After an early-morning wake up call, we meandered over to the convention center. Being in a different hall and in the basement, the show was a bit more difficult to find. In fact, I entered through a back door by complete accident and found my table in the usual spot.
After setting up our rather limited display, we attempted to sell a few coins to our first victims (dealers) and the pace was set. As the day wore on, a little bit of business was transacted and a lot of visitors stopped by the tables. It was nice to continue our acquaintances with our fellow dealers and local collectors and we were able to buy quite a few extraordinary items for the website.
Unfortunately the slight buzz that started early on in the morning died out quickly. The Summer Baltimore show is always the slowest and least-attended of the Whitman Baltimore shows so it was not wholly unexpected, but disappointing nonetheless.
As a result it allowed much time for conversation with other prominent (and not so prominent) dealers on the bourse. The most interest was with 2 fellow retail-oriented dealers. We were discussing the number of over-graded and generally undesirable coins on the market. The crux of the discussion is that there are many collectors buying from different dealers who aren’t as numismatically educated as they should be. As a result they are buying unattractive, over-valued items that are likely to haunt the buyers in the years to come when the coins are put up for sale. The only answer to this problem is for collectors to find a “real” dealer that they can trust and to make sure that they are buying attractive, desirable coins even if they are a little too much money. Don’t rely on your own judgment and opinion…it’s always free to ask for help.
At David Lawrence Rare Coins, you can contact any of us at the office on a daily basis to inquire about any of the coins that we have offered on our site. If the coin isn’t right for you, we’re not afraid to say that. But, if the coin is a little bit too much money, that should not always be a deterrent as the “right coin” will often cost a little bit too much.
My read on the market:
What’s Hot: CAC is still by far the hottest 3 letter word on the market! PCGS coins in general are performing decently and nice NGC-CAC items are as well. Italian food (there were at least 10-15 dealers at our restaurant of choice in Little Italy tonight), staying at a coin show on the weekend.
What’s Not: Generic gold, the weather in Baltimore, summer coin shows, dealers in Tommy Bahama shirts.
Advice for the Day: Buy quality! Price matters, but quality is above all the most important. We can only say this so many times before we become a broken record, but it’s so true at a time like this.
