NYINC 2015

[Joe Sermarini]

Forum will not have a table at NYINC this year.  After seeing traffic and sales declining year after year, last year crossed the breaking point.  I don't want to sit behind a table bored all day, so this year I will be enjoying NY as a tourist and only plan to attend the show on Friday, 9 January.  If you want to meet to drop off consignments, have a coffee, or something, give me a call or send a text to 252-646-1958. Hope to see you there.

[cmcdon0923]

Sorry to hear that.

While I've never attended the NYINC, it's been on my "wish list" to attend for some time.  But if the shows has been gradually diminishing in quality maybe I need to rethink it.

Has it been declining overall, or have the plethora of auctions and ability to participate via the internet taken away from the "importance" of attending the show personally.

[Andrew McCabe]

I was at NYINC. As usual, the main purpose for attending is because with so many dealers and collectors present, there's a great deal of networking on the side, convivial meals, show-and-tells by other collectors, chats with dealers about what's coming to the market, and so on. I bought one coin at auction and a number of individual coins at the bourse. There was a surprisingly large amount of material available in my area and quality, and I thought prices were soft as compared with prior years. For example on the afternoon of the second day I bought a sharp as a pin Volteia denarius, Jupiter / Temple type in GEF, for £550 at the bourse, a type that in 2012 might have had a 1k sticker and still sold in the opening hours of the first day. My constraints this year related to my own budget limitations rather than coin availability or price levels. Socially I had the usual fun. For example last night I invited some dealers and collectors to a Jazz dinner club in Harlem, I visited another collector's home Thursday, met a group of Roman Republican collectors for lunch Wednesday, had a Forum member invite me for lunch Friday (thanks Michael!), was shown a terrific Alexandrian drachm by another Forum member (thanks Jyrki!) and have an afternoon tea at the Ritz Carlton with a nice group of friends planned for this afternoon. I also picked up one terrific book, a copy of Havercamps 1700s work on Morell's 1600s researches on Roman Republican coins, lavishly illustrated including page after page of engravings of variants such as the Papia gryphon types with symbols, and bound in with an edition of Goltzius' 1500s work on Republican coins that famously includes many imagined types now called Goltziani! A major fun week for me and I'll need a holiday when I get home.

[Carausius]

I only attended one day, but I made the best of it despite feeling rushed.  I enjoyed meeting and lunching with Andrew McCabe, and I had very pleasant chats with several dealers, collectors and authors.  I kept my eyes open for Joe, but never crossed paths with him.  Next year, I should bite the bullet and attend over several days to take full advantage of the networking opportunities.  I get too comfortable sitting in my home-office, buying and bidding online, and I forget how fun it can be to personally engage with collectors and dealers.  Online forums and e-mail lists can never replace personal interaction.  I bought some nice coins too, including an exceptional Republican Anonymous Semis (McCabe group E1) in near EF; a very nice P. Maenius Antiacus denarius in EF with 1971 auction provenance; a good EF Hosidius Geta denarius with deep toning; and several more.  Of course, having the chance to examine coins in person is beneficial, because website photos occasionally detract, and I bought some coins that I had previously seen on dealer websites.  I also spent some time physically examining auction lots - which I never get to do - and I avoided some likely buyer's remorse through that exercise. Overall, a good day!

[carthago]

I spent a good part of the day on Thursday going through the bourse and reviewing some auction lots.  I didn't buy anything on the floor but I picked up a few coins in auction.  I spent Friday afternoon at the American Numismatic Society doing some research in their library.  The rest of the time has been spent eating and drinking my way from one end of the city to the other with my wife. 

One thing of serious interest at the ANS is a photo file that CNG recently returned to them.  Apparently, the ANS went through duplicate catalogues many years ago and created an indexed photo file of the coins according to the one of the various cataloguing methods of each particular specialty.  The Roman Republican coins are filed according to Sydenham, for instance.  Anyway, these files are all over the ANS and even in their basement but they are a treasure trove of research information.  I only had time to go through 2 drawers and found 4 coins that I own, but I already had the provenances.  It's a real treasure and I get the feeling that the ANS doesn't really know what to do with it. 

