FUN Show 2013 was a lot of Fun!

We flew down to Florida the weekend before the big show to escape the cold of New England. We were well greeted by days that were mostly in the low 80s! Joining long time friends in a town outside of Orlando, we caught up with current goings on and prepared for the show. The first order of business was to register ahead of the crowd and look over the fairly extensive offering of Confederate notes. Also took a side trip to the Platinum section to gawk at the three Civil War US large type notes I need – the $20 demand note, the $50 Hamilton and the $100 spread eagle, all of which were a bit rich for me at this time as they were high grade, top line big gun Federal notes. Maybe sometime down the pike.

Set up was Wednesday afternoon and the usual rush ensued. Luckily, my wife and I had all of our inventory, etc… in portable bags that could be run down the escalator instead of waiting in the long line for the elevator. We shared a table with John Kraljevich again, the noted early Americana, Colonial and medal dealer – always entertaining, educational and fun! J . Once my wife Joyce was set up to fill the cases, I journeyed over to the exhibit area to set up a display of a complete Confederate paper money type set with some nice additions. This exhibit took 10 cases with ½ case reserved for a description of what the money was, 8 ½ cases of the paper money itself, each note with a descriptive label, and one case for the key current books on Confederate paper money. I did not enter any competition which gave me the freedom to break down on Saturday. This was the last time I will display this set as it was for sale starting after the show with some notes already privately places. 

We caught up with many of the usual dealers that attend FUN – both in the paper money and early American coin arena – that afternoon, while generally taking it easy. Business was tepid that day as usual for a first day for me as I spend most of the time setting up exhibits and visiting. However, that night, was the auction of Confederate paper money which I will outline below. It was quite late before the Confederate money crossed the block, and we used the time to visit our friends and enjoy a great dinner. I ended up buying quite a bit in the sale as I have sold a lot of CSA material in the last 3 months of 2012. This coupled with the sale of my Confederate type set means I have more inventory of higher quality and rarity than typically is found on dealers’ tables including mine.

Thursday was off to a slow start as a lot of people wanted to get around the floor before making purchases, but we did make some good sales and bought a few things too. While the economy and the tax increases seemed to affect some in terms of mood and willingness to buy, others jumped right in. Certainly, at the FUN show, there is a lot of material available, though rare and high quality tends to be in short supply. I spent some time with a few collector friends at my exhibit and at least a couple of them have since purchased long sought after notes in quality not readily found.

Friday was a much stronger day and really made the show. This day was very busy and we had little time to get out and about. In fact between the auction, our table and my exhibit, we really did not shop the floor at all. We did see some Confederate money and large cent deals at the table – some bought and some passed on. In the evenings, we visited with our friends in Orlando with whom were we staying and others.

Saturday was a solid day and rounded out the show nicely. The Society of Paper money Collectors (SPMC – www.spmc.org) held its meeting. A few were present early on Saturday and Dennis Schafluetzel presented on panic/depression scrip which is a fascinating topic. It’s amazing as to the creativity of people to keep commerce going in the hardest of time – this is reflected in the variety and style of these notes. Also, the new SPMC web site is coming along nicely! See link – www.spmc.org ! We decided to pick up that late afternoon and spend the time visiting on Sunday and preparing for the trip home. I love the FUN show and this one was a good one. Now we are back in Boston for the long remaining winter ahead till the Baltimore show in March (though we will do the Jan and Feb Westford, Mass shows).

Here is what transpired at the auction with third party and my grades. Some of the prices went strong… some deals slipped through the cracks of which some I got!

15945. T-3 PF-2. PMG AU 58 EPQ, Choice AU+ to me. A great note. Went at a good price after the sale. $27,025

15946. T-3 PF-2. PCGS VF-25 PPQ, Choice F-VF to me. A nice note for sure. A strong price. $18,800

15947. T-4 PF-2. PMG AU-55, AU+, net XF-AU to me. Not bad, but not like the last. $19,975

15948. T-4 PF-2. PCGS VF-25, Fine to me. $11,163

15949. T-4 PF-2. PCGS Apparent VF-20-CC, About VF, net VG (major repairs). $ 7,344

15950. T-5 PF-1. PMG New-64 EPQ, Choice Unc to me. Nice and a good buy! $ 3,055

15952. T-5 PF-1. PCGS VF-30 POC, F-VF-POC and pen cancelled. Wow…shoulda bought 15950. $ 1,998

15954. T-6 PF-1. PMG New-65 EPQ, Choice Unc to me. Nice and a strong price! $ 7,638

15957. T-6 PF-1. PCGS Apparent VF-20, Fine, net VG to me. But Seguin Texas note and excessively rare! $ 2,115

15962. T-8 PF-4. PMG New-66 EPQ, Unc+ to me, would be choice but for minor stain. $ 3,290 (!)

15968. T-8 PF-4. PCGS VF-20, POC, VG-POC to me. But extremely rare Trans-Mississippi issue and underappreciated here. $ 1,410

