The Penny Lady

Here's an article that Jack Young wrote about these counterfeits, it's very enlightening and well worth the read: https://coinweek.com/from-the-dark-corner-counterfeit-early-coppers-in-genuine-tpg-holders/?fbclid=IwAR1lwFG4kYGFf9272zRYhPQYLrjED6GzKd5ZOB0Vm2V3i9tI0oU3MV-0A8Y

Thank you everyone for all your kind comments. I'm very glad to see that coin shows are thriving and even getting busier and better. It's also great to see more and more young adults participating and working the shows as well. The ANA and the CSNS show in particular make a point of adding the social aspect to their shows. It's not just the fun part, which it definitely is, but to me, this is a very important part of coin shows as it helps us get to know the folks we deal/work with, gives us more knowledge about what's going on in the numismatic world, and I learn who I can refer customers to if I don't have what they're looking for, and vice versa. The cocktail hour and dinner events to me are a great asset and huge benefit to participating in coin shows. The counterfeit issue is really scary and frustrating, and requires that everyone be very diligent and know the series that they collect. And it certainly doesn't hurt to take any counterfeit detection class available, especially the in depth ones offered at the ANA Summer Seminar. The counterfeits I saw and posted about in this show report were very deceptive. I couldn't tell they were counterfeits until Jack showed me the specific signs on these coins - whoever made them knew how to try and make them look as authentic as possible, even using real planchets from old worn out coins. Next time you're at a large show and you see Jack Young, ask him to show you any counterfeit coins he may have with him. He's very knowledgeable and very willing to share that knowledge.

Don't know what happened, but I think it's fixed now - thank you for letting me know.

