Sunday, January 20, 2013

JR Newsletter: 20 January 2013 (124)

Winston Zack wrote:

I spent 3 days at the FUN show (Wednesday to Friday).  I had a great time despite my allergies kicking me in the face; although I'm not sure which would have been better, freezing in Chicago or having warm Florida weather and allergies!?!  I had a very successful show.  I was able to add 6 or 7 Capped Bust Dimes to my die marriage collection - 3 new die marriages and 3-4 more upgrades, including some of the tougher R5 die marriages.  My collection of Capped Bust Dime die marriages is now at 115 out of 123, and that number may soon grow to 116 or 117!

My collection aside, I was finally able to attend my first JRCS meeting on Friday morning.  It was great!  David Finkelstein gave a great presentation on "die punches and group-strength" of early gold coins.  I was also able to finally put A LOT of names to faces.  That was by far the quickest hour of the show for me.

To finish, I picked up an extra 1837 LM-2 Capped Bust Half Dime.  I have two examples now, one in VF-30 and the other I would call VF-35, and I only need one in my collection.  If anyone here reading this is interested in adding one of these examples to their collection please email me (stoneman101 (at) gmail.com) and I will send you pics and my asking price(s).

Cheers,
Winston

Editor's Note:  I saw the 1837 LM-2 half dime that Winston got at the show and thought it to be a very attractive piece.
------

Richard Meaney wrote:

Wow!  What a great show FUN 2013 was!  Not only did I add two significant half dimes to my collection, but also I got to work behind a dealer's table for the first time at a major show.

First, the progress on the collection:  A fellow collector alerted me a couple of months ago to an 1829 LM-12 half dime that he and another person had found and were attempting to cross into a PCGS holder.  The 1829 LM-12 die marriage is an R-6 coin and I was excited at the prospect of an upgrade.  Two hours into the FUN Show, he found me and told me that the coin was waiting for me in its new PCGS AU55 holder.  I went to see it and bought it on the spot.  No haggling required, as I had been searching for an upgrade for this die marriage for YEARS.  If that wasn't enough, I had the good fortune to make a win-win trade with another collector.  I traded a VGish 1832 LM-9.2 half dime (a strong R-7 remarriage) for a raw 1829 LM-8 half dime (a strong R-6).  During the show I submitted the 1829 half dime to PCGS and received it back on Saturday morning in an AU-55 holder.  To say I was ecstatic about adding two R-6 half dimes to my collection at one show would be a significant numismatic understatement!

Second, I had a wonderful time working with Rich Uhrich, proprietor of Rich Uhrich Rare Coins.  I worked "on the other side of the table" on both Friday and Saturday.  It was great fun and a huge learning experience to help Rich in the purchase and sale of many coins.  I got to meet a lot of people, many of whom are likely reading this newsletter right now!  I got to handle and show some ultra-rare coins that Rich had in his inventory.  One thing that really surprised me was how red-hot Bust Dimes were at this show.  Collectors and dealers alike were snapping up Bust Dimes in all grades from well-circulated to Mint State.  If my schedule permits, I hope to do this again at the Summer ANA!

Images of my two Capped Bust Half Dime acquisitions are below (1829 LM-12 first, then 1829 LM-8):