15970. T-10 PF-12. PMG VF-35 EPQ, graded right, About XF and nearly choice. Grossly underappreciated here compared to some of the next T-10s. One of the best to appear at auction in 10 years. $ 1,880

15971. T-10 PF-15. PCGS VF-30, F-VF to me and pressed but good eye appear at first glance. $ 1,293

15972. T-10 PF-13. PCGS VF-25, Choice F-VF to me… better than last. A steal. $ 705

15979. T-11 PF-4. PCGS Apparent VF-30, F-VF, net VG-F to me. A nice note, a strong price (see my type set for something similar but with less repair). $ 7,638

15982. T-12 PF-1. PCGS AU-58 PPQ. Ch AU+, great front presentation, back a bit offcenter. Nice note. (See my type set for something similar in eye appear, with trivial, invisible repair but quite a lot cheaper). $18,880

15983. T-12 PF-1. PMG AU-50, my grade AU, net VF (this was an ugly note due to foxing). $10,575

15988. T-14 PF-9. PMG New-65 EPQ. Choice Unc. Great note. $ 1,763

15990. T-14 PF-3, rare late plate state. PCGS VF-20 Apparent, Fine, net VG to me. Rare. $ 705

15992. T-15 PF-1. PMG VF-20. Choice Fine, plus to me. Nice note. Good price…worth more. $ 7,638

15997. T-17 PF-1. PMG AU-55 EPQ. XF-AU, net XF to me. My Choice XF I like better that sold in my type set for more money. $ 2,115

15999. T-18 PF-28. PMG New-65 EPQ. Choice Unc to me and nice. Rare grade. $ 1,528

16006. T-21 PF-3. PMG VF-25, Choice F-VF to me and nice. $ 940

16007. T-21 PF-1. PMG VF-25, F-VF to me. Note difference between this and the last lot. $ 705

16008. T-22 PF-1. PMG VF-30 EPQ. Choice VF+ and nice. $ 3,173

16013. T-24 PF-1. PMG New-64 EPQ. Ch Unc and a nice note. Good buy… worth more. $ 3,525

16015. T-27 PF-1. PCGS Apparent F-12, VG-F, net VG and not well cut to me. Good buy, though. Underappreciated type as the rarest CSA type by census. $11,750

16019. T-31 PF-1. PMG XF-40. VF-XF, net VF to me. Nice color and cut, but not XF. A conservative XF is worth far more. $ 2,233

16028. T-34 PF-3. PMG Apparent VF-35, VF+, net VF to me. But this is a near unique note (1 to a couple possibly survived) with the red straight line Trans-Mississippi stamp. Only one I know of. Cheap at $ 2,350

16029. T-35 PF-1. PCGS Apparent F-15, VG-F, net G-VG-CC to me. $11,163

16030. T-35 PF-1. PMG VG-10 Net, VG, net Good to me. Ugly color. $10,575

16031. T-36 PF-4. PMG VF-25, Choice F-VF to me. Red straight Trans-Mississippi stamp. Rare. $ 1,058

16032. T-38 PF-1. PMG VF-20, F+, net About Fine to me. $ 1,998

16033. T-39 PF-5. PMG VF-35, VF-XF, net VF to me. Issued by James Sorley (in Galveston TX) $ 764

16038. T-41 PF-22. PMG VF-25 Net. VF-, net F+ to me. Issued by Thomas Noble, very rare. $ 1,058

16039. T-41 PF-16. PMG VF-25 Net. VF, net F+ to me. Issued in Austin, very rare. $ 940

16042. T-42 PF-4. PMG F-15 Net. My grade net About Fine. Rare 1-10 plen error. Good buy. $ 411

16053. T-52 PF-5. PMG VF-25. Choice About VF to me. Rare C-G plen. Good buy. $ 1,998

16054. T-56 PF-2. PMG New-66 EPQ. Choice Unc to me. $ 1,234

16063. T-64 PF-3. PMG AU-58 EPQ. AU, almost choice. $ 2,350

This was another great show and we had a lot of FUN! We look forward to 2014.

Pierre and Joyce Fricke