Down in Schaumburg

mmmm, coins.

Sorry guys, this is not a rant today, this is a report.  This last week, Wednesday through Sunday I was down next to Chicago in Schaumburg, Illinois for the 74th annual Central States Numismatic Society Convention.  It is the largest coin show and auction in held in the mid-west.  It was glorious. I spent piles of money, got to handle thousands and thousands of dollars in coins, talk to some cool people and made some new friends. Here is my show report.

I arrived in Schaumburg for the Central States Convention about mid-day on Wednesday. I went ahead and scoped the place out and registered with Heritage to do some lot viewing on a couple of coins I was interested in. I didn’t pay the $75 for the early bird. I just figured I would go in Thursday morning.
On Thursday, I was able to register with no problems and start scanning the booths. I started at one end of the bourse and worked my way up and down the aisles taking time to look at the offerings on every table, without getting too in depth at any one table or getting into their inventory not already out. There were a lot of very nice type coins available, especially in higher grades and slabbed merchandise. I was there to shop for barber and bust halves for myself as well as pick up a nice set of PCGS 65 walkers for a friend and possibly a 1917 Ty1 SLQ in 65 FH (more on that one later). The barber halves and quarters were plentiful, but finding decent coins in my grade range (F-VF-some XF) proved to be rather difficult if you wanted nice original coins. I saw a lot of nice coins with cleanings, scratches, bad rim dings, detritus, etc. I did come across a very fresh quarter set and was able to snag two Vg/F quarters out of it for a reasonable price and later I did find some nice barbers, but those were found on the second day. Like I said, there was a lot of high end material in most cases. I saw one case marked, bargains under $500, which made me laugh a bit. But if you were looking for it, there were enough dealers at the show and enough dealers wandering the aisles that there was a good chance someone would have it.

After taking the 3+ hours to scan all the dealers, I started shopping in earnest. I was able to purchase most of the walkers I was looking for at prices that made me happy and were in line with what I had projected they should be priced around this time. The gold was still on the high-side in my opinion, but I was able to purchase two small pieces in NGC holders for somewhere near their current bid prices. The real problem came when I started pricing the ty1 SLQ. There were a number of the 17s at the show in 65 FH, and while heritage auction results show me the coin has been trading in the 750-850 range I was unable to find one lower than $950. I was prepared to pay extra for a coin that was superior but even the run of the mill 65 FH with weak rivets was quoted to me at $1150, which IMO was not a bargain. I honestly figured that most of the dealers had probably purchased the coin on the high side and were into it for too much, maybe they have decided if the coin will experience a bounce back and so want to remain firm on their pricing. I will continue to search for one I like that isn’t priced outrageously.

I was not happy with the bust half situation overall. There were plenty of halves there, but it felt like they were over priced or they had already been attributed and priced according to rarity and condition. I like to do my own research so I shied away from the already Id’d ones. but the prices were still out there, I managed to purchase a scratched 1819 for $40 because I like the reverse but there were cleaned and damaged ones in the $40-50 dollar range, the cheapest non-problem coins I found were $75+ for G-VG, if there were Fines available below $100 I didn’t see them.

Overall, the show was well attended as far as I could tell. There was plenty of action on the bourse floor and a good crowd of people both Thursday and Friday. I did hear a couple of dealers grumbling to each other about the organization of the show but didn’t hear all of it well, nor was I going to butt in and ask questions. There was another dealer who told me all the serious buyers had come on Wednesday and the only people left attending the show were the nice people who wanted to look and ask questions and maybe spend $100. I think it was more serious than that, but I didn’t argue with him. I also didn’t spend anything at his table either, so…

There was one moment of brief panic on Thursday when the fire alarm went off and the automatic voice told us to leave the building. Just about every dealer in the building laughed and continued their work while about half the crowd started for the exits. The alarm was LOUD and the flashing lights on the ceiling were annoying, but I was in the middle of negotiating a price on a coin, so I wasn’t going anywhere.

On Friday, I attended one of the lectures being given on Lincoln’s cabinet, which was interesting and informative and later, after looking at the educational exhibits met up with the Barber collectors near the message center to chat and show off purchases. They were a real nice group of guys and I’ll be mailing in my application for membership in the next few days.