It’s been a couple days since I returned from the Central States show in Schaumburg and I’m still trying to dig out from all the coins I sold and purchased, as well as the dreaded paperwork that always follows after a large coin show. There was so much activity at the show this year, starting for me from the Greysheet reception on Tuesday evening all the way through the end of the show. I was busy at my table almost consistently throughout each day, then grabbing a quick drink with friends right after the show, then attending social events and dinners each evening, followed by more gatherings at the hotel bar after dinner events! Big kudos and applause to Larry, Mitch, and all of their staff and helpers who made this show the huge success it was! I left OC early on Tuesday, so I could be in Chicago for the preshow social event sponsored by Greysheet, Cabrella Shipping Insurance and Whatnot. Landing in Chicago! This is a pic of the iconic beautiful changing colorful lights at the O’Hare airport I arrived at the beautiful Renaissance Hotel where the show is held and where many dealers and collectors stayed. After checking in and taking my bags to security, I joined my foreign coin dealer friends Karl and Joanne in their hotel room for a glass of wonderful aged Viognier wine before dinner. After dinner, we headed over to the hotel bar for the dealer reception where many dealers had already gathered. It was a fantastic event, and everyone had a blast – thank you Greysheet, Cabrella Shipping Insurance and Whatnot! I made a contribution to CSNS and became one of the several “sponsors” of the show which meant that we could set up and get into the show an hour earlier than other dealers. I really enjoyed this extra “quiet” hour each day as it allowed me to get some work done at my booth which I happily took advantage of! Wednesday was PNG day so I headed over to the show early to do some “shopping”! There was lots of signage throughout the halls and bourse floor. This year they had set up a room on the second floor above the bourse floor for dealers who had lesser expensive inventory, and for Sunday only dealers. This is their room before set up. There were quite a few PNG dealers set up and I bought a lot of coins that first day. These are all the coins I bought throughout the show – as you can see, I found several awesome Pretty Pennies! I also found some nice coins to add to my raw coin inventory PNG day ended at 2:30 and the sponsor dealers were let in at 3:00, then all dealers were let in at 4:00pm for set up. The CSNS folks left at each dealer table a nice little goodie back that included a great small bottle of window cleaner and a cloth for the cases, and these cute little M&M packs sponsored by Mitch Ernst and his family! I was so happy to see my very good friend and ex-fellow WIN board member Cindi Wibker who is now retired from running the FUN show but was recruited to help out with the CSNS show Billie and Amanda at Greysheet were all set up and ready to go! After I finished setting up and making my rounds, soon it was time to open one of the bottles of wine I had brought. I usually bring my more favorite bottles to share with some of my customers and fellow dealers. And one of my favorites is this Cab from Del Dotto vineyards in Napa. My friend and fellow dealer James Sego and PNG board member had an extra ticket to the PNG dinner so I was very happy to be able to attend this prestigious event which was held at Maggiano’s on Wednesday evening. There were lots of coin world “dignitaries” and some special honorees who received awards for their contributions to numismatics. Robert Brueggeman was retiring after serving as its Executive Director since 1995, and was presented with a Lifetime Achievement award from Kevin Lipton. From the PNG website: “Bob has been PNG’s Executive Director since 1995. Under his guidance and leadership over the past 28 years, the PNG has helped support the industry, its member dealers, and the general public. The PNG has also been helpful in providing scholarships to young numismatists to help advance the professional side of the business and continue the legacy of the Professional Numismatists Guild,” said PNG Board member James Sego who co-chaired the Lifetime Achievement Award selection with PNG Board member John Brush. Bob and his wife and daughter Tina John Feigenbaum will succeed Brueggeman as the next PNG Executive Director. Cindy Wibker, who recently joined the Central States Numismatic Society convention team after 30 successful years as Convention Coordinator for Florida United Numismatists, received the Significant Contribution Award for her exceptional dedication and beneficial contributions to the hobby and profession. It was a wonderful event, the food was amazing, and it was especially great to see everyone! Then, of course, it was back to the hotel bar for more coin dealers just having some fun! For some reason, on display right outside the hotel bar was this neat old LC Smith Secretarial typewriter and ship’s bell. After all that socializing, Thursday morning came too soon! But as usual, I arrived early at the show, took care of some paperwork, processed some of my newps to show to customers, and got ready for the anticipated large crowd that had begun gathering in the lobby! I quickly snapped a couple shots before folks began streaming onto the bourse floor. After the show opened on Thursday, sadly there was an announcement that long-time coin dealer Tim Lapointe had suddenly passed away Wednesday night after set up from a heart attack. I didn’t know him personally but had seen him at many shows. My prayers are with his friends and family. @keyman64 was one of the first forum members to stop by my table and say hi This is Bob who is a very enjoyable and fun customer of mine who loves beautifully toned Indian cents. He likes to charm me with wonderful bottles of wine – which works every time! I showed him some of my new purchases and of course he picked out one of the most beautifully toned Indian cent proofs I’ve ever owned! This is Gary Minsey – he showed me this AMAZING and super rare 1795 dollar he had purchased a while ago. He wanted to compare it to the one on display at the show. He said they were both very similar in condition and he was very curious to see what it would bring at auction. Current ANA President Dr. Ross and his lovely wife Phyllis stopped by and said hi. Phyllis is running for ANA Board of Governors The helpful CSNS folks at the Message Center Security was very tight at this show, and security guards and police were very prevalent throughout the show, especially at the door. This security guard was at the front door and was very serious about doing his job, and was very friendly as well. I did acquire a few interesting pieces for my own personal collection – this is an really neat double struck in the collar Indian cent that I bought on Thursday. The second strike is rotated more than 90 degrees! I found an encased 1926 Lincoln cent in a scarce bell-shaped aluminum encasement from Washington D.C. A customer came up to my table and offered me this beautiful uncirculated 1858 LL Flying Eagle cent that he said he’d had in the back of his drawer for years. I don’t usually care much for coins struck through grease filled dies but this one is so dramatic with so