Autumn market picks up in Michigan

Paper money was in demand at the Michigan State Numismatic Society convention held Nov. 25-27 in Warren.

Minnesota dealer Ed Rothberg said, “I’d say it’s been brisk,” how his results were after the first day.

In evaluating his recent sales experiences, he said, “It’s been solid the last couple of months. It broke (bad business conditions) in October. Baltimore was actually good.”

Ohio coin dealer Larry Briggs when asked on Saturday about his results, replied, “Yesterday we were swamped ... We had five to six people (customers) at about 10:15 all the way up to 5:30.”

Briggs said, “People were looking for collector coins.”

He was proud of the choice he offers hobbyists. He said he has the largest stock in the country, Colonials through Seated Trade dollars.

Gus Tiso

Maryland coin dealer Gus Tiso said, “The show is decent – not as good as last year – but decent.”

He noted, “Yesterday had a very good turnout.”

He offered an assessment of what collectors are looking for.

“Dollars are moving and better date type coins.”

Jim Fairfield

Indiana coin dealer Jim Fairfield was precise.

“The 1150 people that came in yesterday were spending money. They had specific coins that they desired.

“U.S. type gold was strong despite it being weak in the wholesale market,” Fairfield said.

Michigan dealer Pat Heller said, “Our retail sales have been better than average. I can’t say gangbusters. Fortunately, we brought inventory that other dealers didn’t have.”

Illinois dealer Jeff Byer said, “This is a good show, very nice people. I recommend people come and see it.”

He had a container of many unslabbed silver dollars at his table.

“People love to browse,” he said. “ So yes, I sell a lot of silver dollars ungraded.”

Michigan world coin collector Bob Fowkes was on the floor with a 1994 edition of the “Standard Catalog of World Coins.” He said he uses it as a check list. He opened it up to show his many handwritten notations in the 2,000-page catalog.

“If it spends as money, I’m interested.”

Al Boulanger

Indiana world coin dealer Al Boulanger offered his evaulation.

“It’s been a good show. As usual, they got their huge crowd on opening day.”

There are many countries that presently interest collectors, but he said China and India “have gone off the boil.”

He said collectors are looking for their own countries.

Alex Basok

Another world dealer, Illinois’ Alex Basok, said, “It was a wonderful show.”

He said, “It was the first time after many mediocre or disastrous shows. This one was extremely well attended. People came with an attitude to buy. We were so busy we didn’t have time to get a bite to eat until 3 p.m.