October 3-5, 2019: The New Hampshire Coin & Currency Expo
October 3rd: Day 1
Back in New Hampshire for the first time since the Spring Expo here in April, Team CRO arrived at dealer set up just as it opened, set up our table and then began what would be 87.5 circuits of the room seeking interesting coins as other dealers were in the process of laying them out.
Which turned out to be a fairly frustrating experience, since we set up our table like lightning (or even faster) using our patented pre-organized tray system, while most others were using the 1970’s-style ‘put one coin out a time’ glacial coin dealer method. On a more positive note, I guess that does heighten expectations in a Xmas morning-like way.
Which were then realized through our acquisition of 3 cool coins and the pondering of a few others that might work. In and around our sale of some neat world coins, several strategic discussions of partner coins and some solid schmoozing before we locked up and headed to dinner at the surprisingly good Japanese place across the street.
And so we will be ready for action come Friday where we expect an enthusiastic crowd and some good New England style coin activity when the doors fling open at 10 AM.
With whatever happens to then be described right here in just about 24 hours from now –
October 4th: Day 2
Having stormed into the bourse room precisely at 9:27, Team CRO was ready for the anticipated onslaught of show visitors starting at 10 AM on Friday.
And there were plenty in the usual mix of NH regulars, curious onlookers, vest pocket dealers, long time local friends of the firm, new customers, never-met-before-participants, the requisite families with young kids, etc.
With many stopping by the table to look, ask questions, fondle a numismatic item or other, ponder something, buy a coin from us, take delivery of coins ordered from the last EB, compare our coin to another on the floor, propose a trade and generally keep us pretty busy for most of the day here.
We were also offered a bunch of coins which were of generally much higher quality than one might have expected at a regional show, and so of course we bought everything that seemed like a good CRO fit. Like these, for example:
All adding up to a better-than-expected commercial result here at a show that has been well-worth attending. And we still have Saturday to go during which we might sell more, possibly buy more and then definitely blog about it more in our last installment of the RR to be posted here on Sunday AM.
Until then, then –
October 5th: Day 3
Now back home let’s take a concisely clinical look at the NH Expo in our rear view mirror:
We’re glad we came.
Show organizer Ernie Botte gets a good group of dealers here, including all of the local guys but also a bunch who come from a pretty good distance. Including the ones in our aisle who made the trip from Georgia, Maryland and Kansas respectively.
Offering a wide range of coins ranging from ancient, to budget world, to slabbed modern, to affordable 20th century coins, to choice US type, to fancy colonial to hifalutin, including several high end 1793 Cents, super choice early dollars and nice early gold that would have been right at home at an ANA show.
There was a decent crowd in attendance, though of course the busiest time is, as always, early on Friday when the show first opens to the public.
We saw many (but not all) of the local collectors we expected to be here.
We ended up buying a dozen cool coins here either on the floor or which walked up to the table, including this epic old friend which is literally the nicest, most original, most attractively toned Portrait 4 Reales we’ve ever seen:
Sales were better than we might have expected overall, in all categories, including one coin we acquired as recently as last Tuesday and others we have owned for a while.
We ended up heading home at about 3 PM on Saturday after declaring this a commercial, numismatic and social success.
Where we’ll now dive into website transition mode in hopes of going live in the next several weeks – so you might want to keep an eye out for that.
Finito
