CICF Show 2006 Summary (Hi Jim Higby)

I have returned from the CICF (Chicago International Coin Fair) though
it continues today and into Sunday. I arrived on Thursday to take
advantage of the early bird registration. For $50 you get to go on
the bourse on Thursday and an hour early the other days. Obviously
this will not be cost effective for some, but if you are going to buy
a decent amount it is well worth the cost. Besides not having to elbow
other people out of the way in order to get to a table you see the new
material before it is bought. The early bird times make for a much
more relaxing and interactive buying experience.
My focus for this show was "Early Dark Ages". Specifically,
Ostrogothic, Visigothic, Vandalic, and Lombard coinage were in scope.
While I will probably never focus on a single collecting area for a
lifetime or even a decade a couple of years is doable. In preparation
I checked out some relevant reference books from the ANA library and
tried to get some feel for recent prices on the pieces in my budget.
Early on I ended up saying hi and chatting with Zach of Beast Coins.
He is as friendly and engaging in real life as he is online. Zach
didn't have gothic pieces but Rich Pearlman happened to be at his
table right then. This fortunate coincidence brought to light a nice
Visigothic piece that I would later purchase. As I wandered around
the bourse saying hi and peaking at inventory I ended up at Glen
Wood's table. He had two nice Athalaric bronzes and I picked the one
I liked better. Finally, Andy Singer had a few pieces. Most of them
were a little too low grade for me but there was an Ostrogothic civic
issue of Rome that hit the spot. I did see a bit more Merovingian
pieces than gothic coins but I am not yet ready to delve into that
area. Many Merovingian coins are hard to look at, and those that have
decent portraits tend to be quite pricey. Besides, the three coins I
found pretty much blew my budget for the show. But, I did also manage
to get a few nice coins out of a pick bin at Beasts. There were some
very pretty coins that will serve well for coin club auctions.
Friday came with little left to do. I sat myself at Al Boulanger's
table and went through his world coin bins. By the time I was done it
was 11AM and the public was actively coursing through the conference
room. I ended up with way to many world coins, but these coins should
be moving along shortly. There was more chatting than buying on
Friday. The Twin Cities Ancient Coin Club was again well represented.
Kent Froseth and Ken Hollister are both from Minnesota as well and
both were having excellent shows even after just Thursday. On the
bourse I ran into an old, or should I say long time, RCCer Jim Higby.
There's another abstract cyber-being that now has a human face. Kerry
Wetterstrom again manned the Celator booth, we confirmed his scheduled
arrival in the Twin Cities later this April. The club is fondly
anticipating his upcoming presentation. Lastly, I traded some ACCG
renewal slips with Wayne Sayles for some ACCG election ballots. The
election is going quite well with a wonderful turnout and a good race.
Many people have commented that all five candidates are deserving
board members. They are correct! I'm sure even those who do not
serve on the board will seek and be asked to contribute going forward.
Wayne also mentioned that ACCG members will soon be able to borrow
from the ANA library, great news in itself. The ANA library is a
superb resource for those of us who cannot afford all the reference
books we would like to own. So Friday was mostly a people day, and
that is just as good as a coin day. I should also mention that John
and Nancy Wilson were again volunteering at the show. I see these two
everywhere helping out, they really do love the hobby.

Images of my purchases can be seen at

http://www.ancientcoinvalues.com/upl...laric340lg.jpg
http://www.ancientcoinvalues.com/upl...l/Ostro341.jpg
http://www.ancientcoinvalues.com/upl...al/Visi342.jpg

