saturday. Sometimes I wonder if the biggest money is in the
pockets of people that don't have a 9 to 5, 5 day work week. Wait, I don't
wonder, I know.
Thanks for the report, I wish I could have been there.
James the NVS
som...@some.domain
were the half prices good? have they gone up much in the past 3-4 years from
your observations? love them busts.
Alan Bruns
news:holqq...@enews1.newsguy.com:
> Congratulations on those two new coins. Were they by any chance the
> 1815/2 and the 1836 reeded edge? 8>)
>
> The primo days for big shows are Friday and any days that preceed it.
> By Saturday a.m. a lot of dealers and buyers alike have accomplished
> their goals and have taken off or are ready to take off, which is why
> many shows actually end on Saturday. Sometimes I wonder if the
> biggest money is in the pockets of people that don't have a 9 to 5, 5
> day work week. Wait, I don't wonder, I know.
>
> Thanks for the report, I wish I could have been there.
>
> James the NVS
>
>
I'm afraid that the 1815/2 and 1836 reeded edge are going to be permanent holes in the
book - just out of my range. But I'm closing in on all the rest of the "Red Book"
list.
I've read before about vendors closing up shop early at big shows. I guess you can't
blame 'em. Those boy scouts and girl scouts aren't going to buy much and though I
left most of my coin budget for 3 months behind I'm sure all the big guys finished
their trading the day before. It was really neat just walking around a big show, and
of course finding a number of dealers with large stocks of halves. At the local
Grapevine show there's only ever one or two, and some times none at all.
-Alan Bruns
Alan Bruns
news:u9vrn.275331$Hq1....@en-nntp-04.dc1.easynews.com:
> were the half prices good? have they gone up much in the past 3-4
> years from your observations? love them busts.
Well, I haven't been collecting busts that long... Not quite two years
since the first one. And I've got to say that the collection at this point
is mostly F-XF, with a number of VGs (and one possible counterfeit) so I
haven't been buying the grades where general price variations would be
noticable. I know the Greysheet prices haven't budged in two years, though
that list is of doubtful use for those buying Overton varieties. But I
think I got reasonably good prices on the two VF coins I bought at the
show. And the other bust halves I was considering were all within the
range that I was prepared to pay. (But then I didn't even think of asking
to look at the keys to the series. Heritage had 3 of the 1836 reeded edge
and at least 1 1815/2 in their auctions, so they were at least available.)
-Alan Bruns
som...@some.domain
thanks. i don't have either of those mostly becuse i waited too long or jumped
the wrong way. i spent money put aside once for a coin in a different series.
super good buy but but but, i shoulda,.
ya know?
Bob-tx
"Alan Bruns" <VMSD...@Gmail.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9D489C940DE4DA...@94.75.214.90...
>I attended the ANA Money Show in downtown Fort Worth on Saturday
>morning.
> It's the largest show I've ever attended by far.
<SNIP>
Sounds like it was a good show, and I would have driven the 250
miles to go, had I known about it. So, the question that comes to
my mind, is:
Where does a person find advance information about coin show - large
and small?
Any good sources?
Bob-tx
> -Alan Bruns
>
Alan Bruns
$bbae...@news.suddenlink.net:
I check this site every month or so. I don't know how complete it is (I
believe they rely on the show sponsors to tell them about 'em) but it's
cueued me in to a number of good experiences throughout the area. The
Fort Worth area shows seem to always be there, with details entered a
month or two ahead of time.
http://www.coinshows.com/texas.html
And of course if you leave off the "/texas.html" part you get a choice
page where you can select any state. Good site.
Mr. Jaggers
Numismatic News
Coin World
The Numismatist
World Coin News
Greysheet
ANA Website
websites such as http://www.coininfo.com/coin_shows/month/march
James
Peter
> Bob-tx wrote:
> > "Alan Bruns" <VMSDCL...@Gmail.com> wrote in message
If you're in the Netherlands, this is one group of shows:
http://www.mpo.nl/nl/beurzen
Mr. Jaggers
I've never been to a show outside the U.S. Are shows in other countries
much different from shows in the U.S., other than the obvious differences in
type of merchandise displayed?
James
Peter
> I've never been to a show outside the U.S. Are shows in other countries
> much different from shows in the U.S., other than the obvious differences in
> type of merchandise displayed?
>
> James-
There are some differences. Most are what you would expect. You
mentioned the merchandise; there are fewer US coins and lots more of
other stuff. Among the other stuff are usually some very old coins.
The provenance of some of these can be interesting. Chatting with a
friend at work, I learned a lot about Trier. It seems that almost
wherever you turn there, you will find Roman artifacts. The problem
comes if you own a house or business there. Before you can modify a
building it is necessary to obtain planning permission and that
involves plans to protect any artifacts that turn up.
The practical result is that anyone who can conceal a modification
will do so. The problem thereafter of disposing of artifacts presents
itself. Coin shows present a way to do so.
There are some radically different styles. As an example, in many
places in Spain, but notably in Plaza Mayor in Madrid, coin collectors
congregate on Sunday morning rather informally. For example, they
bring card tables to display their wares and stand out in the open
(sometimes in the rain). Note that the Plaza Mayor is a locale where
a lot of coin shops congregate.
The group of shows run by MPO is rather special. The organizer has
some altruistic views. He seeks to find bargains that he can sell at
prices that others can make money after buying his coins. He runs a
big auction operation (stamps and coins). He has associates that are
expert in some specialist areas. He organizes the affairs so that a
moderate range of other dealers also attend (typically about 30 - 40
tables of which some are stamps and medals).
There are other shows that are much more elaborate and commercial
(several in Germany or Belgium, but I've mislayed the URLs).
If I had to choose, I think many of the smaller shows are friendlier
than some of the ones I've seen in the US. The style of bargaining is
a bit more like the oriental bazaar than in the US.
Naturally, facility with the local language is helpful, but if you're
from the US they assume that unlike the locals you are bringing
money. Consequently, they usually will try to communicate. Some
places in France objected to my poor command of French and refused
conversation, but even in France it was unusual.
In the Netherlands, in particular, it appears that one of the prime
issues is concealing value from the tax man (they have a wealth tax).
Consequently, guidance on valuation of coins is a service available at
the MPO shows and some others.
Mr. Jaggers
Very interesting and enlightening. Thanks, Peter.
James
Ken Barr
[snip]
> the budget would reach). I arrived a bit after 10:00am, parking on the
> street a few blocks away from the convention center (metered street
> parking free in FtW on Saturday/Sunday).
RATS! Missed that ... so I wasted $2 on the meter on Saturday ...
> I was sorry to see quite a large number of dealers packing up before
> noon, especially since the show is still supposed to be open for business
> on Sunday.
Nope. The show was Thurs-Fri-Sat only this year, with no Sunday
hours.
And with the distance from the Fort Worth Convention Center to DFW,
many of the deelers had to leave earlier than normal to catch
reasonable
flights back home.
The show had mixed results as far as I could see. Many of the high-
end
and low-end deelers were happy, but many in the middle were not. This
correlates to my own experiences, that the middle of the market has
been
hurt more by the economy than either the high or low end.