FUN Show follow up.

[Dafydd]

Following up from requests by @Hrefn @Valentinian @Romismatist @Anaximander Here are my observations as a visitor.

Parking is in the West Car Park, the facility is huge and it is at least a 20 minute walk to registration, bear this in mind if you have mobility issues but I believe at this entrance there is a shuttle available to take you around the building but I didn't see it. There was a FUN official there but I forged ahead.

Registration is a breeze and the officials are friendly, enthusiastic and engaging. As previously I was given a tote bag with some freebies. Last years FUN coin, a pressed cent showing this years theme and an inspection torch with a blue light for notes and stamps. This would be great for kids.

The theme of the show was "Coins and Kids, raising the next generation of numismatists".  In my opinion this is a great theme. I didn't see many children at all but I visited on a school day. Maybe there were busloads on Saturday but I believe the show finished early on Saturday.

The registration staff of FUN were friendly, enthusiastic and engaging, what a great way to start your day!
Here is the entrance door.

 

 

The exposition area is large and I headed to the Ancients section which is signed.

Now here is a tip, don't assume all the ancients are here because they are not. General dealers throughout the hall occasionally have trays of ancients and because they are not expert, you can find some bargains but sometimes overpriced. I found two fake Otho on such tables. I'm good at spotting fake Otho's as I have bought one and have been helped by  forum members to identify them.

My priorities for the show was to find an Otho to finish my 12 Caesars and a Julius Caesar lifetime portrait and a Marc Anthony Legate IIII denarius,  Echoing @Hrefn's comments I had choice and could physically handle and compare coins. I found 7 Otho's at least 2 fakes and the rest had problems such as great obverses and awful reverses or vice versa and the prices ranged from $600 to $1350 . I passed on all.

As for my lifetime portrait of Julius Caesar I found two but one was $3500 and I thought this excessive as it wasn't outstanding and the other was pretty dismal. Generally I felt that the "good" coins were more expensive than many auctions but you have the option of choice and comparison which you don't have at auction. One dealer reckoned he has a Marc Antony Legate IIII denarius and said he would email me on Monday. If this is so, I would be delighted. 

I met some great collectors and dealers and here are some images of tables. I'm sorry about the reflections of lighting but it was difficult to take images with my phone.

 

This last image is interesting when I think of a recent thread. Several hundred Probus at $5 each, take your pick. A pickers paradise.

I also saw a table with 40 gold Aureus! yes 40. In my opinion these were all about $1000 more than recent auction prices but if I  had  a deep pocket and really wanted one, I had an amazing choice.

I met several dealers and all were engaging. 

Tiber Numismatics had several tables and a great display. I really like the owner. He had a Didiius Julianus Sestertius at a reasonable $900 that had eye appeal and I was seriously interested but he spent an amount of time explaining what was wrong with it including older smoothing and potential tooling. In my opinion the sharp 90 degree edges on the hair shouted tooling but it was a coin that many , and nearly me, would accept. In my opinion his candidness was a barometer of his integrity and I would not hesitate in recommending him. 

He also gives coins to children. He has a $5 box and I witnessed him engage with a parent and give a coin to a child which is great. I witnessed this in a previous show so this is not new.  He sells some ancient coin jewellery which doesn't really impress me but he is erudite and knows more about ancients than me so I won't criticise that part of his business.

Here are some of the dealers I engaged with and all were great.

 

There were  some great collector exhibits too.

This is one that interested me as I have been seeking a William 1 penny. I found one at the show but it was corroded.

What did I buy?

Not a lot as my initial targets were not available but I wanted to leave with something so left with two Ancients that improved my collection.

The first was a Vespasian Judea Capta to replace my well worn example. I have wanted a better example for some time.

Argenteus coins had three examples! One was a full flan with the legend extant but no better than the one I have,

One had a reasonable obverse but weak reverse. The one I bought was a nice EF missing the obverse titles but a really sharp reverse , here it is.

 

 

Vespasian Judea Capta AD 69-70 AD 2.4 gms.

The same dealer also had a great upgrade on my Postumia C Postumiius 74 BC Hound reverse.

 

 

One of our dogs is a sight hound ( Lurcher) and it is interesting to see this image after thousands of years which I often see in real life.

My dog Ginger @David Atherton would like this image as it was  taken on a Ley Line. 

Moving on. This hobby is really addictive and you can literally be distracted and go down rabbit holes. I had brought across a Mexican 8 Reales salvaged  from the HMS Hollandia wreck to be slabbed by NCG.  This is the coin.

 

I don't collect slabs and have negative views on them but my coin had provenance  of an early auction envelope which could easily be lost when I pass and as a diver I wanted to ensure that its history is perpetuated. What an eye opener at this show! Several dealers were selling Shipwreck coins from across the globe and I found this book.

