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.
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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):