"Jorg Lueke" wrote in message
...
I have returned from the CICF (Chicago International Coin Fair) though
it continues today and into Sunday. I arrived on Thursday to take
advantage of the early bird registration. For $50 you get to go on
the bourse on Thursday and an hour early the other days. Obviously
this will not be cost effective for some, but if you are going to buy
a decent amount it is well worth the cost. Besides not having to elbow
other people out of the way in order to get to a table you see the new
material before it is bought. The early bird times make for a much
more relaxing and interactive buying experience.
My focus for this show was "Early Dark Ages". Specifically,
Ostrogothic, Visigothic, Vandalic, and Lombard coinage were in scope.
While I will probably never focus on a single collecting area for a
lifetime or even a decade a couple of years is doable. In preparation
I checked out some relevant reference books from the ANA library and
tried to get some feel for recent prices on the pieces in my budget.
Early on I ended up saying hi and chatting with Zach of Beast Coins.
He is as friendly and engaging in real life as he is online. Zach
didn't have gothic pieces but Rich Pearlman happened to be at his
table right then. This fortunate coincidence brought to light a nice
Visigothic piece that I would later purchase. As I wandered around
the bourse saying hi and peaking at inventory I ended up at Glen
Wood's table. He had two nice Athalaric bronzes and I picked the one
I liked better. Finally, Andy Singer had a few pieces. Most of them
were a little too low grade for me but there was an Ostrogothic civic
issue of Rome that hit the spot. I did see a bit more Merovingian
pieces than gothic coins but I am not yet ready to delve into that
area. Many Merovingian coins are hard to look at, and those that have
decent portraits tend to be quite pricey. Besides, the three coins I
found pretty much blew my budget for the show. But, I did also manage
to get a few nice coins out of a pick bin at Beasts. There were some
very pretty coins that will serve well for coin club auctions.
Friday came with little left to do. I sat myself at Al Boulanger's
table and went through his world coin bins. By the time I was done it
was 11AM and the public was actively coursing through the conference
room. I ended up with way to many world coins, but these coins should
be moving along shortly. There was more chatting than buying on
Friday. The Twin Cities Ancient Coin Club was again well represented.
Kent Froseth and Ken Hollister are both from Minnesota as well and
both were having excellent shows even after just Thursday. On the
bourse I ran into an old, or should I say long time, RCCer Jim Higby.
There's another abstract cyber-being that now has a human face. Kerry
Wetterstrom again manned the Celator booth, we confirmed his scheduled
arrival in the Twin Cities later this April. The club is fondly
anticipating his upcoming presentation. Lastly, I traded some ACCG
renewal slips with Wayne Sayles for some ACCG election ballots. The
election is going quite well with a wonderful turnout and a good race.
Many people have commented that all five candidates are deserving
board members. They are correct! I'm sure even those who do not
serve on the board will seek and be asked to contribute going forward.
Wayne also mentioned that ACCG members will soon be able to borrow
from the ANA library, great news in itself. The ANA library is a
superb resource for those of us who cannot afford all the reference
books we would like to own. So Friday was mostly a people day, and
that is just as good as a coin day. I should also mention that John
and Nancy Wilson were again volunteering at the show. I see these two
everywhere helping out, they really do love the hobby.

Images of my purchases can be seen at

http://www.ancientcoinvalues.com/upl...laric340lg.jpg
http://www.ancientcoinvalues.com/upl...l/Ostro341.jpg
http://www.ancientcoinvalues.com/upl...al/Visi342.jpg

Hi Jorg, welcome back to RCC after your long absence, and I'm still
scratching my head at who, if not you, was the RCCer whom I engaged in a
discussion of classical music a year or so ago on this newsgroup, and who
said he played the French horn. Anyway, it was good for me as well to meet
you in person. The camaraderie with collectors and dealers, and the whole
array of unusual material, make the long trip down I-90 to Rosemont
worthwhile. It's great that you added these items to your collection and
that you shared them with us.

I have to admit to nearly complete ignorance and yet simultaneous awe at
ancient and medieval coins and the people who collect them. I suppose it's
like any other endeavor, you start somewhere and gradually increase
knowledge with some fits and starts along the way. I have always enjoyed
reading the RCC discussions about these items, especially when the various
pitfalls are served up for all to see.

James

On Sat, 1 Apr 2006 12:14:13 -0600, "James Higby"
heezerbumfrool[at]hotmail[dot]com stated:


Hi Jorg, welcome back to RCC after your long absence, and I'm still
scratching my head at who, if not you, was the RCCer whom I engaged in a
discussion of classical music a year or so ago on this newsgroup, and who
said he played the French horn. Anyway, it was good for me as well to meet
you in person. The camaraderie with collectors and dealers, and the whole
array of unusual material, make the long trip down I-90 to Rosemont
worthwhile. It's great that you added these items to your collection and
that you shared them with us.

I have to admit to nearly complete ignorance and yet simultaneous awe at
ancient and medieval coins and the people who collect them. I suppose it's
like any other endeavor, you start somewhere and gradually increase
knowledge with some fits and starts along the way. I have always enjoyed
reading the RCC discussions about these items, especially when the various
pitfalls are served up for all to see.

James


So how far down I-90 did you have to go? If I drive I have to bring
the family and then the whole occasion quickly becomes a weekend.

Did you find anything good at the show? It seemed like there was
quite a bit of more modern world stuff around as well, heck I ended up
with 50 coins in my bag on Friday.

As for ancients, they do seem to intimidate people more. But, it's
really no different than any other area. There's people who just buy
stuff without learning much, assembling hoards or collections but no
knowledge. Other people reverse that trend, acquiring only knowledge
but no coins. Most end up somewhere in between.
A $10 or $20 a coin it's not a particularly risky endevor though.

On Sat, 01 Apr 2006 11:52:54 -0600, Jorg Lueke
wrote:

Images of my purchases can be seen at

http://www.ancientcoinvalues.com/upl...laric340lg.jpg
http://www.ancientcoinvalues.com/upl...l/Ostro341.jpg
http://www.ancientcoinvalues.com/upl...al/Visi342.jpg

Those are so cool. My budget was limited, and 2000 miles worth of
gasoline, Mr Beef sandwiches, hotel, Field Museum parking/admission,
and etc for a three-day Chicago trip had to be included within it.

Still, I stopped by Friday morning for a few hours. Picked up a
Justinian I solidus from Glenn Woods and a Anglo-Gallic obol of
Richard the Lionheart.

Sorry, no pics yet.

BLReed

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