I can really recommend this book . In the forward by Daniel Frank Sedwick who I have learnt is a major dealer and whose tables I viewed states " All five W's- who, what, where, when and why - are not just answered but shown, Such a beautiful book is nothing but inspiring".

I have already made an Ebay purchase today direct from a diver who salvaged from  the HMS Association and guess I will try to put together a collection of one coin from each wreck salvaged. A lot easier that collecting all the Emperors! The Roman Emperor task will probably outlive me.

One great interaction was meeting a dealer who said " I like your accent where are you from?" I said Wales. He then said " I love the TV show "Against the Wind" It's all about how you guys were all convicts and transported to Australian and the founding of New South Wales.

I had to explain that although there were many Welsh of doubtful pedigree we weren't transported from England and Wales is in the UK....

One observation I made is that clearly the US Mint melting Morgan dollars  down is an urban myth because for every Morgan collector there must be at least 50 coins of every date available. I have never seen so many Morgan Dollars, some in date piles. I have to confess that as a frequent visitor to the States I am putting a collection together but casually and not obsessively. At the show I heard conversations about VAMS, crossovers, hairlines, and the most myopic details of these coins. As an ancients and British historical ,collector the fascination of these coins eludes me , yes they are an iconic and beautiful coin but such a short period to study does not interest me.

Nevertheless I bought one ,and here it is.

The 2024 coin was released on July 11th but not available at the show graded. I tend to buy one of these modern coins when I visit and no doubt next year will pick up a 2024 issue.

My conclusions of the show is that it really is "FUN". with such a large number of dealers you will probably find something to suit your budget. You will meet like minded people and have a better experience than sitting at a keyboard. People are great, so go and meet them!

FUN really do a great job and deserve to be supported.  Also , entrance for the public is free which I took advantage of. 

My philosophy at my age is "old bull and young bull at the top of the hill "so I don't need to buy early entry passes. 

If you can  visit such a show, do so, you won't be disappointed. The FUN January show is much larger apparently and with better weather so that might be a great show to visit. If you don't visit Mouse Land, lodgings are inexpensive in Orlando as are flights,

 

 

[Kali]

Great show review and photos. Thanks for taking the time to do it.

[CPK]

Great overview of the event! Sounds like a lot of fun. That shipwreck book looks interesting - I will have to give it a look!

[Valentinian]

Thank you for the description of the coin show. I think there are probably many NF members who don't live near coin shows and don't go to coin shows. You help us experience one vicariously. 

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

That was a wonderful overview!  Which dealers had the pictured pick bins/trays?  What's the ancients pick bin above the $45 Probus coins?

[Hrefn]

Thank you for this very entertaining account of your visit. 

[expat]

Looks like you had a good time there. Despite the mild disappointment of not getting your targets, you managed to come away with some decent coinage and memories of a experience that not all can achieve. Thanks for posting a great overview of your visit.

[Dafydd]

20 hours ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

That was a wonderful overview!  Which dealers had the pictured pick bins/trays?  What's the ancients pick bin above the $45 Probus coins?

The tray above the Probus coins were all Constantine 1 Follis, some very reasonable, and the bag above it were all shipwreck recovery coins from HMS Admiral Gardner such as this one.

They were 10 X cash coins destined for East India and were owned by the famous Matthew Boulton who perfected the steam press for minting coins. I regret not having bought one as they were inexpensive and another quite famous shipwreck salvaged coin.

[Dafydd]

13 hours ago, expat said:

Looks like you had a good time there. Despite the mild disappointment of not getting your targets, you managed to come away with some decent coinage and memories of a experience that not all can achieve. Thanks for posting a great overview of your visit.

The pick bins were being sold by Educational Coins USA See https://www.educationalcoin.com/  It was good to share a positive experience. There was a really good editorial by John Mussell just before he passed following Covid in which he extoled the benefits of physical coin shows as opportunities to discuss and compare physically with like minded people to an extent that transcended the Internet. I'll see if I can find it and obtain permission to post it. I am not able to visit many coin shows but whenever I do, I leave better educated and fulfilled seeing things that outside of a museum I would never see. The example of so many Aurei on one table being one.

[Romismatist]

Detailed and enjoyable summary, many thanks for this writeup!

[Dafydd]

13 hours ago, Romismatist said:

Detailed and enjoyable summary, many thanks for this writeup!

Thank you. I had intended to write a report on my visit to the British Museum earlier this year after visiting their "Legion - life in the Roman Army"  exhibition but the reports by @John Conduitt were so extensive and with such great photography there was nothing I could really add.