much detail missing on both sides that I was happy to add it to my collection (I sent it to PCGS to be certified). At first I thought it might have gotten this way from being struck on a tilted die since the date is still pretty sharp and the rest of the coin shows little detail, but since all of the denticles were fully struck, I believe it has to have been struck through greased filled dies, including the reverse. Thursday was soooooo busy almost the entire day that I never left my table so I wasn’t able to take many photos around the bourse floor. My sales on Thursday were more than any other one day of any show! By the end of the day I was so exhausted (I’m sure staying out late Wednesday night had a little something to do with that). So it was pretty late in the afternoon when I finally poured a glass of what was left of the Del Dotto Cab. After things died down at the end of the day, a couple of my dealer friends stopped by so I opened the other bottle of wine I had brought – a Justin Zinfandel. I belong to Justin Winery out of Paso Robles. This Zinfandel is delicious and very different from other Zinfandels I’ve had, it’s sort of spicey and on the dry side, very delicious. Thursday night we went to Chicago Prime Steakhouse for dinner. It is one of the best steakhouses I’ve ever been to! It’s a bit pricey, but once in a while it’s nice to splurge, which is why we ordered this wonderful bottle of Stag’s Leap to go with our steak! After the Stag’s Leap was finished, we had a delicious bottle of Prisoner I ordered the beef wellington which was amazing – I could only eat one of them so I had the second one for lunch the next day! Here are some of the other delicious dishes that were ordered at our table After dinner on Thursday, of course we went back to the hotel bar for a nightcap – or two! Nara Schuch (wife of Steven Schuch) and I discovered we both like good tequilas so we asked the bartender to recommend one. He recommended this Gran Coramino Anejo tequila and it was absolutely delicious! I was surprised that it had a bit of a sweet flavor and was a very smooth sipping tequila. I really enjoyed it and it made for a nice nightcap. Friday morning I took the opportunity before the public was let in and I got too busy to walk around the bourse and take photos of the displays, dealers and vendors. PCGS NGC Doug Davis of Numismatic Crime Prevention Daniel Frank Sedwick who specialize in Latin American Shipwreck Coins, etc. David Lawrence Rare Coins When I walked over to the DLRC table, John flagged me down to look at some large cent coins, which I examined. I asked what was special about them and he told me they were counterfeit! I couldn’t believe it, they were so well done that it was really hard to tell. Jack Young who is an expert in detecting counterfeit coins was showing John several coins that had actually gotten past the certifying companies and were still in their holders. Jack also showed me why these coins were actually counterfeits, and I can tell you, unless you knew exactly what to look for, they would have gotten past most dealers and collectors and even some experts. It’s very, very scary how good these counterfeiters really are! Believe it or not, these are all counterfeits! I also went by the GreatCollections table and took pictures of the coins they had on display, including several HUGE rarities! During the show on Friday, a dealer offered me these two amazing freshly graded 1909-S VDB cents that he bought raw from an old estate and had graded on a walk-thru at this show. These two beauties hadn’t seen the light of day in many years! One graded PCGS MS65 RD and the other graded PCGS MS66 RB, so of course I just had to have them! My longtime friend Mike Noodle who co-hosts The Coin Show podcast stopped by and brought me this special bottle of hot sauce he created – I know my hubby will love it as he’s into very hot hot sauce! A very kind and thoughtful customer friend engraved this key chain especially for me – I love it! My dear friend Linda Hagopian and wife of my old “How to Create a Winning Exhibit” Summer Seminar instructor Larry Sekulich (who stopped by earlier) came by to say hi – it is always great to chat with her and share a glass of wine together – we finished off the last of the Justin Zinfandel! That night I went to dinner with my “dark side” friends from Daniel Frank Sedwick and Karl and Joanne Stephens. We tried a new steakhouse called Perry, and we were not disappointed! They had excellent food and a great wine list. Throughout our dinner, we had three different wines so they gave each of us three different wine glasses, which practically covered up the entire the table! This time I had lobster and pasta with a small filet, and we had a lot of different very tasty side dishes as well. Everyone really enjoyed their dishes. After dinner we all had a wonderful Port wine which was a perfect ending to an amazing meal! With such a large party, we ended up not leaving the restaurant until almost 10pm, and when we got back to the hotel, the regular hotel bar was closed for a private party so some of the dealers had moved to the smaller bar. A couple of my friends were there and we had one drink, then called it a night. Saturday morning I took my time getting to the show as I knew once I was there I basically needed to pack up and leave since I had an early flight home – I couldn’t get a later flight without having to make a connection. I did manage to take a photo before I left with my favorite coin show couple – Dino and his lovely wife Lisa! It was raining on Saturday but luckily not too hard with no tornado warnings like last year that delayed many flights including mine! I made it to the airport with no problems, and and settled into my seat for my 3 1/2 hour flight home. Here are several pics I took from way up high, including several of the Grand Canyon as we flew right over it! And these are pics of the two historical huge WWII Blimp hangars at the old Tustin Air Base which is located just east of the OC/John Wayne Airport. My hubby is once again helping out his friends at the NORRA 1000 Mexican Baja race (no, not racing – just pitting and chasing for his friend), which always occurs the same time as the CSNS show, so my son picked me up at the airport. It is always nice to get home after a week of activities and late nights. On Sunday, I began working on my new purchases and of course, there was cutie Penny trying to make sure I noticed her by taking over one of my coin boxes and checking out what all those plastic things are! So I have to say, this was a really good show, with tons of pre-show marketing, very busy, with lots of great sales and purchases, plus the added benefit of extra social gatherings. I already signed up for next year’s show and expect that it will be a very successful show as well. Most everything at this show went very smoothly, with only a couple tiny glitches that I’m sure Larry and crew are aware of (the various show times for dealers and public was a bit confusing, plus there were no dealer table numbers posted on the website just before the show). The CSNS staff deserves huge credit for everything they did to make this show as successful as it was – thank you very much, we appreciate all you did! Next up: My local Buena Park show and then the Long Beach show in June!

