MSNS fall show in Dearborn

Michigan State numismatic society show in Dearborn. Nov.26-28
Approx. 200 dealer tables, auction, exhibits. free admission, free parking.

The show is at the Dearborn Hyatt Regency Hotel next door to the Fairlane
Shopping Mall. Look for the tall gold color building as you come down the
Southfield Freeway.

I hope to make it this year but I probably won't be spending much money as I
just got an eye opener of an auction invoice in the mail yesterday.
I have the money to cover it but I think I need to put the brakes on spending
for awhile.

(John Stone) wrote:
Michigan State numismatic society show in Dearborn. Nov.26-28
Approx. 200 dealer tables, auction, exhibits. free admission, free parking.

The Educational Forum this year will feature Wendell Wolka. His topic
is "Dysfunctional Commerce 1850s Style" about counterfeit local
banknotes. Wolka has written several articles about banking in Ohio,
Wisconsin, and Indiana. He also co-authored a Krause book about
Indiana banknotes and scrip.

I hope to make it this year but I probably won't be spending much money...

Buying and selling are the main reason for a show, perhaps. Meeting
people, both old friends and new, is another motivation for attending.
Specialty clubs (Paper Money, Tokens & Medals, etc.) also hold
sessions at this convention.

Michael
MSNS 7935

The Educational Forum this year will feature Wendell Wolka. His topic
is "Dysfunctional Commerce 1850s Style" about counterfeit local
banknotes. Wolka has written several articles about banking in Ohio,
Wisconsin, and Indiana. He also co-authored a Krause book about
Indiana banknotes and scrip.


Will the Wolka presention be on
Saturday afternoon? I usually come
on Fridays but this is one
program I would like to attend if
possible. He also just released a
new book "A history of nineteenth
century Ohio obsolete bank notes
and scrip". It is a mammoth sized
book of 1041 pages.

On 18 Nov 2004 11:43:48 -0800, (John Stone) is alleged
to have written:

Michigan State numismatic society show in Dearborn. Nov.26-28
Approx. 200 dealer tables, auction, exhibits. free admission, free parking.

The show is at the Dearborn Hyatt Regency Hotel next door to the Fairlane
Shopping Mall. Look for the tall gold color building as you come down the
Southfield Freeway.

I hope to make it this year but I probably won't be spending much money as I
just got an eye opener of an auction invoice in the mail yesterday.
I have the money to cover it but I think I need to put the brakes on spending
for awhile.

I'll likely be there on Friday. Anybody else?

Bruce

(JSTONE9352) wrote
Will the Wolka presention be on
Saturday afternoon?

Yes, I believe so. I have not seen the convention schedule yet, but
Saturday afternoon is the traditional time for the Educational Forum.

I will be at the convention Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I have the
Educational Forum to host, and as the MichMatist editor I have to
report to the Board of Governors at their meeting. Most of the time, I
will be on the floor talking to advertisers and authors.

Bruce Hickmott wrote:
I'll likely be there on Friday. Anybody else?

If you were here, I missed you. Sorry.

All in all, it is a pretty good show, with record attendance of over
3,000 today. I got a pleasant surprise in the first hour running into
DON KAGIN. Kagin has not made this show in over 10 years, so I was
happy to introduce myself and say Hello.

I spent the day on the floor, talking to dealers about advertising in
the MichMatist and doing some shopping. My big catch so far was a
Quartman 1983 reprint of Sylvester Crosby's EARLY COINS OF AMERICA.
Originally published in 1875, this work was the result of an
initiative by the New England Numismatic and Archaeological Society to
document the coinages of the colonies. (I bought this from John
Burns.)

My best bargain was a medal celebrating 50 years of the Pitman
printing company. Four inches in diameter from Medallic Arts 1956, it
was too cheap to pass up and has a lot of meaning for me as a writer
and editor.

Recently, I took up an interest in the great medieval fairs and I have
been working on the Counts of Champagne for their coins from Troyes,
Provins, etc. and I found a Thibaut III to go with the other four. I
need only two more to complete this set (as defined by the counts; as
defined by the Mints, I have a ways to go...). So, this was nice find
at a bargain price.

I was not successful shopping for some other materials -- certain
Chinese banknotes and Celtic imitations -- but that's the
give-and-take of conventions: material comes and goes.

My surprise find was a 10 pence silver bank token from Ireland. This
not an active area for me, but I do have a strong prejudice for banks
and their money, and it carried a price I could not pass up. I got it
from First Light.

I met more than a few old friends from Howell, Michigan. That was
probably the best part of the show so far.

Tomorrow, I have to devote most of my time to judging exhibits and I
have the educational forum to host for our guest speaker, Wendell
Wolka. Wendell comes with a string of awards, including a Clemy, so I
am looking forward to learning from his presentation. Then I have a
Board meeting to attend. Other than that, I will be at or near the
exhibits all day.

Michael
MSNS 7935

(Michael E. Marotta) wrote:
All in all, it is a pretty good show ...

I was looking for foreign paper and I was waiting at a table for a
chair. The dealer says, "I have something for you." Wow! Then, I
saw his nametag and it was Richard Haude and what he had was an
apparently complete table of banknotes with aviation themes that
another collector had built. Dick remembered my interest, asked for a
copy, and carried it around until he saw me again. (Golly.)

