By William Shamhart – Numismatic Americana
It seems as if the Holiday season of 2010 was six months ago. Not because it wasn’t eventful, but because Christine and I have just returned from TAMPA (not Orlando) and the first major show of the year. When you get back from a show, especially one like FUN, you’re still running on adrenaline for a few days and anything that happened before then is ancient history by the time you get back.
First I would like to thank the board members of FUN for putting on a great show. While there are a few things that could have been improved upon, all in all they did a wonderful job. Tampa isn’t quite the town Orlando is for a coin show. After all, when most people think of the FUN show, they think of Orlando. I am glad to see it going back there for the next few years.
Before I get into the meat of this report, I would like to personally thank all of our customers, those that attended FUN and those that did not. I thank you for your business and friendship, your conversation and camaraderie. It is because of you that Christine and I get to do what we do. Thank you.
In Florida we had the opportunity to meet some of our newer, or should I say “faceless”, customers in person. As usual it is always great to put a face with a name. And to those of you who have been following our website for the past year and finally introduced yourself at FUN, it was an equal pleasure to meet you there as well. Christine and I look forward to building a long lasting relationship with you.
Speaking of relationships, I would like to thank Stewart Blay for asking Christine and me to help him sell some of his Barber dimes. The coins are really special! When I asked Stewart why he was selling his Barbers, he told me he wasn’t. These were coins that he had recently replaced with higher grade ones! If these are any indication, then the Barber dime set Mr. Blay is assembling is world class and will fit nicely with his monumental set of copper coins.
Sales in Tampa were about what we expected. The really cool coins sold quickly to collectors, and the dealers took what they could get. Purchasing? That is a totally different story. The FUN show is one where many collectors and dealers wait to sell their special coins. Christine and I took advantage of that as much as possible. While I write this, Christine is busy imaging and cataloging our new purchases for the web site. Check back often though out this week, and then give her a call.
In addition to our new purchases we had the pleasure of buying, and subsequently selling, some pretty cool items at the show. Many of you stopped by our table numerous times, hoping, some successfully, some not, that we had found something for you. I personally think that relationships are the most important aspect of our hobby, but it doesn’t hurt to be lucky either. One never knows what we will find on the bourse floor from one hour to the next. A few of the coins that we bought and sold at FUN are:
1917 50c PCGS MS 67 CAC
1920-S Walking Liberty Half PCGS MS65 CAC
1915-S $50 Pan Pac Round NGC MS 65 CAC
A very Gemmy 1865 Proof set with original box
1905 Assay Medal presented to W. A. Blair
Again, thank you for your patronage in 2010 and we look forward to hearing from you though out 2011
