Robust public attendance at the Feb. 4 to 6 Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Expo, in California fueled by the $10 million Ship of Gold display blended with rapidly declining bullion markets and winter weather that affected the travel plans of many participants, to create a mixed show.

By all accounts, public attendance was strong, with registration lines circling the convention center at several times during the convention. By Friday's end, collectors had eagerly snatched up all of the copies of the Feb. 8 Coin World Special Editions featuring the Ship of Gold distributed from Coin World's table at the show

If only the gold market had cooperated. While gold reached a high price of $1,158 an ounce Jan. 11, and approached that on Feb. 2 at $1,118.50 an ounce, it tumbled on Feb. 5 to $1,052.25 while silver fell $1.62 an ounce during the same period, reaching a low of $15.14 on Feb. 8.

Such volatility does not make for comfortable buyers at either the wholesale or retail level.

The wholesale buy-prices for both certified and uncertified gold coins have shown dramatic drops over the past week, and even at those reduced bids there was a reluctance to buy at the Long Beach Expo.

Another factor that surely affected the show was harsh winter weather on the East Coast, which dumped as much as several feet of snow into major metropolitan areas. This wreaked havoc on flight patterns, forcing dealers to leave early, or in some cases, stay in Long Beach a bit longer than expected.

The cool market for generic gold coins had little impact on the numismatic gold material in the Heritage Long Beach auction, with its four large gold ingots from the SS Central America finding buyers. Also sold in the auction was an example of the "near-mythic" 1849-C Coronet, Open Wreath gold dollar, graded Extremely Fine 45 by Numismatic Guaranty Corp., one of just five confirmed examples, which realized a healthy $218,500.

Another gold dollar, dated 1875 and graded Mint State 66 by Professional Coin Grading Service, brought $109,250, showing that the market's appetite for rare gold is not just limited to the rare Saint-Gaudens double eagles that have occupied headlines of late.