Michael
MSNS 7935

(John Stone) wrote:
Michigan State numismatic society show in Dearborn. Nov.26-28
Approx. 200 dealer tables, auction, exhibits. free admission, free parking.

I would have spent more, but the ATM was uncooperative. Basically, I
tend to save money for shows like this, rather than spend impulsively
(or compulsively!) on every bauble that catches my eye, so I was
prepared to spend a bit more, but the money machine knew what was best
for me in the long run. Even so, I found a several books and a couple
of coins. I also got an ugly blue polyester blazer that is two sizes
too big.

Michael
MSNS 7935

On 26 Nov 2004 20:02:26 -0800, (Michael E. Marotta) is
alleged to have written:

Bruce Hickmott wrote:
I'll likely be there on Friday. Anybody else?

If you were here, I missed you. Sorry.


I was there for a couple of hours Saturday, right when you were giving your
presentation. I've never been so rushed at a show in all my life!


Anyway, traditional feckless rambling show report:

The wife and I hit the road just before 8am and arrive at the show after a stop
at Cracker Barrel for brunch. Show's not horribly crowded, but it's not exactly
empty either.

One of the first things I notice is there are no banners identifying the dealers
tables. You have to read the fine print off the dealers name tag to determine
who you're dealing with. Didn't like that at all!

Dealers I talked to all had good shows Friday and were hoping for the same
today. Said just about every area of the market was hot and did I have anything
for sale? Only one dealer carrying ACG slabs in evidence, and those were the old
double size slabs with the A2-65 grading system. He said the coins were junk,
but slab collectors would be interested in the plastic. Common date morgans are
dead. Late date large cents are dead. Wild toned modern eagles are HOT. Any
toned coin that can find it's way into a reputable slab is hot. SLQ's and
Mercury dimes are also a hot areas. I saw an 09SVDB in VF trade hands 4 times in
40 minutes before getting to it's final owner.

Most dealers there are aware of the ACG lawsuit and very supportive of the
defendants. Most also had things to say about Hager, but since I got sued just
for "fishwife" I'm sure not gonna repeat what I heard! One fellow offered me a
counterfeit 22 plain in a ACG slab when he heard I was one of the sued. I
pointed him at Barry Stuppler, though I'm not sure if he needs any more
evidence.

Lot of paper collectors there, all the paper money dealers were quite busy.
Alas, no paper for me, nothing Xenia related at all.

I don't know what it takes to get a cameo at PCGS. I saw 10 Barber halfs, each
slabbed PR65, some cameo, some not. It was very confusing, the coin with the
best contrast was in a non-cameo slab! Either PCGS just plain blew the grade or
there's more to cameo than just the contrast.

One fellow had a case of artificially toned Franklins. He's selling them as AT
at around greysheet for a non-toned coin. Very pretty, wouldn't have fooled an
expert but I worry that somebody will buy them as Natural.

Lot of common date gold on the floor. Lot of common date morgans on the floor.
Most of the want lists have key or semi key dates, according to the dealers.
Tough date gold still doesn't get much respect. I picked up a 1906-O $10 that
ANACS thinks will grade 63 for the price of a common date MS60. One fellow had a
run of T3 gold dollars that he was having trouble getting much over melt for.
Some of those late dates are RARE! I saw him at a table by the pool with another
collector looking at them, so hopefully it came out all right.

I'm doing more selling than buying today and prices seem to be generally good.
One dealer took looked at my offerings and made me a strong offer on all of them
except for the Indian cents! He just doesn't do Indian cents. So I sold him what
he wanted and started to work the Indian cent proofs. Got a couple of offers
that seemed kinda low to me, then a vest pocket dealer I'd never met before
snagged me. He made me a much better offer for most of the indians and I was
well pleased to take it.

Now, I need to find things to buy. And other than that 1906-O, pickings are
pretty slim. Tom Reynolds has a couple of half cents, a 1794C2 and a 1804C1 that
just might fit in my collection, but I really want slightly better specimens. I
may come back for the 94C2. I could use a proof 1866 rays 5c...one on the floor,
but it has milky haze despite the PCGS PR64 slab. No 09 VDB proof, other than a
66 red in someones private collection...MAJOR *SIGH*, it's a beautiful coin.

One dealer has a number of early proofs in slabs, including the above 1866. But
most of the coins seem to barely make the grade on the slab and they want strong
prices. I nearly pay the price for a 1908 PR65 slabbed Barber half, but the wife
is watching.

I looked at about 100 1883 No Cent's 5c looking for varieties, specifically the
one that shares the reverse with the 1882 pattern. Nothing! Somebody must have
been there before. Only one pattern, a J1690 with a few problems and way over
priced.

Didn't get to look at the exhibits. Didn't get to see any presentations. Didn't
get to meet ANYONE. From a buying perspective, the show was a bust for me
although I'm told there was a lot of nice stuff Friday. About a half dozen
tables already packed up by 3pm, others packing.

Oh, well. Maybe FUN will be a better buying show for me, if I can manage to make
it.

Bruce