By William Shamhart – NumismaticAmericana.com….
We, that is, Christine and I, just returned from the second Long Beach show of the year and WOW what a few months make. Christine is busy getting our new purchases ready for your viewing pleasure, but until then it is my job to write this show report.
As I said earlier, what a difference a few months makes. In the last few show reports on Long Beach I have said that something needed to be done. I even went as far as to say that the Long Beach show was terminal, as in dead. Well it appears that the show promoters listened to me (I’m sure it wasn’t just me, but saying so makes me feel important). With a new heart (show staff), a new diet (new marketing and pricing for tables), and a daily regiment of exercise (listening to the attending dealers as well as the public), it now appears that the long running and highly coveted Long Beach show will be around for quite a while. Well done! I’ve listed a few of the “new” ideas below, and I think you’ll like them:
- 1 Free Wi-Fi for dealers with tables. A big bonus for them, as the show is basically in a bunker and all other Internet providers have a hard time penetrating it.
- 2 NO EMPTY TABLES! Yea! There is nothing I hate more than having a table at a show, surrounded by empty booths. It just looks bad and is a security risk. I am sure that the attending public would agree. Good job Long Beach staff!
- 3 Computers at the front of the show allowing Collectors to locate coins. Dealers that list their inventory on Collectors Corner check which coins will be available at the show. With this Collectors look on the computer and can find the coin and which table it is at. Another great idea! And we even had collectors come by looking for the coins we had listed. I never thought I’d say it, but “isn’t technology great?”
As you are aware, I sometimes suffer from writers block. I know that there are numerous implementations that I forgot to mention, but you get the idea.
There has been a lot of talk lately about the fact that there are too many major shows now. I have to agree…sort of. I don’t think there are really too many shows, it is just that the show promoters do not seem to talk or communicate with each other and inevitably have their shows back to back, or in the case of next years June Long Beach and Baltimore shows THE SAME WEEKEND! (In fact the ANA had their spring show the same weekend as PAN, the organization that they hooked up with to do the show last fall. Duh!)
As my mother is so fond of saying…”can’t we all just get along?” There is no reason that either of those two, Long Beach or Baltimore, should have to give up a show. Maybe they should just look at a copy of the “coin show calendar”. Both Christine and I have clients on both coasts that don’t make it across the country to another show. Enough complaining, let’s work together and find a solution.
Enough of that though. On with the show report…
The show opened up earlier this year, at noon. What a difference that makes. The extra two hours allowed for a more relaxed time and also allowed the dealers to see more of each other before the public came in. I like it.
We came with a lot of coins ready for grading; coins that we had bought from old time collectors and in deals recently. They immediately went to PCGS and were returned on a somewhat timely fashion throughout the show. I personally think that PCGS did a great job of holding the line, crossing the coins they should have and rewarding superb original coins. I did however hear several dealers complain, but when I looked at their coins, all I could think was “man these coins sure do look tired”. So be it.
Christine and I were able to buy some really cool coins this time. In fact this is probably the best looking batch of coins we have purchased in a long time. We’re really glad to have gotten the opportunity to buy them, both from dealers and collectors alike. In fact we bought back several pieces from a long time client, as well as a couple others at the show. And while many dealers still try and get us to buy their tired old stock, several new dealers are starting to realize that we pay dearly for quality and don’t try and beat them up on price. That is why we got to buy what was the talk of the show (at least in certain circles, as in Commem collectors). We were offered, and Christine immediately bought, a wonderfully toned 1928 Hawaiian half dollar. I assume the buyer was equally impressed with it because several other dealers and collectors mentioned to us that they had seen it. To give you an idea how cool it was, we could have sold it at least ten times to different clients. I guess it pays to be a nice guy (or girl) after all.
As I said earlier, I liked this show. Yes it might have been a little smaller, but that is my style. It allowed us to spend just a little more time with our clients talking coins. Getting to know your clients is what relationships are all about (you were wondering if I would get this in weren’t you?). We had the pleasure of dining with one of our clients, and his wife, this time. I used to think that I traveled a lot. Not so much. Those two know how to travel and live life to the fullest. Kudos to them!
So there it is my Long Beach Show report. Hoped you enjoyed it, but if you didn’t that’s okay. I’m sure you’ll enjoy looking over our new purchases.
And remember…we love to talk coins.
