New Year, New Deals

I attended the Michigan State Numismatic Show over Thanksgiving weekend. A good attendance, but not like the old days. I was appointed to the Board of Michigan State and look forward to serving. The board is looking into moving off the Thanksgiving weekend in order to draw more dealers. I shop regularly on the internet for my paper money purchases, but I really enjoy going to shows and visiting old collector and dealer friends. The internet is, I think, cutting into attendance. At most major shows, however, you have the opportunity to learn from various presentations that are featured at large shows. We usually see ANA representatives, as well. They brief us on things numismatic, and, or during election cycles, let us know their plans for the future. At shows, you can bargain a bit on the price of your purchases. At auctions you just get to pay 20 percent on your purchases. Usually, dealers fold tax into their pricing, so you know where you stand. If the show is in a non- numismatic sales tax state, you save .05 cents or more. Speaking of prices, it looks like $500 and $1,000 Federal Reserve Notes are cooling off a bit. Not going down, but not rising so dramatically or as fast. In pricing, I find that lower denomination FRN’s are not as much in demand, or at least not selling as strongly as in the past. Perhaps, lacking the ability to find Small Head examples in regular circulation. In fact, I recently received an email from Walter Piere of Idaho, who told me he isn’t finding much in Small Head Federal Reserve notes at shows in his neck of the woods. Prices in this area seem to be down, so bargains exist. I also note that a lot of these notes that are offered are high grade 67, or 68 rated notes. Those prices seem to be receding, as well, as the BEP is doing a better job of centering notes these days. Check your old purchases, but realize that not just border margins matter, but the registry of the two sides needs to be examined as well. What does seem to be strong among the more modern notes, however, is fancy serial numbers, or low serial numbers. Low numbers are generally regarded as all zeros until the last three numbers. Super Repeaters are also appealing. I purchased a $1 note recently which had the serial number 50505050, just because I thought it was neat. Number one recently printed notes in uncirculated condition seem to go for $1,500 or so, with older notes bringing higher prices. My recent observations on pricing seem to be rather steady at this time with common Large Size notes fading a bit in price. Large Size $1 1899 Silver certificates of 2 digits or less have always been strong and National Bank Notes with low numbers or identical numbers are also popular. I have a Detroit National with four 8’s for a serial number that I am rather proud of, but not proud enough to bid on its sheet mate when it came up at auction. Email me at billbrandimore@charter.net I’d like to hear your viewpoints.