It's been a while since I've attended an ANA National Money Show mostly due to conflicts, but not having any conflicts and being only one state away made it an easy decision. And I'm really glad this one fit into my schedule as, not only did I have a really good show buying and selling, but I had so much fun getting together with different friends for dinner at new restaurants in a different city! I also found a VERY COOL coin for my personal collection - as you will see further down. Even though it's only a 6-hour drive, I decided to fly since the hotel parking was expensive as is gas, and because it's only a 1-hour flight. I arrived early on Tuesday and was surprised at how cold it was, but I and was happy to be back in Phoenix as it is a very pretty city and I hadn't been there in quite a while. Took a quick Uber ride to the Hyatt downtown which was right across the street from the main convention center. This is the view from my room. After settling in, I went to drop my bags off at security but soon found out that there was a glitch in our dealer paperwork as the ANA had forgotten to change the location of the security room from last year's show in Colorado Springs! However, thanks to a very kind and resourceful concierge man at the main convention center, I soon found that our security room was in the South Building a couple blocks away on 3rd Street. So I headed there and checked my bags into security. Since many of my friends hadn't yet arrived in Phoenix, I decided to try my luck at the Talking Stick casino which was about a 1/2 hour Uber drive away. I had a lot of fun playing various table games and slots, but didn't come out ahead in the end. Set up wasn't until 1pm on Wednesday but I headed over early to meet up with some of my dealer friends. Security was definitely beefed up for this show as I was approached as soon as I walked into the building and asked why I was there since I hadn't yet put my badge on. Once we were let into the bourse floor, it didn't take long for me to have my booth in ship shape order so I could walk around and do some shopping. At one of the first dealer booths I stopped at, I was very surprised to see a Flying Eagle cent in a DOILY HOLDER - OMG! I have several Indian, Lincoln and even Two cent pieces in Doily holders, but I had never seen a Flying Eagle Doily and had to contain my excitement. Of course the dealer knew what he had and wanted a hefty premium for this piece, but after a little wheeling and dealing, we settled on a price and I was thrilled to put that beautiful little guy in my pocket so I could take it home and add it to my personal collection! Back at my table, I had a dealer friend, Zachery Lauer, stop by and offer me this super rare 1944 steel cent. Although I would love to have added this amazingly rare piece to my inventory and/or personal collection, it wasn't quite in my budget. Always enjoy seeing my dealer friends - and James Sego is definitely on that list! As I was hoping, I ended up finding several pieces for my inventory - these are pics of all the Pretty Pennies I found throughout the show: Soon it was time to open one of the bottles of wine I brought - I decided to go big on my first day at the show with this wonderful bottle of Caymus cab! It didn't even make it through the end of that day as it was shared with several dealer friends. End of set up day That night I had dinner with a couple of wonderful lady friends from the Grey Sheet that I had gotten to know over the last few years at the shows - they are fondly known as The Grey Sheet Ladies, Billie and Amanda Blattel! Amanda had made reservations at a steakhouse that I hadn't heard of until I arrived in Phoenix called Steak 44 - and then I discovered it is one of the very best steakhouses ANYWHERE - and we soon discovered that was NO exaggeration! Steak 44 was truly amazing in every way - the food was fantastic, the wine was wonderful (we ordered more Caymus), the service was top notch, and the dessert was absolutely delicious! And the great company weas the icing on the cake - we ended up chatting and staying until almost closing time! I had a bone-in filet with a butter truffle sauce that was SO TASTY AND AMAZING! We also ordered truffle cheese au gratin potatoes along with delicious creme brulee corn (yes, we didn't spare the carbs)! Then came the dessert menu - each one of them sounded so yummy that we decided to try three different ones, and they did not disappoint! My favorite was the red velvet bread pudding! This truly was one of the most delicious meals I've had - the special sauces were so flavorful and really made each dish that much more tasty. I am so grateful to Billie, Amanda (and John/Greysheet) for treating me to such a wonderful and memorable evening - thank you, thank you, thank you! After dinner, we went back to the Hyatt and saw some other dealers at the bar, including Mary Lynn Garrett, so we stopped for a quick nightcap. The show opened to the public Thursday morning (photo courtesy of the ANA) It didn't take long for the show to become quite crowded with lots of buzz Rich/Cladiator stopped by first thing and was very kind and gracious to bring me this wonderful bottle of Rodney Strong cab - which is where his wife works - thank you Rich! I opened it later that day, it was very yummy! Doug Davis of Numismatic Crime Prevention does a fantastic job getting information out about numismatic crime around the country and how to help prevent it. I wholeheartedly support and praise Doug's efforts, and he was kind enough to stop by my table to thank me for my support and gave me this very cool Numismatic Crime medal. During the show I bought a "pile" of miscellaneous pennies from a man who had inherited them from his dad and just wanted to sell them. They were mostly low grade Indian and Large cents, with a few inexpensive Lincoln cents thrown in. Included in this group was an interesting Robert Kennedy token that I hadn't seen before. I looked it up and though it's not rare, it wasn't that common either. I was very busy the entire day, including late into the afternoon. In between sales, I had people offering me lots of pennies for sale as well. It was great being that busy, but I didn't have time to take many photos of the show. However, I made up for it the next day as you will see. Thursday night I went to dinner with my friends Karl and Joanne Stephens at, coincidentally, another steakhouse, Mastros. It too was delicious and the service was great as well. To start with, we enjoyed this nice bottle of Albarino, followed by a Seven Hills Merlot. It happened to be Karl and Joanne's anniversary so our waiter brought us this delicious butter cake to celebrate After I was dropped off back at my hotel, once I again I ran into a group of friends at the bar (which happens to be right on the way to my room), including Billie and Amanda, so I joined them for a nightcap before heading up. Friday morning when I arrived at the show, I made sure to tour the entire bourse before the public was let in so I could take photos of some of the very cool exhibits, the museum displays, etc. Collector Exhibits ANA Museum Rarities - including the very famous 1943 Bronze cent! PCGS NGC GreatCollections Kenny (in charge of PPI Security) and Sam (ANA Conventions Coordinator) My friend Matt Chapman and one of his new purchases These are two very unusual, very low grade proof coins that you don't often see! Misc. photos around the bourse Me and Ben Couple of very cute kids who stopped by my table Dealer friend from Tucson, Arizona, Tony Tumonious Rick Snow and his son Kenny Me and a fun group of YN's - Harrison, Beagles, Matthew Pavia, Jesse Vargas, Ryan Lange, Jack Smith, and Payton Lindeman Some pics around the bourse Soon, it was once again time to open one of the other bottles of wine I had brought with me - a delicious bottle of Del Dotto Pinot Noir from Napa - Del Dotto is one of the wineries I belong to and is my most favorite winery in Napa! While I had several good sales and bought more material, as usual Friday's show was not as busy as Thursday's was. Friday night I had another very fun time and went to dinner with a different crowd than I usually hang out with. Steven Schuch and his wife Nara had invited me to go to dinner with them, and Steven's brother John Schuch, Jr. who works with Northern Nevada Coin, and Chuck Hayes and Ashlee of Erie Gold Exchange also joined us. We went to Blanco Cocina and Cantina right near the convention center. It was a highly rated Mexican food restaurant and it too didn't disappoint. Nara and I arrived first and decided to start off with a margarita along and a shot of tequila recommended by the bartender. Our bartender was a wonderful young lady who enthusiastically chilled our shots before pouring them. Here's the menu - I had the carnitas tacos which were amazing! My hubby does a lot of research on all sorts of brands and types of tequila and he and I both really enjoy Don Julio 1942, so after dinner we had a shot of that too! Our very fun group! Saturday is what I call "family day" where there are much more families and kiddos perusing the bourse floor. I also have a lot more people stop by who have "handfuls" of pennies and want to know if they have anything of value, or some folks who found an unusual anomaly on a penny and think it may be very valuable, or folks who inherited a can or box or bag of pennies and would like to know which dates to look for, etc. I usually encourage them to get a Red Book and explain how it works so they can learn for themselves which dates have more value over others. And those who are interested in the anomalies and varieties, I tell them about the Cherry Picker's Guide. So Saturdays I spend a lot of time trying to educate these families so they have a better understanding of what to look for in the coins they inherited. In between these encounters, I was happy to have a few large sales! Then soon it was time to pack up so I could catch my gratefully brief flight home! At the airport, I sailed through TSA and headed to my gate. I didn't find any regular restaurants near my gate to grab a bite but discovered what they call a "pop up bar." It was actually quite nice, with a small menu of various food items and bottled/canned beer and wine. Soon I was home safe and sound - and of course Penny was there to greet me! Next up: The Buena Park show this weekend, then the Las Vegas Palace Station show in 2 weeks!

