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simonm
02-22-2014, 05:05 PM
Hi guys and gals,

It was a beautiful day for my first coin show.
http://i62.tinypic.com/16290cy.jpg

Arrived at the Old SF Mint around 11:30. I realize that I had gone past it many times before without realizing that it was the SF Mint!

http://i61.tinypic.com/14scnyb.jpg
http://i62.tinypic.com/2z8s0he.jpg

Inside was lovely. Unfortunately I took very few photos of the rooms and dealers because I was so excited! There were 25 dealers total in 7 different rooms, selling US and world coins. There were a lot more people there than I had expected...all the tables were crowded with customers!

I made sure to visit every single room before choosing which ones I would visit to purchase some coins. I was on a mission for some old copper Large Cents. Surprisingly, they were not very abundant at the show. Only a few tables had a good selection of them. Seemed like Morgan Dollars were the big ticket items for the show.

There were a few small exhibits at the show as well. I saw a few cool medals for the Panama-Pacific Exposition.
http://i60.tinypic.com/2ev5ici.jpg
http://i61.tinypic.com/htzqcx.jpg

I also got to go inside the old gold vault!
http://i61.tinypic.com/6galop.jpg

I had a ton of fun going to each table. The dealers were all very polite and nice. I met an older couple who had a bunch of colonials in their inventory. I held really nice slabbed 1652 Oak Tree Shilling (though with a price just shy of $5,000, I had to pass on it), inspected an MS 1955 DDO up close, and saw some wild errors at the error dealer table, like this one (not my image, but from the ebay auction of the same dealer).
http://i61.tinypic.com/2a8g47k.jpg


It then came time for purchases. With a $150 budget, a bunch of Large Cents were already out of the question. However, I did manage to pick up a VF 1831 Large Cent with some nice olive color. I also bought an 1863 IHC in XF-AU. I tried a little cherrypicking, though came up empty handed. Over all, I spent $130 so I stayed under budget, which I am happy about.
http://i57.tinypic.com/9ifs4p.png

http://i58.tinypic.com/bg6vj8.png

I really enjoyed myself and had a great time. I'm definitely looking forward to attending future shows.

Gunnovice09
02-22-2014, 05:11 PM
Man your lucky! I technically haven't been to a real show yet. I went to a quote coin show end quote, but there were only 3 coin dealers and all were packed up but one when I got there. Glad you had a good time.

Maineman750
02-22-2014, 05:25 PM
That is one pretty IHC. Thanks for the pics of the mint too :bigsmile:

liveandievarieties
02-22-2014, 05:32 PM
Nice report Simon! The SF Mint show is one I've wanted to make it to but haven't yet.

That bonded fragment is Jon Sullivan's, I had it in my hand last month! Cool that you had such a good experience, for a lot of people a first show can be pretty overwhelming, I remember my first.

grnwavdav
02-22-2014, 05:45 PM
That's really cool that they had a show at the old San Francisco mint. I went to San Francisco recently and I was disappointed that the new mint does not hold any tours.

onecent1909
02-22-2014, 06:25 PM
Nice... on my bucket list is to go to all of the U.S.Mints... looks like you got 1 up on me....
and at a first show...
WTG...

simonm
02-22-2014, 06:46 PM
Thanks guys. I was surprised and glad to see a good number of younger collectors there (and not in a "dragged along by a parent" situation). A lot of them also stuck around the errors table, as I overheard the dealer talking about a 1955-S "BIE" cent.

Peter
02-22-2014, 06:49 PM
Great outing for you and images Simon. Glad you had a good time there and picked up what you wanted.

Brad
02-22-2014, 08:00 PM
That's great, I've been to the mint, but not when a coin show is going on. If I go back to San Fran, I am going to make sure it corresponds with a coin show.

learningnumismatist
02-22-2014, 08:32 PM
That is awesome! I have never been to a coin show yet. Keep going and it'll pay off.

mustbebob
02-23-2014, 03:20 AM
Great photos and report Simon. I also will visit the old SF Mint some day. Very nice job.

ERRORCENTS
02-23-2014, 08:11 AM
Great report Simon also great pictures of the coins...So glad it was a super day for you for your first show, the old SF mint looks really cool....Hope for you to go to future shows..Thanks for sharing..

Patrick

VAB2013
02-23-2014, 08:41 AM
What an exciting trip Simon! Thanks so much for the photos and story. I am sure you had a blast - and came home with a very nice choice of coins!

coop
02-23-2014, 08:58 AM
Is that a small cud on the 1831 at 3:00? The obverse die looks like a MAD as well?

copperlover
02-23-2014, 10:45 AM
Thanks Simon for sharing your experience at this SF coin show. Great Reporting.

Lucien