Baltimore Expo Experience, plus The Book

It has been a busy weekend. I am just back from the Baltimore Expo.
   The slabs are out in force. Even so-called "collector coins" were slabbed: VFs, XFs, and so on. So sad, so sad. I hate to think that the cool touch of metal is lost on so many new collectors. Even early copper in mid-range grades were slabbed. I can understand MS and AU slabbing. So, too, I can appreciate the need to slab the very rare ones --  particularly to assure authenticity and to protect from grubby hands.
   I took advantage of this, as I was able to examine (in a slab) a Sommer Islands sixpence, a Higley copper, and a pristine Massachusetts shilling. Up close and personal. I had grubby hands stained with crab cakes, so the slabs were needed. A fat wallet with 90K was needed for any one of the three pieces. The dealer was very nice and shared info about each piece.
   Now for some general observations. The dealers with rare and historic items were causally dressed; neat and tidy with flannel or polo wear. The dealers touting row after row of shiny Morgans -- some oven-cooked to produce wild blue and yellow tones (the blue is the give-away) -- tended to be sharply dressed in cheap suits -- perhaps their power ties made up for the ho-hum merchandise. Now the auction guys always dress up, but the supervisors pacing behind them typically have their ties off.
   I did not see any healthy eating at the show -- me included. The only food was the heart-attack cafe located just outside the bourse entrance. Of note, the youthful (under 40) ancient coins dealers seemed to represent the healthiest subgroup -- I even saw one eating a salad.
   As for the coins. Most of the good stuff -- not counting the colorful Morgans or the few very rare colonials -- goes to auction. Still, some nice collector pieces were available for the sleuth. For myself, I found very few Old Sails. There are more jetons on EBay than at the show. However, the Jamestown collector who is just starting out could fine a few nice pieces at the Expo. As for Spanish colonial cobs, these were available (ship-wrecked or not), but again, the nice eight reales only show up in the auctions.
   For those few who like relics, the pickings were also slim. Surprised? Don't be. Many dealers do not bring grounders. I think that they are afraid of them. You can find a silvery (read: harshly cleaned) trime or piss-yellow (read: harshly cleaned) large cent, BUT no relics.
   Corrosion is scary. I shudder to imagine what would happen if I were to drop a cent caked with verdigris on the bourse floor and yell: "Corrosion!" I think folks would take cover, or even run out of the building!

You can order this book from Books123.org.
It is a weekend read that will expand your views on relics.

   With all this being said, I did see a very nice set of holed coins from early America. Square nail holes marked these pieces as talismans or house/barn votives. One of them was a silver Mass threepence, another was an eighteenth century quarter eagle. Very Cool. He enjoys a history of human ritual. By the way, this dealer wore a flannel shirt with shoulder length hair.

   I think folks would appreciate some of these historic relics if they underwent some exposure therapy. First, some desensitization with the fingertips: touch the corrosion, touch the corrosion; then, some appreciation of what coins dug from historic sites look like and how cool they are.
   Well, this is a good opportunity to remind you of my book: Lost Cents, Dead Owners. It is now out there, so if you want to read something different and evocative, then this is it. Tired of coin valuation lists, tired of die varieties (well, that was a cheap shot, as I like die varieties too), but anyway, tired of the same-old, same old, then check out LCDO.