Otherwise, the show was a success from my end of it and I think most everyone had a good time. Plus I got the chance to drive into Chicago (the safe side) and have a real deep dish pizza. I want to also give a great big thank you to my cousin Jennifer and her husband Eric.  They put me up for the week and interrupted their lives to show me around the safe parts of Chicago and be all touristy.

Delusions about the 2nd Illinois Congressional District

Chicago had a complete ban on handguns from 1982-2010 but more than 50% of all homicides were committed with those illegal weapons during this time. Guess criminals don’t follow the law.

I get updates on all things political.  One of the political updates I receive is from a liberal progressive website known as the Daily Kos.  Some of the things they send me are interesting, some are laughable, some are honestly borderline offensive, and they there are the ones they send out that destroy their own credibility.  I’ll tell you about this last one.

If you don’t know, Jesse Jackson Jr. was a member of the House until late last year, after the election, when he abruptly resigned.  Now it turns out that there may be some serious problems with him and the circumstances of his resignation and he may actually end up in jail.  He is currently under investigation for misuse of $750K of campaign money.  Either way now the 2nd Congressional District of Illinois sits empty and there is going to be a special election for the seat.  This is where the delusion of the Daily Kos comes in.

They emailed me about how to make the NRA radioactive, noting this is the first time since the shooting at Sandy Hook to defeat the NRA at the ballot box.  They believe that through defeating a candidate backed by the NRA they will be making a significant dent in the NRA’s ability to lobby and provide support to members of Congress. The Daily Kos is backing Robin Kelly (D) who they say is a major gun safety candidate, read that to mean anti-gun, pro-gun control, or anything besides safety, safety is a buzz word here when they don’t want to say someone who advocates taking guns from citizens.  Here’s the thing, the 2nd Congressional district is in suburban Chicago.

This is a city with some of the strictest gun laws in America, Chicago actually had an outright ban on handguns from 1982-2010 until the courts ruled it unconstitutional, but it is still nearly impossible to own a gun as a law-abiding citizen in Chicago.  Yet, despite all those laws there were 532 homicides in the city last year.  In fact, since 2001 there have been over 5000 gun homicides in Chicago, meaning it is two times safer to do a tour in Afghanistan than it is to walk the streets of Chicago (2000 American deaths in Afghanistan since 2001).  The Daily Kos actually said, “we have the opportunity to deliver a clear and unambiguous message to politicians who would rather stand with the extremist NRA than with the safety of their constituents.”

Really, how about we compare the numbers in Chicago where guns are almost locked down to the city of  Houston where concealed carry exists.  They are closest in size among top 10 cities, Chicago at 2.7 million and Houston at 2.1 million, so just 28% smaller.  That means Houston’s homicides for 212 ought to be in the high 380-390 range.  Not even close, Houston had 216 murders, just over 40% of the amount in Chicago.  Are the people different in the two areas, or could it be that Houston arms itself and Chicago disarms its inhabitants.  Maybe. But the Daily Kos holds up their Chicago numbers unsupported by any real data and says, if you take the guns these crimes will go away.  I don’t think so, but they are doing more than that, they are setting the stage for stricter gun control.

They are busy building a straw man to claim victory.  Because the democratic candidate will win, and they will use the opportunity to push for stricter gun laws, despite the fact gun control had nothing to do with the win.  The 2nd Illinois has not elected a Republican candidate to Congress since 1950.  They have not voted for a Republican candidate for President since before FDR.  Jesse Jackson Jr, received no less than 80% of the popular vote in any of his races.  Carter and Mondale both received over 80% of the vote in the 2nd Illinois in 80 and 84.  That just goes to show you exactly just how blue this district is.  You could run a republican unopposed and it would be likely they wouldn’t crack fifteen percent of the vote.

There is no race here, that means there is no real mandate on gun control here, but don’t try to point out that logic to the Daily Kos or to their straw man candidate in Robin Kelly.  No, she’ll win and be another loud mouth voice telling Congress the people want them to take away their guns.  Well, not me sister, not ever, I’m not signing on to your crazy wagon.