Dennis Tucker posted this great tribute with lots of fun photos to David on Coin Update: http://news.coinupdate.com/remembering-david-w-lange-1958-2023/?fbclid=IwAR34jy8Jh2pQPn5K_YgoHfs7gR70ZU-KhvvS_oq1kNQ75alf_R-NcJK6xTs

I am very saddened to hear about this. Last time we communicated David thought his treatment would provide positive results in this coming year. Rest in peace my dear sweet friend.

WOW! What a show it was!! This was one of the busiest shows I've had in a long time. Even though there were some very minor glitches on dealer set up day, the show was fantastic, with tons of public on both Thursday and Friday. Even Saturday was surprisingly busy. As many dealers commented, prices are higher especially on better quality, tougher date coins - and it's harder to find the tougher dates in better grades. However, on dealer set up day and throughout the show, I was lucky enough to acquire several nice Pretty Pennies, including an 1856 Flying Eagle cent and three scarce Flying Eagle and Indian cent pattern pieces. The days flew by - it was simply a GREAT show! As always, each January I very much look forward to the FUN show - this show always seems to start the year off with a bang! I got to the airport early on Tuesday, sailed through TSA, and had lots of extra time before my flight so I grabbed a refreshing Bloody Mary before I began my long trek to Orlando. I was a little apprehensive about my flight after hearing the airline horror stories over the previous few days, but the only glitch was a a 1/2 hour delay leaving cloudy Orange County. My only concern was that my layover in Houston was less than an hour, but luckily the gate we arrived at was only a few gates away from my next departing gate which had just begun to board when we landed so I made it just fine. However, when I boarded my flight I asked the flight attendant if our bags from that flight would make it to this flight, and he said "they most likely arrived before you did!" And what do you know, I looked out the window and I saw my bag being loaded onto my plane! I arrived in Orlando with no problems, checked into my hotel, grabbed a glass of wine down at the bar where the CHUBB Insurance Group was having a huge gathering, then I headed to bed! After sleeping in a bit, I headed over to the convention center. This was the view from my room. Set up was at 2pm on Wednesday but I arrived there early to grab my ribbon and to see if there was any dealer trading - which there really wasn't much of since the FUN Board doesn't allow dealers to rent pre-show trading rooms at the convention center. So I just caught up with several dealer friends whom I hadn't seen in quite a while. By the time the bourse was ready to open, there was quite a crowd of dealers waiting to get in! Set up went smoothly, and then I began my hunt for coins for my customer's want lists and jus to add to my inventory. I did find a few pieces that a couple of my customers had been looking for, but mostly found coins to fill in gaps in my inventory. These are the coins I acquired throughout the show including the three patterns cents and the 1856 Flying Eagle cent. When I got back to my table, I was happy to see these two long-time forum member friends whom I had seen in quite a while! @ldhair and @spacehayduke And my very good ex-FBI now coin dealer buddy Neil Ulrich In the afternoon, I opened a bottle of this 2014 Williams Selyem Zinfandel - it was very yummy and was shared with several friends! After a very busy set up day, soon it was time to head out to a nice relaxing dinner! We headed over to Maggiano's and had some awesome food and a wonderful time! I had a glass of bought 2020 Caymus cab which I've had several times and is always amazing. It was so good and the restaurant price was surprisingly inexpensive so I bought a bottle to take to the show! Neil and I had ordered the chicken piccata and, and after the other two people at our table had received their dinners, the server accidentally gave away our dinners to the table next to us who happened to order the same two dishes. So the waiter gave us TWO complimentary platters of various desserts. I have to say, despite this minor glitch, the service at Maggiano's was truly over-the-top. A couple pics of the bourse on Thursday taken from my table when I had a few seconds to breath! I was able to pick up a few pieces for my personal exonumia collection - a few hard to find penny pocket mirrors and a scarce celluloid encased Indian cent. I enjoyed chatting with a few more forum members who stopped by to say hi! Rick/ @Barberian Greg/ @keyman64 Ed V. I brought with me a special bottle of 2014 Eighty-One Justin Cab. I'm a Justin reserve wine club member and I received 6 bottles of this special limited edition wine shipped to me in a wooden crate wrapped in tissue paper. I had been storing it for a few years and this was the first time I opened one of these bottles. Boy, was it amazing! So smooth, full bodied, with hints of blackberry and chocolate - I believe it's the best wine Justin has produced! One of my customers and a fellow forum member, Steve Feiertag/ @winesteven contacted me before the show to see if we could get together for dinner one evening so we set up to meet me and a few other coin dealers at Del Friscos Double Eagle Steakhouse on Thursday night. Knowing how much I love wine, Steve wanted to share one of his special bottles of wine with us - he brought an "otherworldly" bottle of 2015 Sine Qua Non Syrah Trouvre L'Arene with an AMAZING 100 pt. rating! WOW! It was sooooo delicious, it easily lived up to its perfect rating! Steve even shared wine tasting notes with us which describe in great detail how truly wonderful this wine is. Even though there could be no wine that we could order that would compare with Steve's wine, we ordered a bottle of 2018 Mt. Veeder O'Shaughnessy cab off the menu and, while it didn't quite compare to Steve's wine, it was very delicious (and pricey at $350!). The wine went very well with this bone-in ribeye! By the way, did I mention that, other than the extra bottle of wine we ordered, Steve picked up the entire dinner tab! Boy, it would be hard for me to find a more kind, generous, interesting fellow coin and wine-loving man! Steve, me, Neil Ulrich and Ron Mirr Friday morning I took the opportunity to go around the bourse floor and take some photos before the public was let in, including viewing the great exhibits that were on display. This is Steve Fieretag/ winesteven's exhibit that deservedly won People's Choice Billie/The Grey Sheet is always a delight to chat with! Hardworking folks at PCGS! Also very hard working folks at NGC (David Lange - we miss you!) Great group of folks at ANACS! Abe and friends Young page girls trying their hands at the Kids' Zone wheel I also stopped by the GreatCollections' table to check out the fantastic Stuart Blay Lincoln set that is set for auction in a week or so. Another WOW which isn't even enough to describe these top pop coins! I attended the Fly-In Club meeting with Chris Pilliod and Rick Snow, as well as several other club members. Although I couldn't stay for the entire meeting, Chris was giving a talk about Indian cent metals Photos taken around the bourse floor Greg/ @Walkerguy21D also came by to say hi Steve stopped by again in the afternoon and I was happy to share some of my special Justin Eighty-One with him. My friends Connor and Dan Sedwick with a European percussion cap pistol from the late 1700's-early 1800's that they had just acquired (you may recognize these two from my many dinners in Baltimore in the wine cellar of the Black Olive restaurant) Friday afternoon, a dealer friend Richard Gross stopped by my table and showed me a very cool and very RARE S-2 1793 Chain Cent. I was thrilled to see it and immediately thought that this might be something my friend Matt Chapman might be interested in. Interestingly, this particular coin is pedigreed to Chapman from 1885 (no relation to Matt as far as we know). So I asked Richard to wait a minute while I called Matt to see if he was still at the show and if he wanted to come and take a look at this amazing coin, which he did! So after examining the coin Matt told Richard he was interested. They then went back to Richard's table to work out the details. I subsequently discovered that they did indeed make a deal and Matt is now the proud owner of this amazing piece of history! This is a picture of the 1885 photograph of the exact same coin! And this is the write up about this coin that Matt gave me: _1793 Chain "AMERICA" cent, Sheldon-2, Wide Date Pedigree: ex. Chapman (5/1885) Interesting not only for being the first die variety with the AMERICA fully spelled out on the reverse, but also for being the rarest die variety of the four with an assigned rarity of 4+. This very coin was owned by none other than Henry and Samuel Chapman and was sold in May of 1885 as part of their collection by a third-party auction firm. Henry and his brother Samuel were born in 1859 and 1857 respectively and began selling coins as dealers in 1878. The pedigree is unusual since in most cases, merely brokering coins as a dealer does not warrant a pedigree in the strictest sense. It was only because a third party auctioned the coin and attributed it as having been owned by Chapman that allowed the pedigree attribution. The auction sale price was $23! The coin itself is actually quite light colored for the type, and the reverse shows several planchet voids and fissures as is typical. The surfaces are hard and glossy. NGC has assigned a grade of AU53 to the coin, and my EAC grade is sharpness 50, net 45. What's really amazing is that until now, the coin has resided raw in a private collection, and has only now been graded for the first time! Before now, the only photos of the coin are from old auction catalogues. Up until now, the only idea of the coin's quality had to be gleaned from these old photos, or photos of photos. According to the photo in Numistudy, the coin was only assigned a grade of sharpness 40, net 30. _ It's a fascinating coin with a great pedigree! So pleased for Matt that he was able to acquire this historical piece! On our last night in Orlando I went to the Capital Grille with my foreign coin dealer friends - another restaurant with some great food! We brought our own wine which we all enjoyed. Gary Braisted allowed me to use these two photos taken of him and the granddaughter of Astronaut Alan Shepard, Laura Shepard Churchley and Gary with Astronaut, test pilot and jazz musician Winston Scott who were at the show Saturday was a surprisingly busy day too. From what I could see, not many dealers had left on Friday and the bourse was still quite full. I had quite a few decent sales before I had to pack up and head to the airport. So long til next year! It was really good to finally get home to my dear sweet hubby and my adorable chubby Penny! Participating in opposite coast coin shows is very wearing and tiring due to the long flights, changing planes, and especially the time change. But I really enjoy attending such a successful and well-organized show as the FUN show, finding beautiful coins, making decent sales, seeing my friends, and dining at great restaurants with good people - so I definitely look forward to going back next year! Next up: The Long Beach show on February 1-4 and the ANA in Phoenix on March 1-4, 2023.

