Road Report

Prologue

Good afternoon RR reader and welcome to our first installment from the Early American Coppers Convention being written from my inexplicably crowded airport gate as I wait for my flight to Pittsburgh.

By my count this is our 7th trip to Pittsburgh during my time in the coin business, most of which have been thoroughly enjoyable (except for that unfortunate dinner at LeMont in 2023) and totally numismatically productive.

And I expect the same at this event, with the caveat that this is an EAC show and as such an intimate affair with a relatively limited numbers of dealers, and attendees. Though the majority of both tend to be super serious numismatists and with them a lot of cool coins tend to change hands.

Including at our table, where we will be enthusiastic buyers, and, we hope, elephantine sellers. And that is certainly possible, since we have a lot of cool stuff with us that I think will appeal to a wide range of numismatists, and, if the results of our last EB are any indication, the market seems r-o-b-u-s-t.

All contributing to a general feeling of optimism.

But whatever happens we’ll be blogging all about all of it each and every day of the show right here in this space.

May 15th: Day 1

Thursday at the EAC show would begin, as is customary for your author, with an extreeeeemely early morning email and spreadsheet session, a trip to the barely adequate gym, followed by breakfast in the hotel restaurant with a dealer friend.

After which there was ample time for schmoozing in the lobby with a procession of other copper enthusiasts talking coins, coin auctions, recent coin shows, upcoming coin shows, the state of the coin market and pretty much everything else related to coins.

Which continued on until about 11:45 when I strolled by the restaurant, saw another dealer friend parked there and decided to have lunch so we could finish before the dealer set up period started at 1 PM. And, based on the extremely slow service there, we timed it just right to pay the check and head straight over.

On our way your author noticed that an enterprising EAC member named “Webster” had actually placed a series of advertisements on the lobby and elevator floor making it known that he wanted to buy Vermont and Connecticut Coppers:

About which I can say 3 things:

1. I had no idea that “Webster” was so clever
2. According to him, the glue used to hold these down was waaaaay stronger than he intended
3. I’m sure the janitorial staff here at the Marriott was delighted

Anyway, we continued on our way, strolled into the bourse room just as it opened but discovered that the tables were not quite set up yet. So we cooled our heels for about 15 minutes as a bunch of guys hauled in tables and cases and lamps, finished the build out and pronounced us ready to roll.

So of course we did, setting up like lightning, filling our 2 cases to the brim with colonials, US copper, a smattering of US type and some nice Pillars and other issues which circulated in early America.

And then started making slow circles around the room as other dealers and collectors with tables gradually put coins out. Allowing us to snag a cool NJ copper right away, carefully consider a few others and see some wacko stuff that we pretty much only see at EAC shows.

Returning to the table to show coins to a few collectors and dealers, consider one medium-sized trade offer and ultimately sell one gold coin and one colonial coin before the day was done.

At which time the entire membership of the EAC filed into the reception room for an excellent buffet dinner, more coin talk, and a few words from the show organizers and EAC President about the upcoming schedule of activities.

After which many of us filed into the bar until it was time for the breakout groups of Half Cent, Large Cent and Colonial discussions. As usual, your author headed to the last one where we talked colonials and looked at some interesting things people brought to discuss.

Including a presentation about the extremely popular 1788 Vermont Bust Right, Ryder-30 variety with the Backward C in AUCTORI. During which it was concluded that there are about 30-35 known, nearly half of those are sufficiently off center that the all-important Backward C is barely visible, and that this example ex-Roper (which we sold about 5 years ago) has the most complete and totally visible Backward C of any known survivor:

Lovely coin too, with superb color and surfaces.

We also saw some neat 1770s Counterfeit British Halfpennies, including this wild 1771 example with a series of rightside up, upside down and backward legends apparently engraved by someone either extremely intoxicated or with a very poor sense of direction:

Totally cool piece though.  

Followed by a discussion of a recent find of a second example of a formerly unique Machin’s Mills variety by a teenage metal detectorist / aspiring archeologist in New Jersey. The only other example of this same issue known last sold here at Stack’s-Bowers:

So I’d say that young man’s archeological career is off to a pretty good start.

With the activities winding down at about 9:30 after which a lot of the guys headed down to the hotel bar, but not me since I had some more work to do in the room on various website deals.

By the time I finished that, it was around midnight, making for another long day on the coin circuit, but one that was extremely productive, very interesting, totally entertaining and downright enjoyable.

And I expect even more of the same tomorrow as the bourse floor opens to the public and with them the promise of more coin buying and coin selling and of course more coin schmoozing here in Pittsburgh.

EOM

May 16th: Day 2

Notable Numismatic Quotables Heard at the Show on Friday

“I had no idea there was a coin show here this week”
Actually I heard this from several different regular customers who had coincidentally booked this same hotel in order to attend the Pearl Jam concert next door, discovered there was a coin show here and popped in to talk coins and buy a few. Who knew there was that much Pearl Jam / Numismatist overlap? I did not.

