Kansas City is now the new Memphis

By Bill Brandimore

Kansas City turned out to be the new Memphis, indeed.

Attendance at the International Paper Money Show in Kansas City, Mo., was good. The venue was attractive. And dealers who I talked to were generally pleased with the show—either with sales, purchases, or both.

Next year, however, as I write this, is up in the air, as Lyn Knight has so far been unable to book the show at the same venue in June. There is some possibility that it might be scheduled for late May, or at another venue, but for now uncertainty reigns.

I enjoyed conversations at the show. I talked with Mike Coltrane, a North Carolina National Bank Note collector who was enjoying the show, and Gary Neal, who is the low-ball collection winner at PCGS for his collection of really ugly Funny Backs.

I also talked with Jason Bradford at PCGS to get an explanation of new grade reporting on the holders.

PCGS will no longer use “Apparent” on the face of a note with a major problem. It will italicize the grade number and report defects on the back of the holder. Minor defects will result in no PPQ, but will be noted on the back.

At th PMG table, I talked with grader Chad Greenbach, who explained that PMG will not note “Net” on the face of the holder for minor problems such as tiny tears not into the design or other minor defects. It will note them on the back of the holder, but not EPQ the note. Major defects will still be identified on the face of the holder as “Net” grades.

So, if you’re looking at a note on various websites and don’t see “net” or “apparent” on a PMG- or PCGS-graded note, look for comments on the back, if the note is not identified as EPQ or PPQ.

I have noted that Lyn Knight and Heritage have lately been listing comments noted on the backs of holders.

Notes with EPQ and PPQ are, of course, still held to high standards of original paper, etc.

Another word to the wise is that you must check out the Eric Newman Portal on your computer. It is available at nnp.wustl.edu.

This site is amazing.

It lists numerous club publications. Numismatists of Wisconsin is one of the latest additions. There are lots of additioanl categories.

I checked out Heath Counterfeit Detectors and found every edition.

Just click on the pages and look at the entire book, one page at a time. It is amazing.

Market prices seem fairly stable, although real bargains seem to exist in early small-size Silver Certificates and early circulated Federal Reserve Notes. This includes star notes.

I still see amazing variations at auction with regard to small-size Federal Reserve Bank notes. This is especially true with regard to Internet-only auctions.

You will also see some real bargains on weekly Tuesday Heritage auctions. Just don’t let excitement of the moment over power you. I try a low bid and stick with it. Sometimes it works.

As always send questions and comments to billbrandimore@charter.net.

More Collecting Resources

• The Standard Catalog of United States Paper Money is the only annual guide that provides complete coverage of U.S. currency with today’s market prices.

• Are you a U.S. coin collector? Check out the 2018 U.S. Coin Digest for the most recent coin prices.