I'm seeing about the same amount of young folks (both in their 20's and minors with their parents) now at shows as before Covid. I believe there are a lot more younger people involved in numismatics than come to shows as they would need their parents to take them, which is an added expense if they have to fly, etc. Although in my opinion there is no better venue to learn about numismatics than in person at shows or the Summer Seminar, younger folks seem to enjoy dealing/buying/perusing/learning about numismatics on their computers than at shows. There are several in their 20's who like to walk the floor buying and selling to other dealers, many of whom are already very savvy. I personally deal with a handful of young men who know what I like and bring coins to me that they either have on memo from other dealers or bought at the show just to turn over. I like seeing this as it takes a lot of smarts to be able to do this and make money.

Thank you so much for understanding!

Hey guys, while I appreciate spirited discussions, I think this has gotten quite a bit off topic. Would you mind starting a separate thread if you'd like to continue this discussion. Thank you. ;-)

Thank you everyone, but especially @zadok! That was soooo very kind of you and I very much appreciate your post. Yes it is a lot of work and takes a LOT of time to put these show reports together, but know that YOU all are why I do it, especially those who can no longer participate in attending these shows. It is so nice and heartwarming when forum members and just readers of my reports stop by my table to thank me or to tell me about their grandfather who used to attend the shows but can no longer physically make it but feel like they've been there by reading my reports - that means everything to me! So thank you again!