[jmuona]

I had the pleasure to meet Joe, Barry and Andrew in NYINC. As the latter mentioned, it is a place to see many friends and learn to know new interesting people. Although I did not search the tables during the professional preview Thursday - I usually do - one of the greatest Alexandrian rarities had been missed by the dealers there and I was able to buy it - a drachm of Otho. In due course I will put it in my Forum gallery. A great coin in excellent condition, clearly from some old collection. The last one offered before this (as far as I know) was from the Kerry Wetterstrom collection (CNA IV) some 25 years ago.
I also picked a dozen slugs with nice countermarks, from TI.CAE to gods, some of the coins with three different ones. It will be nice to figure them all out.
I enjoyed the visit.

[Andrew McCabe]

I didn't know that the ANS photofile has been moved back to New York from the CNG premises. That's good news indeed. There wasn't enough room to store the photofile initially at Varick St and CNG generously offered to host it. As a result I've not in fact ever seen it! I leave NYC in the morning but would otherwise have loved to visit the ANS.

Michael and I are evidently seeking out similar coins in similar quality. I think I had to trip him up a couple of times to somehow or other get to some of the dealers trays first! But each of the coins he mentioned are spectacular and better than my examples of the types! So, some very good choices. I still think there were some exceptional Republican coins left in dealers trays after we left nyc. I'm thinking for example of an exceptional left-facing-Venus Caesar Cr.468, a modest quality but very rare L.ATILI NOM at a modest price, a great Caesar portrait with perfect surfaces and centering though a little worn, at about half the going rate for a typical EF example, a Pompey Pietas, and an Octavian Actian Arch denarius in exceptional condition and reasonably priced. These were all coins I regretted having to walk away from due budget limits, but I remain surprised they were still available at the end of the show's second day. Someone should offer them a good home!

[benito]

...................................... These were all coins I regretted having to walk away from due budget limits, but I remain surprised they were still available at the end of the show's second day. Someone should offer them a good home!

Well. If prices continue to "soften", they might find a good home in benito I, II,or III.

[Meepzorp]

I didn't know that the ANS photofile has been moved back to New York from the CNG premises. That's good news indeed. There wasn't enough room to store the photofile initially at Varick St and CNG generously offered to host it. As a result I've not in fact ever seen it! I leave NYC in the morning but would otherwise have loved to visit the ANS.

Michael and I are evidently seeking out similar coins in similar quality. I think I had to trip him up a couple of times to somehow or other get to some of the dealers trays first! But each of the coins he mentioned are spectacular and better than my examples of the types! So, some very good choices. I still think there were some exceptional Republican coins left in dealers trays after we left nyc. I'm thinking for example of an exceptional left-facing-Venus Caesar Cr.468, a modest quality but very rare L.ATILI NOM at a modest price, a great Caesar portrait with perfect surfaces and centering though a little worn, at about half the going rate for a typical EF example, a Pompey Pietas, and an Octavian Actian Arch denarius in exceptional condition and reasonably priced. These were all coins I regretted having to walk away from due budget limits, but I remain surprised they were still available at the end of the show's second day. Someone should offer them a good home!

Hi Andrew,

The Octavian Actian arch denarius is typically not an expensive coin. And it is much more common than many people think. It is nowhere near as rare as other Octavian/Augustus coins featuring arches and/or horses and chariots.

Several years ago, I purchased one in average condition (aVF or so), with beautiful dark toning. It was real cheap. The dealer had put it in an auction, but it received no bids. He just wanted to blow it out. And I got it for a song.

Meepzorp

[Meepzorp]

Hi Carthago,

I didn't know about the ANS photo file, which had been loaned to CNG. I wasn't aware that such a thing existed. It sounds like a great idea. Does ANS plan on doing anything with it? I get the impression that it is basically just a bunch of incoherent raw data/photos that needs to be re-formatted (digital file?). In other words, it has the potential to be very useful, if only someone can figure out how to present it properly. Is my assumption correct?

