August 2010

Currency

News and Show Reports

• 8/15/2010
  Boston ANA — We just got back from the Boston ANA this past Saturday night. The auction was conducted by Heritage. It was an odd layout of the floor. There was a main section of the bourse floor and another smaller section that was separated by a wall down the middle of the convention center. A lot of dealers were complaining about being in the smaller area. But like Harry Jones said, “If you’ve got good material, the people will find you.” That seemed to be the case!
  I asked a lot of dealers of both coins and currency how the show was going for them. There were mixed reactions. The dealers who always seem to do well were having a good show, others did not do so well. It’s more about having well priced or new inventory than an up front location. What a great show for a change. I thought it was better than most of the recent ANA’s I had attended.
  I was really surprised by all the hustle and bustle of the show. There was a lot of activity in the main area of the bourse. The back section was less crowded but somewhat busy at times. I got there Tuesday night and started the show on Wednesday morning. I think the charm of old downtown Boston had a lot to do with the success of the show.
  Brandon did a tremendous amount of business hunting down some really nice toned coins for the jhonecash website. As far as currency goes there wasn’t much for me to buy. I did pick up a few notes including a 1934 Boston $10,000 bill. I thought the currency auction was as weak as anything Heritage has offered in a long, long time.
  The coin side was a different beast. I heard numbers from $22 million to $25 million of coins were sold at the Heritage auction. Overall the show in my opinion was a success. The market seems mixed, with a wait and see attitude. Now is the time to pick up your coins or currency notes for your collection before prices traditionally rise in the fall.
• 8/7/2010
  ANA in Boston Coming — Well I’m back from my extended family vacation. In 57 days we traveled 8,900 miles, passed through and visited 24 states, drove coast to coast from Astoria on the Oregon coast to Emerald Isle on the North Carolina coast. We camped in almost 40 different campsites and crossed many major mountain ranges.
  We followed the Lewis and Clark Expedition Trail backwards from Astoria, Oregon to St. Louis, Missouri, drove the Blue Ridge Parkway, and visited numerous National Forests and Parks including Arches and Canyonlands in Utah. It was quite a ride and I noticed many of you followed my daily blogs. I promise I will finish them soon.
  Back to business — Brandon and I will be traveling to the Boston ANA this coming Tuesday the 10th and returning the following Saturday night. We plan on purchasing a lot of new inventory, including badly needed currency notes and many new coins.
  Brandon has done a great job covering for the company for the last two months. If you’re looking for any currency or coin in particular, let me or Brandon know as we will be actively working want lists. You have nothing to lose but a lot to gain.