Wow, another summer ANA show has come and gone! While it wasn't quite the blockbuster show last year's was, it was quite busy, very well attended, and flew by! I was busy every day, bought a lot of great newps, sold some of them and much more, spent time with some great friends, attended some club meetings, saw some amazing competitive exhibits, really loved viewing the rare and very cool coins at the ANA museum exhibits, and especially enjoyed the fantastic Central America artifacts display which I understand was being displayed in full for the first time at this show - photos of all of these exhibits you will see later in this report! I did read some negative comments on another "show report" about certain aspects of this show, but I personally thought overall it was a very successful show and after speaking with several other dealers, they all felt pretty much the same. Everyone thought last year's show, of course, was one of the best shows we've had in many years, but that this year's ANA was still successful, busy, and well attended. Most dealers felt that having Heritage and Stacks auction lot viewing off site was inconvenient, but that was because GreatCollections is now the official ANA auction company (for which they pay a hefty fee) so it was my understanding that the other auction companies were not allowed to have onsite auction lot viewing as they were no longer "paying" for this privilege. Since there are some particularly nice lots in the Stacks auction that I am interested in, for this reason and since I don't live very far from them, I made sure to do my Stacks lot viewing at their offices before the show. As others have mentioned, the dealer day is an important part of a large show for dealers and will occur with or without the host show's participation. And as a collector, I can understand the frustration with feeling like all the "good stuff" may be gone before the show opens to the public. But as you all know, along with auctions and some other avenues, this is one of the major ways we dealers acquire inventory. It is also especially convenient and generally more secure to have the dealer tables on the bourse floor rather than in separate rooms or at off site hotel rooms. It's also a significant additional revenue for the ANA - when the PNG ran dealer day, they charged $500 per table rather than $250 fee the ANA charged. For me personally, it is also nice not to be rushed to set up and get organized, and much easier to be able to view other dealers' inventory without interfering with their retail business. One more thing I thought I'd address briefly what I know about the theft at the show that some of you may have heard about on dealer day where a case full of Rolex watches was stolen and the group of thieves (all caught on camera) just picked up the locked case, placed it upside down on a cart, and just walked off with it (the dealers had just taken a brief lunch break). They headed out some doors that were "guarded" by a convention worker but they distracted her and when her back was turned, the others pushed the cart out the door. It is believed they blended in with the other workers who were still on the floor moving/placing show cases at dealers' tables, etc. Believe me, we were all in shock over this brazen and well-orchestrated theft and I'm sure there will be changes made all around as a result of this. Even though this was a terrible event and very frustrating for all concerned, I know it is being handled by all the parties and authorities involved, I really would prefer not to have this show report derailed or focused on this incident. So with that being said, on with my report! WARNINGL I took a lot of photos throughout the week, especially of the ANA museum, the Central America exhibit, and the competitive exhibits - so go grab that cup of coffee or cocktail, sit back and relax, and hopefully enjoy a fun read and pictorial tour of my week at the Chicago ANA show! I always look forward to attending the summer ANA show as there is so much to do and see, and so many coins to buy and sell, I very much enjoy attending this show! I left sunny OC Sunday morning, flew over beautiful Catalina Island, and arrived in Chicago that evening with no delays or any flight issues whatsoever - yay! I settled in at the hotel and went down to the bar for a quick drink and bite to eat. I happened to sit down right next to Kenny, the show's security guard and very much enjoyed chatting with him. I've known him and seen him around at the all the major shows for years and he's always been very friendly and helpful anytime I've needed anything. He even highly recommended a very nice cab that I hadn't tried before, which I really enjoyed! Monday morning was dealer set up day and when I arrived I was really surprised to see how long the line was of all the dealers waiting to get in! While I was searching for coins, I found a few of what I call really "cool" coins that I took pics of The 1825/4/1 Capped Head Left Half Eagle. JD-1, BD-1. Rarity-8 as a Proof (finest known) is truly awesome to see in person. It's currently up for auction at Stacks Bowers. Now, I have no "skin" in this auction piece whatsoever, but when I got to hold it and view it, it truly is beautiful, rare, and amazing just to see in hand. Here is only a very small part of the auction description: "One of the most important offerings in the numismatic market of the 21st century, Stack's Bowers Galleries is pleased to present a landmark early Proof gold rarity whose existence was lost to the collecting community for half a century. Its undeniable and universal Proof qualities, combined with the Proof-67 Cameo grade recently assigned by PCGS, confirm this extraordinary Superb Gem as the finest of just three Proof 1825 half eagles known." In very pale comparison to the above coins, these are a few pieces I picked up throughout the show for my own very modest but, in my opinion, almost just as cool, exonumia collection: 1912 The Navarre Deposit Bank encased Lincoln cent pocket mirror (from Alan Weinberg) 1902 encased Indian cent "Spinner" by Drovers Journal with its original ribbon - I've never seen one like this before! A neat simple 1952-S sticker penny from Nelson's TV in Palto Alto (from John Kraljevich) FYI, sticker cents are relatively scarce as, in addition to the stickers losing their adhesiveness to the coin and eventually falling or wearing off, when the Secret Service discovered businesses were advertising on coinage, which is illegal, they contacted the advertisers and required them to recall/remove any coinage on which they had placed stickers. So after I had set up, organized my booth, and finished my "shopping" for the day, you know what time it was - time for wine of course! However, since we were "wrapping" up our Women in Numismatics organization, I had brought several gifts for our board members and my bag was too full to bring my usual two bottles of my "beloved" wine. However, I was able to pack one small half bottle of what I call "emergency" wine from my favorite Temecula winery! (I asked a wine friend who was driving to the show if he would bring me a couple bottles that I could buy from him, which he gladly did!) After the dealer show ended on Monday, I met a group of my foreign coin dealer friends at Gibson's. Of course, with Gibson's wine selection, we had some great wines! And some great food! Not surprisingly, there were several other tables of coin dealers all around us! I arrived back at the convention center early Tuesday morning so I could get some paperwork done, process my new purchases, and take some more photos around the bourse. Here are the hardworking folks at NGC PCGS folks were always busy as well! GreatCollections, the ANA's official auction company for the next 3 years, was front and center and had a lot of activity throughout the show! John and Nancy Wilson are amazing longtime and very friendly numismatic ambassadors, eager to greet everyone attending the show! The public was let into the show at 1pm, and boy was there a HUGE crowd gathered at the door when ANA Executive Director Kim Kiick welcomed everyone to the show! Tuesday afternoon was really busy and I was happy to have lots of folks stopping by my table. After the show ended, a group of us went over to a local pub, Five Roses Pub, which is in the park just behind the hotels across from the convention center. After dinner, a couple of us headed over to the Rivers Casino which is right next to the airport and only a few miles away. By the end of the evening, I was happy to end up $50 ahead! Wednesday morning was sadly my last Women In Numismatics (WIN) meeting. I've been president of WIN for the last 6 years, but after a year of thoughtful discussions and meetings, the board came to the conclusion that WIN had met its goals and felt it was no longer really necessary to have a woman-oriented numismatic organization. This is the basic content of my speech which I took from my final President's Letter that was just published in our last