Eye candy of the 3rd kind..

Hello again:

Just back from the Orlando FUN exibit. This is a local club, not as big as the main show in January,or the one coming up in Boston in August but I had a lot of fun and learned a bit with my short available time there.

I met with PCGS people, very nice, but seems I can get precisely what I want with staying with NGC and it is less paperwork too. I accept into my orphanage, for now, only NGC and PCGS, although, I guess some of the other grading companies are coming along, and gaining respect. {any comments on the 'others' might be fun and useful.)

I was told by one of the seller/dealers who had a booth there that the big company, [in the middle wearing green shirts] have been known to walk in before the show opens in the morning, and buys out the entire show. (I wonder if that is possible) I suppose it is.

It was the same group that offered me bullion value for my beautiful 4 coin burnished, early release set, in a four coin holder. $50 gold is worth much more than that by itself. They had no problem offering bullion price for a collectors item of limited issue, and desireable also. I had other coins there too, one of my 1987 $10 Gold Eagles, MS70, and that too they offered bullion price. (At least it was not below spot where some folks buy gold at.) The fellow who was tending me made a mistake and offered me $2000 for a 2005 Silver Eagle MS70... He was adamant that that was fair, and I was making a call to my guy in Texas who I trust, and he said the coin was worth about $120, and being afraid I was "Shopping" it not knowing I was verifying if I should sell it or not, he checked with one of his bosses, and realized the coin was not what he thought. He deserved to have bought it at that price, but I did not hold him to it, and refused to sell him the coin although I had only about $90 in it. Do NOT need to do business with those folks.

They had a lot of folks tending their customers, I wonder if any got a fair shake.

I was able to sell a few of my graded with details, so those $2.5's and one $5 are out of my registry, along with two stunningly beautiful 1880 S Morgans. But I have several in the same grade, date and appearance, so I am paring them out as time goes by. I have decided, that with coins of large pops, to only hold one or two. I got for my Morgans, about what I had in them, and the money will go for a new addition if I can find an orphan which needs a new cot.

Met a gun dealer, and he is willing to take some of my guns in trade or buy them. I was thinking of getting out of those and putting the money in coins.

I have a sneaking suspicion that coin prices have softened somewhat here in our economy, and I am trying to get in some of them before theprices go back up. Is that what you out here are finding? I think I will post a separate journal discussing my findings in pricing.

I have also sold some ungraded, odd Mexican Peso gold coins, and those went for bullion prices, and I turned them into bulk silver eagles.

So, I have been fairly active recently after a few months of quiet non buying and I am really in that phase now, unless a real deal surfaces. I was close to buying some old golds but found that the asking price was somewhat high.

Right now, I am waiting for the 37 foreign gold coins to come back from NGC. They have been in the hopper now for about 3 weeks, [talked to them the other day } and they are a bit backed up, so we wait....

well, time to get ready for the boat ride, so HAVE FUN.

Capt. Brian and Helen

The Lost Navigtor

To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.