Jhon's Blog

• 8/15/2010
  Boston ANA---We just got back from the Boston ANA this past Saturday night. The auction was conducted by Heritage. It was an odd layout of the floor. There was a main section of the bourse floor and another smaller section that was separated by a wall down the middle of the convention center. A lot of dealers were complaining about being in the smaller area. But like Harry Jones said, “If you’ve got good material, the people will find you.” That seemed to be the case! I ask a lot of dealers of oth coins and currency how the show was going for them. There was mixed reactions. The dealers who always seem to do well were having a good show, others did not do so well. It’s more about having well priced or new inventory than an up front location.
  What a great show for a change. I thought it was better than most of the recent ANA’s I had attended. I was really surprised by all the hustle and bustle of the show. There was a lot of activity in the main area of the bourse area. The main floor seemed to be quite busy at the times I was there. The back section was less crowded but somewhat busy at times.
  I got there Tuesday night and started the show on Wednesday morning. I think the charm of old downtown Boston had a lot to do with the success of the show. There seem to be a very vibrant amount of people partaking in the festive activities of downtown Boston near the Back Bay area. For those of you who have been to downtown Boston or those of you who attended the show, you know what I mean. The View” is outstanding as I could easily hang out there for a day or two. There is a lot of history in Boston.
  Anyway, Brandon did a tremendous amount of business hunting down some really nice toned coins for the jhonecash website. As far as currency goes there wasn’t much to for me to buy. There were the 3 or 4 regular currency dealers who have nice displays of notes in high grades, but not much else. A lot of currency dealers did not show up at all. I didn’t see anything new for me. I did pick up a few notes including a 1934 Boston $10,000 bill.
  I thought the currency auction was as weak as anything Heritage has offered in a long, long time. The coin side was a different beast. I heard numbers from $22 million to $25 million of coins were sold at the Heritage auction. A lot of dealers complained on how long the show was. Some dealers had been there almost 10 days from the pre auction till the very end.
  Overall the show in my opinion was a success, others may think different. The market seems mixed as it seems that there is a wait and see attitude. People have the money to spend, but seem to holding off unless it a great deal or it’s an item they have been waiting to show up to purchase. We will have a better idea on the market as summer vacations end and the kids are back to school.
  It should be a great fall for the business as the overall attitude seems to be on an up. Now is the time to pick up your coins or currency notes for your collection, before the price starts going up as it traditionally does in the fall.
• 8/7/2010
  Well Im back from my extended family vacation. In 57 days we traveled 8,900 miles, passed through and visited 24 states, drove coast to coast from Astoria on the Oregon cost to Emerald Isle, on the North Carolina coast. We camped in almost 40 different camp sites, passed over the almighty Rockies, The Cascades, the Smokies and many other mountains.
  We followed the Lewis and Clark Expedition Trail backwards from Astoria, Oregon to St Louis, Missouri. We once again drove the Blue Ridge Parkway. We visited hundreds of National Forest and National Greenlands and the Arches and Canyonlands National Parks of Utah. It was quite a ride and I did notice that a lot of you followed my daily blogs. I promise I will finish the blogs soon.
  However back to business, Brandon and I will be traveling to the Boston, ANA this coming Tuesday the 10th and returning the following Saturday night. We plan on purchasing a lot of new inventory to bring back with us, both some badly needed currency notes and many new coins.
  Brandon has done a great job of covering for the company for the last two months. If your looking for any currency or coin in particular, let me or Brandon know as we will be actively working want lists. You have nothing to lose but a lot to gain.

Coins

News and Show Reports

• 8/15/2010
  Boston ANA — Holy cow! What a spectacular show the Boston ANA was. If you were not in attendance, you missed a wonderful show. The retail business was a boomin and the wholesale side was rocking as well. It felt like a show from 2005. Congrats on the ANA for putting together an amazing venue, the Hayes Convention Center located in the Back Bay district of downtown Boston.
  The area we were located in was a block away from Newbery St. which is widely considered the Rodeo Drive of the east coast. It did not disappoint with hundreds of shops and restaurants, the foot traffic was brisk and the meals were New Englands finest. The weather was absolutely fantastic for the duration of the show with lows at night in the upper 50s and highs during the day topping out around 75 to 80 degrees.
  During the show, many dealers that I spoke with had an exceptional show with only minor complaints, mostly from those set up in the annexed room off the main hall. When I finally made it into that room, I was able to find some really pretty coins and meet a fellow Texan, Danny Hall of The Collector LLC.
  In Danny’s case sat many great looking coins. I noticed a raw 1864 proof Seated Dollar sitting on a fabric flip. We both agreed it was at least a 63Cam, though I felt confident it was a 64Cam. I bought the coin and promptly walked it through NGC. The next day it came back graded PR64 Star Cameo, with the star really showing how special the coin was.
  The next day, while reviewing auction wins at Danny’s table, a discussion arose around an 1893-O Morgan dollar in a PCGS Genuine slab labeled as cleaned. After extensive examination by several seasoned dealers — including David Hall — the conclusion was that the lines were die polish, not cleaning. The coin appeared to be struck from a late-life reverse die and a mid-life obverse die. Danny plans on resubmitting the coin.
  Overall, the show was a blast. The venue was excellent, the surrounding area could not have been better, and the public attendance and commerce rivaled the good ole days of 2002 to 2006. This may be a turning point for the market.
  One last great story — I spotted an unmistakable 1826 Bust Half Dollar in NGC MS66 Star at Evan Gales’ table of Aspen Park Rare Coins. Without even asking the price, I secured it for a client looking for the finest example possible. That coin will never make it to the website.
  Give me a call at 972-746-9193 and let me know what you are looking for. I guarantee I will find the best of the best for you. That is my livelihood.