Road Report

May 2nd: Day 2

Based on every single thing we learned at the show on Wednesday, we made some significant changes to our approach on Thursday. Namely by bringing a heavy sweater.

And that turned out to be a genius-level move, as it was once again inexplicably freezing on the bourse floor for the entire day as evidenced by several people who walked by our table wearing stylish down vests.

A fact that did not slow us down even a little as we bought and sold like crazy for a second straight day.

But while yesterday’s action was widespread across our numismatic categories, this was (unless I am forgetting something) entirely US coins both coming and going.

Including some choice early copper, nicely toned Capped Bust and Seated material, a wicked commem, a smattering of old gold and of course a couple of toned 20^th century coins in mega-grades which are not exactly a specialty of ours but which we handle when the look and the price are right. And these were very, very right.

In and around which we submitted a gazillion coins for grading, scoured the bourse for more cool coins, intermittently worked on some spreadsheets for some XL deals we are trying to buy, took a bunch of phone orders, did a coupe of trades, delivered some coins ordered off our last EB(s) and generally were super productive for about 8 straight hours.

Until MaryAnn left to attend the Women of Numismatics meeting at 4:30, just as a large gold deal arrived at our table.

Which we worked on for an hour or so, consigned some straight to auction for the owner, and began figuring the rest for possible sale on the CRO site. We hope.

And that took us right to the end of the day, so we packed up and headed out to the hotel bar with some collector and dealer friends where discussion of coins and the triple jump would continue until ~10 PM.

After which we returned to the hotel and once again fell asleep almost immediately after another exhausting day here in Schaumburg.

So of course we are extremely excited to do it all again on Friday starting even earlier, since I need to work on a spreadsheet with another dealer before the show opens as we try to buy yet another totally cool collection.

Wow, the coin business. Who knew it could be this exciting?

EOM

May 1st: Day 1

Remember last year’s CSNS Show, Day 1? Where we had to annoyingly camp out in the chairless convention center lobby in between the poorly planned 3 PM closure of the security room and the 4 PM opening of the show? Well we do, vividly, which is why we vowed that 2024 would be different.

Namely by us signing up for PNG day, thus allowing Team CRO to enter the bourse at 9 AM on Wednesday in sort of an extreeeeemely extended set up period where we would then roll directly into the “regular” set up period at 5 PM without ever having to leave the room.

We figured that convenience alone would be worth the cost to set up on this day, and that maybe we could do a little buying and selling as an extra bonus.

And that seemed to be coming to fruition when we sold a coin within about 3 minutes, then 4 more to two different dealers before the real action started.

Which eventually totaled 17 coins sold, and 14 cool NEWPs acquired on this day, which may sound like a lot of business because it actually was.

But never at a chaotic, frenzied pace, just nice and steady all day with dealers coming by throughout. Which also allowed your author to find time to properly scour the sparsely populated bourse floor (since only about 10% of the tables were actually occupied during this session) and find some cool stuff in unexpected places.

Including a coin we snagged here after narrowly missing it online a couple years ago, and something we saw recently on Instagram and did not realize was actually for sale. Spoiler alert: It was.

In all, I’d say it was an almost perfect day on the bourse floor save for a few minor glitches:

• It was only about 45 degrees in the room.
• Our next door neighbor has a safe behind the table so large that there is no room for any coin dealers, and if you swing the door all the way open it will actually hit your author.
• We narrowly missed a cool medal that we probably should have bought.
• In a scene which would have made Abbott and Costello proud, a dealer showed us a coin which he had just purchased based on our advice that it was worth $10,000 causing him to pay $7,000 which would have been really great except that we had actually told him it was worth only $1,000. A situation which numismatists refer to as “an extremely bad situation”.  I guess it could have been worse, like, for example, if my estimate was not entirely in writing which it actually was.

But despite that we had a great day overall before heading out to meet relatives in Evanston for dinner, getting back real late and immediately collapsing in a heap.

So of course we will be well rested for Thursday on the bourse floor during which all the remaining tables will be filled, the public will pour in and there will be, we hope, a lot more business to be done.

And if it is, or even if it isn’t, we will blog all about all of it right here on Friday AM.

Until then, then –

Prologue:

Team CRO is excited, no, make that de-lighted to be heading off to Chicagoland for another installment of the CSNS show. How come?

Well, aside from the obvious enjoyment we get from attending any show, this one has always been kinda special in several ways:

1. We really like this hotel and its esoteric collection of sitting devices.

1A. We like being in a self-contained hotel AND convention center such that your author can tumble out of the sack and be on the bourse floor minutes later.

2. We’ve historically done extremely well here both buying and selling.

3. Speaking of selling, we’ve had a number of crazy shows here through the years where some specific and unexpected area of numismatics is suddenly on fire. Which for us last year was weird world medals. A few years earlier it was French coins. But my personal favorite (for obvious reasons) was the time that everyone bought coins priced at $5,000 or higher.

No idea what will happen this time, but we’ll be ready for anything with a lot of cool, new, artfully arranged inventory, a ready and willing checkbook and the desire to do as much business as is humanly possible at our deluxe table #703.

And then blog all about all of it each and every morning of this show –