Meepzorp

[carthago]

I didn't know that the ANS photofile has been moved back to New York from the CNG premises. That's good news indeed. There wasn't enough room to store the photofile initially at Varick St and CNG generously offered to host it. As a result I've not in fact ever seen it! I leave NYC in the morning but would otherwise have loved to visit the ANS.

Michael and I are evidently seeking out similar coins in similar quality. I think I had to trip him up a couple of times to somehow or other get to some of the dealers trays first! But each of the coins he mentioned are spectacular and better than my examples of the types! So, some very good choices. I still think there were some exceptional Republican coins left in dealers trays after we left nyc. I'm thinking for example of an exceptional left-facing-Venus Caesar Cr.468, a modest quality but very rare L.ATILI NOM at a modest price, a great Caesar portrait with perfect surfaces and centering though a little worn, at about half the going rate for a typical EF example, a Pompey Pietas, and an Octavian Actian Arch denarius in exceptional condition and reasonably priced. These were all coins I regretted having to walk away from due budget limits, but I remain surprised they were still available at the end of the show's second day. Someone should offer them a good home!

Hi Andrew,

The Octavian Actian arch denarius is typically not an expensive coin. And it is much more common than many people think. It is nowhere near as rare as other Octavian/Augustus coins featuring arches and/or horses and chariots.

Several years ago, I purchased one in average condition (aVF or so), with beautiful dark toning. It was real cheap. The dealer had put it in an auction, but it received no bids. He just wanted to blow it out. And I got it for a song.

Meepzorp

If it's the one I looked at, I took a picture of it and thought about it for quite some time.  In the end, I decided not to buy it because I thought it was a bit pricey and I'd wait for another day.  It was a nice coin, gVF but just a bit weak on the upper reverse if I recall.  I *almost* bought it.

[carthago]

Hi Carthago,

I didn't know about the ANS photo file, which had been loaned to CNG. I wasn't aware that such a thing existed. It sounds like a great idea. Does ANS plan on doing anything with it? I get the impression that it is basically just a bunch of incoherent raw data/photos that needs to be re-formatted (digital file?). In other words, it has the potential to be very useful, if only someone can figure out how to present it properly. Is my assumption correct?

Meepzorp

It's an amazing resource. Each photos is on a large index card with a catalogue picture of the individual coin glued on the front and a note of the source on the back.  It's getting a bit old in that some of the glue holding the photos no longer holds and the pictures have come loose.  It will require upkeep.  I was told there have been talk of digitizing it, but I don't think that will be an easy job picking up the citation with the image to keep it organized on a file by file level.  The picture below shows a mechanical note, but the handwritten ones can be hard to read and I doubt OCR software could.  Even as a manual reference, it works just fine.  Just a bit old school. 

I'm not sure the ANS really knows what to do with them.  They are stuck all over the place, in spare corners and not organized at this point.  Each drawer is perfectly organized, just none of the drawers are organized together.     It's my understanding that Harlan Berk has a similar photo file.   

[Andrew McCabe]

The Numismatic Research Institute in Vienna has a similar card file. Very valuable. So long as the card file is physically maintained then at some point or other it / they will be digitised and put online. That's not a trivial exercise given that highest quality scanning will be needed to preserve details of already faded small size (not enlarged) old coin photos. The job will be akin to that needed to digitise a major collection. As comparison, digitising and putting online the British Museums Roman Republican coins was a project that cost several hundred thousand dollars. This project, involving photos of faded prints of photos, is inevitably much lower in the priority list than a gazillion other numismatic projects. Digitial technology won't make it cheaper either: This involves physical handling of cards with glued on photos, and probably some post processing. Bottom line, its a great idea to digitise the ANS card file but don't wait for it to happen in your lifetime. It's at least good that its been moved to NYC and perhaps digitisation can happen over an extended time period with volunteer support. Meanwhile, go visit Varick street.