“I’m so sorry dear”
The cashier at the snack stand in the lobby after telling me that the bananas were $4 each. That’s actually the second most expensive banana I can ever recall, right after this one that brought $120,000 at Art Basel Miami:

Of course that was ridiculous. Ridiculously cheap, actually, since it later sold for $6,200,000 at Sothebys.

“If I buy all 9 of these will you give me a discount?”
Collector at the table considering a large group of world coins. I can’t speak for the entire industry, but I would guess if you buy 9 of anything from any dealer you are going to get some kind of consideration. I know you will from us.

“I once dated a girl whose last name was Zabriskie”
Overheard from another dealer here on Friday afternoon which then prompted the following conversation:
Me: So she was related to Andrew Zabriskie the coin collector?
Him: Who?
Me: Captain Andrew C. Zabriskie, whose coins were auctioned in a famous Henry Chapman sale in June, 1909
Him: Never heard of him.
Me: Then why were you telling us your old girlfriend’s last name was Zabriskie?
Him: I thought it was an interesting name.

“Which table should I visit to see some nice Classic Head Half Cents?”
A collector at the show standing in front of our table where there are several nice Classic Head Half Cents on display. I sometimes think the only way to ensure that people at shows can actually see and fully absorb the coins you are offering is to just put just a few in each case. Actually, I might try that at the next event, see what happens, and report the results here in the RR.

“I want $225 in trade value for my coin”
A collector at the table who brought some coins to trade. In this kind of situation I generally ask people if they have a number in mind on potential trades to see if we are in the ballpark, but then figure them independently. So I did my research, and then told the collector I could offer $400. Just seems like good business to do that, and more often than not it leads to a deal.

“Sit down and I will tell you a story about this coin”
Another dealer here at the show responding to me asking for a price on a coin in his case, something he does every single time regardless of what I ask about. I consider this a charming quirk of the coin business where everyone has their own schtick.

“I’ll have to ask you not to touch that water pitcher again, it is a serious violation of the health code”
The waitress at the breakfast restaurant here at the hotel to another dealer who got up from our table, walked over to a nearby counter and picked up the water pitcher by the handle. I guess I understood her position, but the fact that the guy was getting the water to try to clean the syrup off our table that had been dumped there by a previous guest seemed like something we should bring up at the health commission inquest.

“I collect New Jersey coppers”
At least a dozen different guys here at the show, making this about the most popular area in colonials, and maybe copper coins in general, at this show. Conclusion: People really, really like that horse head design.

And we’ll be back at it, briefly, on Saturday, as our late afternoon flight was unilaterally moved to early afternoon by the airline, meaning we’ll only have a few hours at the show before we have to head home. So if you are still in town after Pearl Jam, or are actually here in Pittsburgh specifically for the show, we hope you’ll swing by early and see us.

May 17th: Day 3

With a compressed schedule, your author decided to leave everything in my hotel room, head to breakfast and go straight to the show, and then eventually return, finish packing, check out and head to the airport.

So I did, met up with a dealer friend in the restaurant, watched the chef at the omelet stand all the while thinking I could do better, ate quickly and raced to the bourse floor just as they opened at 8 AM.

Where I tried to finalize a few deals around the floor, looked at some new coins just put out that seemed intriguing, and bought 4.

Truth be told there were many other coins I saw here that I thought might be good for our site, but I found a good reason – a scratch, a spot, a rim issue, etc. – to put the kibosh on every single one of them.

After which I started organizing the NEWPs we did acquire here (17 coins) for photography, sorted the invoices, bundled the checks and neatly arranged same in the back case.

Just in time to turn around and sell three coins at the table, including our first actual copper one at this show(!).

Added those invoices to the stack, and then packed up and headed to my room when I learned that 2 of the 3 elevators in the hotel were out of order and that another dealer had just spent 25 minutes attempting to get to the lobby from his room.

So I was less than optimistic when I hit the “up” button, waited about 5 minutes, crammed myself into the already full elevator, got to my room, packed up, and then tried to catch an elevator down again.

Surprisingly the wait wasn’t too long, and the doors opened once again to a totally full elevator. So I shoehorned my way in anyway, made it to the lobby, checked out, jumped in an Über, talked Steelers football for 25 minutes with the driver, and got to the airport just in time for the real adventure to begin.

With my flight immediately delayed 20 minutes, then un-delayed 20 minutes, then delayed 50 minutes again in short order. Something about a non-weather related ground hold in Boston wreaking havoc with incoming flights.

When we eventually boarded, things got even more exciting, as we were told the in-flight service was being cut short due to an impending (and I quote) ”very rough ride ahead”. So your author squeezed the armrests as tight as possible, braced for something awful and then never experienced anything like that as we sailed smoothly on to Boston under clear, sunny skies.

And now back home we can reflect back on another super-fun EAC show where we did good business, learned a lot, saw many friends, heard more than I needed to know about Pearl Jam and slept a grand total of about 11 hours over a 4 day, 3 night stay. Absolutely no turbulence though.

Finito