• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

The 63rd Houston Money Show

0
Revenant

978 views

Shandy took the kids to spend the day with her parents in Deer Park and that left me free to go to this show after Naked Angel put me on to it a few days ago.

I debated not going and just spending the day alone at the house – quiet time alone at the house is a valuable thing. The show, while being the “Houston” Money show was also actually in Conroe and it was a 45 mile, 65 minute drive to get to it, which isn’t a trivial commute. Still, I don’t get opportunities like this a lot and I ultimately decided I didn’t want to waste the opportunity. So after Shandy left, I cleaned some, played a video game a little, ate an early lunch and then headed to the show.

I’m not one to spend all day at something like this. I ended up spending about 1.5 hours looking around and talking – which is honestly enough for me most of the time.

The show was about what I had expected. Lots of Morgan dollars, lots of Peace dollars, and other mixed coinage with some currency and bullion. Some of it was graded. A lot of it wasn’t and lots of 2x2 cardboard flips to look through if you’re into that sort of thing. If I was working on a date set of a certain US series I could see having fun looking through some of that but I’m not right now and so it’s not my thing at the moment.

82838903_1542162625933402_5928565533032054784_n.jpg

I struck up a conversation with a dealer from Gilmer that was unusual for a couple of reasons.

1) He didn’t have any Morgan or Peace dollars for sale

2) He had a pack-n-play behind his table.

For those not familiar with the term, a pack n’ play is a baby containment device that doubles as a bed / sleeping space. It turns out his daughter came with him to visit some friends while they were in town and her new baby is about the same age as Sam would have been if he’d been born on his due date (+/- a month).

That was some fun conversation and I ended up buying a 1938 D Buffalo nickel from him that’s been graded by NGC as MS65. The coin caught my eye and I kept going back to it in my head after I’d initially left his booth to look at the other stuff at the show. When something lingers in my brain like that I know it’s probably a good idea to get it. This is a nice looking example and I’ve been thinking about getting a mint-state buffalo lately. I’d been considering getting a buffalo nickel on my anniversary but that one lost out to the Standing Liberty quarter. I have a 20-coin page of these things in circulated conditions that I got years ago but it’ll be good to have a nice, graded example.

So, I guess this has turned into a good week for my humble, partial, 20th century type set. I’ve found over time that I get more enjoyment out of some of my type coins – my mercury dime and my walking liberty half have been the prime examples of this. They make fun conversation pieces with non-coin-collecting normies in the family – and my wife too. I'm also going to have a lot of fun showing these type coins to Ben and Sam as they get older.

I also managed to find one dealer that knew what a Netherlands 10 Guiden piece was and who recognized it when just seeing a picture of the obverse of one. He admittedly just buys and sells them at spot +3% and treats them like bullion coins but that’s not unusual for the series. There’s another show coming up in March that’s much closer to my home. The dealer said he’d see if he had any of the 10G series and anything from the less common years and he’d bring them out to that show in 2 months if he did.

The nice thing about that being that they were giving out cards to attendees that let you get free admission to that show in March with the card. It’s only a $3 admission fee, but, hey, I’ll take it. 😊

82394153_160724218543546_6601447914583621632_n.jpg

I also came home to a small box on the doorstep that I wasn't expecting to arrive until Tuesday, but I guess USPS is on the ball this week. More on that next post.

0



3 Comments


Recommended Comments

Hey Revenant, I'm glad you went to that show and found something you like, and thanks for the shout out!  That's a really nice buffalo nickel too.  

Link to comment
Quote

The show was about what I had expected. Lots of Morgan dollars, lots of Peace dollars, and other mixed coinage with some currency and bullion. Some of it was graded. A lot of it wasn’t and lots of 2x2 cardboard flips to look through if you’re into that sort of thing. If I was working on a date set of a certain US series I could see having fun looking through some of that but I’m not right now and so it’s not my thing at the moment.

Reading posts on other chatboards makes me think that some people are convinced that all of the coins worth owning are already in slabs. From my experience, this is far from being true. The last show I attended had thousands of raw coins of all types, including lots of gold. The patient, smart buyer still has plenty of opportunities to find really choice coins, often for a good price.

It is nice to see a picture of a hand holding a coin that has clean, trimmed fingernails, too. That has not been the norm around here these last few years.

Link to comment
7 hours ago, Naked Angel said:

Hey Revenant, I'm glad you went to that show and found something you like, and thanks for the shout out!  That's a really nice buffalo nickel too.  

No problem! Thanks for pointing me in the direction of the show. And I agree on the nickel. :)

5 hours ago, Just Bob said:

Reading posts on other chatboards makes me think that some people are convinced that all of the coins worth owning are already in slabs. From my experience, this is far from being true. The last show I attended had thousands of raw coins of all types, including lots of gold. The patient, smart buyer still has plenty of opportunities to find really choice coins, often for a good price.

 

Indeed and I'd say that was probably the case here. This is something I'm giving some thought to and which I'll probably continue to give some thought to now that I have a grading credit to play around with thanks to NGC.

5 hours ago, Just Bob said:

It is nice to see a picture of a hand holding a coin that has clean, trimmed fingernails, too. That has not been the norm around here these last few years.

lol Hmmm.... not sure what to say there, but I like having clean hands and I really don't like handling coins - graded or otherwise - when my hands aren't clean. I also have a couple of boys I need to raise to have certain standards.

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now