What an experience!

I recently attended the ANA Money Show in Ft Worth. First, I have to say that it was great having it held in my backyard. I have not seen any attendance reports yet. Hopefully, they will be included in my next publication. I am hoping that the attendance will be high enough that the ANA will come back soon.

My first thought was awe at the sheer size of the convention hall. I have been to a few coin shows in my short time of collecting, but nothing of this magnitude. I took about an hour just walking around and taking it all in. I stumbled across error expert Fred Weinberg. That was a real treat to meet him. I got to meet officials from the Ft Worth division of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. I was able to touch a plate that was used to print $20 bills. If you see a $20 with F21 in the upper right corner, I had my hand on that plate.

I was able to meet officials from NGC and talk to them about what they do for us. We talked about the registry and they showed me some of their new mobile phone technology for verifying slabs. This is a great protection for us as collectors.

In addition, I was able to meet representatives from my three favorite publications. I don't know if it would be appropriate to mention them here. I learned about new ideas that they are going to be implementing soon. I was a little disappointed that I missed my favorite writer from one of the publications. I won't mention her name, but she wrote a great three part article about the Chinese Counterfeit problem a number of months ago. I would have loved to have gotten her autograph. Oh well. Maybe next time.

Well, I think I have ranted along for long enough. This was just one day and does not even go into the Heritage gallery or what I even bought while I was there!

Everyone enjoy their collecting pursuits and happy collecting!

Marcus