Thomas Kalantzis will host a table for NCADD at the special Bay State Coin summer show on the weekend before the 2010 ANA in Boston, from August 6-8.

This is a prelude to the ANA show that will be held the following week. For over 40 years this has been New England’s largest coin show. The show will be held at the Radisson Hotel, Park Square, 200 Stuart Street, 6th Floor in Boston, Massachusetts.

During the last week, there were two more stories of dealers being robbed. One occurred in Wichita Falls, Texas, and the other in Parsippany, New Jersey. The dealers in both cases stopped at a restaurant after the shows and had their car windows broken. The incident in Wichita Falls also involved an assault on the dealer and his wife.

I say two “more” because earlier this year, a coin dealer was robbed in Acton, Massachusetts, after leaving a Westford coin show. And in Wilmington, a dealer from Jacksonville, North Carolina, was robbed when he went to visit at their home someone he thought was interested in purchasing coins.

The robberies have caused Scott Barman, a collector and the author of the Coin Collector’s Blog, coinsblog.blogspot.com, to post an article urging dealers to step up their safety awareness. You can scroll down and read his tips here.

With some of the larger shows taking place in the next couple of months, a little reminder can’t hurt.

Editor’s Note: This post is by Richard Stinchcomb, an amateur photographer who happens to be a coin collector, too. He continues to add photos and coins to his portfolio in Georgia.

An event at a major coin show in Atlanta a few years ago left me feeling very shocked and concerned. Since numismatic events of this magnitude rarely occur near my home, I attended this particular show with a desire to meet prominent numismatic dealers, authors and other collectors like myself?and obviously view rare coins that I had never seen. I brought a few of my coins, some cash and my camera, to take a few photos of the show and its events.

Most of my day was spent browsing the bourse floor for an occasional bargain and talking to dealers and collectors. Everyone was very friendly.

About half way into the day, I came upon a dealer’s table that had a display that would catch any collector’s eye. I was in awe when I observed this display of 20 1893-S Morgan Dollars surrounding the famed 1895 proof Morgan Dollar. As I approached the enclosed display to get a better look, the dealer yelled at me saying, “No cameras at my table! Only thieves carry cameras to a coin show, so that makes you a thief in my book!”

I simply responded, “Well, it sure was a pleasure doing no business with you!” and walked away. Other collectors who were browsing his table vacated it, too.

This show was overflowing with security and had no policy barring the use of cameras. Other people were carrying cameras including the honorable Q. David Bowers, arguably one of the most respected authors and dealers in the field. I seriously doubt anyone could consider this man a thief.

Only a few minutes later, I met dealers at another prominent table that also had possession of one of the finest known examples of that same 1895 proof Morgan Dollar. Their approach was warm and embracing. This dealer asked me which coin I wanted to see and actually allowed me to hold and examine this 1895 proof Morgan Dollar graded PF69 Ultra Cameo by NGC. Obviously, I could not afford the bargain price tag of $550,000. Their professionalism earned my business in high-quality, rare coins that were just a little less expensive.

Success in any business is based on reputation that has been gained from customer satisfaction. Follow the golden rule by learning how to treat people. It will help maintain and build a stronger collector base in this fabulous hobby.

]]> http://coinagemag.com/blog/coin-collecting/the-golden-rule/feed/ 1 http://coinagemag.com/blog/shows-and-exhibitions/discouraging-words/ http://coinagemag.com/blog/shows-and-exhibitions/discouraging-words/#comments Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:15:04 +0000 Marcy Gibbel http://www.coinagemag.com/blog/?p=169 How to Discourage Young Collectors

They say that some truth underlies all sarcasm. (Isn’t that what they say?) So, about two weeks after the ANA’s World’s Fair of Money was held in Los Angeles, pardon me while I let it flow freely.

* * *

For years, I’ve been trying to figure out how to draw younger people into coin collecting. It’s tough. The competition from video games, cell phones, social networking sites and other “cooler” hobbies is fierce.

So, I give up. It’s much easier to discourage young people from getting involved with coins. For example:

1) Put a major coin convention in a city that boasts five of the world’s busiest freeway interchanges. L.A. is 54 miles from my little corner of Ventura County. It took 2-1/2 hours for me to get there. Can you imagine if I had a first- or second-grader in the car? I can hear it now:

“Are we there yet?”
“No!”
“Are we there yet?”
“No!”
“How long before we’re there?”

Oy!

2) Charge $6 admission to anyone over the age of 12. What about that rare 17-year-old who may be interested in coins? What if he doesn’t have $6? What if he would rather put the money towards an actual purchase? Sales tax is, what, 20 percent in Los Angeles? That would almost cover the tax on a $40 coin (or note).

3) Once you’ve scraped up six bucks for admission, tour the bourse floor with a potential YN. Coin dealers and collectors are generally a colorful lot. Sadly, mostly gray.

4) If you’re a dealer, make sure you have an air of superiority about you. Glare at the young, potential collectors, glasses sitting on the end of your nose, as you lean out from behind your table into the aisle. Obstruct your coins completely. Scowl a lot and mumble about how kids today never read books and have stunted attention spans. Or, better yet, never sit at your table.

5) Don’t set up one booth where kids and teenagers can see fun, educational materials; spread them throughout the lobby. There were kiosks where you could buy tickets to outside events and banquets, purchase a membership, buy a convention medal, have a cocktail and form a line for the Jonas Brothers concert that was going on next door at Staples Center. (Thinking that I just missed the ANA’s gigantic booth, I even had them page a staff member. They probably couldn’t hear me over the buzz on the floor.)

6) Search through pocket change for the presidential dollars. You know those gold-colored coins that you get in change from the post office? Yeah, those. They’ll never find them all in circulation–at a coin convention or anywhere else.

]]> http://coinagemag.com/blog/shows-and-exhibitions/discouraging-words/feed/ 2 http://coinagemag.com/blog/coin-collecting/faking-it/ http://coinagemag.com/blog/coin-collecting/faking-it/#comments Mon, 27 Apr 2009 22:26:53 +0000 Marcy Gibbel http://www.coinagemag.com/blog/?p=61 It seems that now more than ever, people want to know, “What’s it worth?” The current economic landscape has both collectors and non-collectors searching attics, basements, vacant lots and their pockets for valuable coins.

That’s good news. Some will make the leap from casual accumulators to serious collectors and investors. Some of those people may find an undiscovered rarity. Even better, a few young people may play less Guitar Hero and get more involved with coin collecting.

The bad news is, some of those “rarities” that were discovered in Grandma’s attic or dug up at the playground may be fakes and not worth anything at all.

The good news is, there are several ways to find out if that 1799 Trade dollar is authentic. (It’s not. Trade dollars weren’t produced in 1799.)

An Internet search of “counterfeit coins” will turn up thousands of books, Web sites and discussions about how to detect counterfeit coins. Everyone from about.com to the Secret Service has photos and written descriptions about how they’re made and what to look for.

And, if you want to see some counterfeits up close—and you happen to be in Cincinnati, Ohio—check out the Central States Numismatic Society Convention. The Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS, www.pcgs.com) will be there April 30 to May 2 with examples from their Counterfeits Reference Collection. Why settle for pictures when you can see the real fakes?

The 70^th Anniversary CSNS Convention will be held in the Duke Energy Center, 525 Elm St., in downtown Cincinnati. Public hours are Thursday, April 30, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday, May 1, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, May 2, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Additional information about the CSNS convention is available at www.CentralStates.info.