issue of "Winning Ways" which our editor, Dave Heinrich, artfully, carefully, and thoughtfully put together for us. I can tell you it was very hard to get through my talk without tearing up and I had to pause a few times to gather myself as I will truly miss being a part of Women in Numismatics. _"Women in Numismatics was formed in 1991 as a national non-profit organization that provided a networking and educational forum for female numismatists. Members have included new and established collectors, dealers, and those associated with numismatic-related organizations. WIN has encouraged fellowship among its members and promoted education through guest speakers and informative presentations. WIN has also provided educational opportunities to its members by awarding an annual scholarship to the ANA’s Summer Seminar in Colorado Springs. Now, after more than 30 years of service to the numismatic community, WIN has accomplished its mission and achieved the goals it set for itself. With some sadness but also pride in what the dedicated members and officers of WIN have achieved over the years, the WIN Board of Directors has decided to dissolve Women in Numismatics as of December 31, 2022. Over the years, WIN has done its best to educate, mentor and guide its members through the wonderful world of numismatics and I hope we’ve left it a little better off. It has truly been my honor to serve Women in Numismatics and its members over these past six years as its president. I am thankful to all those who have been a part of and supported WIN. I am also grateful for all the new friends I have gained through being a part of Women in Numismatics. And even though WIN may no longer be a formal organization, I’m sure I speak for the rest of our board members, that we will still be around if any of you need any assistance or guidance with any of your numismatic endeavors. In particular, please know that I will be honored to continue to help with your numismatic needs. Just email me at charmy@thepennylady.com or call me at (949) 632-0414. I’d also like to personally thank each of our WIN board members for all they’ve done over the years to help our organization achieve its goals and to help me through my tenure as WIN’s president. I could not have performed my duties without the assistance and dedication of each member of our board: Cindy Wibker (secretary and membership); Louise Boling (vice president); Kathy Freeland (publicity and member at large); Dreama Hurst (treasurer); Carrie Best (parliamentarian); Lisa Loos (publicity); David Heinrich (editor); and James Motley (webmaster). You have not only been my cohorts in WIN, but you have become my friends and I am so profoundly grateful for each of you."_ During the meeting, we presented Mitch Ernst (President of Central States), Kim Kiick (Executive Director of the ANA), and Bob Hurst (President of FUN) each with a check for just over $3,000 to use for educational purposes. These funds were originally given to WIN by the Newman Foundation for us to use for educational purposes, so we thought we'd pass it on to these organizations who not only supported WIN and gave us free space and booths during their shows for our meetings and presentations, but these organizations also have excellent educational programs and WIN was happy to help support their educational platforms as well. We also awarded our volunteer webmaster, Jim Motley, with a check for $250 and a special medal depicting the Patron Saint Isidore Of Seville Medal which is regarded as the "patron saint of technology." We also gave literary awards to Kathy Skelton Larry Sekulich for outstanding articles they authored for Winning Ways. And WIN will also make a $100 donation to the Ocean County Coin Club in NJ in memory of Kari Brower who passed away recently and who was a prolific author of numerous articles for our WIN publication. At the end of the meeting, I presented each of our board members with a special Yeti WIN mug I had made to thank them for all their hard work and dedication to WIN. As I mentioned above, I could not have done my part without the support of each and every one of these amazing and dedicated people! Here are a few pics around the bourse floor after the show opened on Wednesday morning My awesome booth neighbors (who coincidentally were my neighbors a year ago at the last show!): Todd/PursuitOfLiberty stopped by my table for a visit Wednesday was steadily busy, and I was able to buy a few more pieces for my inventory. I also sold several coins from my new purchases, in addition to quite a few pennies from my uncertified boxes. Here are the new coins I acquired throughout the show I posted in my last show report from Central States about the 1870 J-788 aluminum pattern cent I saw at the show, where there are only two known - one in PF66+ and one in PF65. This is a spectacular pattern cent. It has deep mirrors and a beautiful cameo contrast. As only two are known, there are very few chances of acquiring one. The second example is the PR66+CAM from the Simpson collection, which came out of a nearly complete denomination set broken up around 2017-18. This (MS65) example comes from the Loye Lauder collection (Estee's sister) which was sold in 1983. The coin surfaced in the Dickson collection in 2021, just after the Simpson collection sale where the PR66+Cam came on the market." I ended up purchasing the PF65 for my personal collection right after the CSNS show. Well, the person who owned both coins also decided to part with the beautiful PF66+ piece as well and and I was honored that he gave it to me to sell for him. This is an absolutely stunning and rare piece and anyone who ends up with it will be very pleased to add it to their collection! Soon it was time to take a breather and open one of the bottles of wine that my friend brought for me - Chappellet Cab. It was one I hadn't had before and it was delicious! (He has very good taste!) After the show on Wednesday, we headed to Carlucci's for dinner. What a wonderful Italian restaurant, one of my favorites! The wine and food was amazing! Thursday morning when I got to the show I decided to take some time to view the competitive exhibits before the public was let in. They had some very diverse, fun and interesting exhibits and you could tell that all the creators put a lot of time and effort into creating them. My personal favorite weas the WWII exhibit entitled "Wartime Change." After the show opened to the public, several more forum members stopped by to say hi. It was great seeing these folks, some of whom I hadn't seen in quite a while! Mark/ColoradoCoinGuy Andy and Chris/Fishteeth Doug Noblet who brought a bottle of wine from a mutual friend/customer of mine! Roy Ash brought me this very cool antique hat pin made with Indian cents from the turn of the century And Ben and Abe also stopped by! After a flurry of business, soon things died down and I was able to have some of the other bottle my friend brought and which he knew was my very favorite wine - Rombauer Zinfandel! Then 8 of us headed back to Gibson's for another evening of favorite food, fantastic wine, and fabulous friends! Since Gibson's is a bit of a walk away from the Hyatt, I ran into this gentleman who was kind enough to walk me back to my hotel Friday morning, I took time to explore the shipwreck exhibit and the ANA museum coins. Both displays were fascinating and amazing! Central America exhibt The ANA Museum exhibit Friday ended up being one of my business days at the show. I had a lot of customers who ended up buying quite a few pieces from my inventory. Later in the afternoon, Jerry Bobbe stopped by for a brief chat I also ran into my good friend Ron Guth! Then it was time to head over to the ANA banquet. Abe Lincoln gave the most impressive and dramatic recitation of the Gettysburg Address that I've ever heard! Michael Shutterly won Best of Show and 1st Runner Up for his two exhibits Saturday was on the slow side as usual, since many dealers have to pack up and catch their flights around the country. It was raining and thundering throughout the day and we were all hoping it wouldn't affect our flights too much. Soon it was my time to pack up and head to the airport. I enjoyed a nice glass of wine before boarding my flight. But soon, I found out my flight was delayed but only for an hour. My friend Greg Lyon was at the airport and I was able to join him at the Admiral's Club while I waited for my flight. There were several other coin dealers waiting for their flights as well and I enjoyed chatting with them. Soon I was on the plane heading home! Soon I was home with my hubby and my sweet Penny! I had a great time and a great show! Next up - this week is the Las Vegas Palace Station show, then the Buena Park show in a couple weeks, and Long Beach the end of September!

Show attendance is currently better and stronger than pre-Covid, including at many of the smaller shows.

Even though the Long Beach show is owned by Collectors Universe (and has been for many years), it is not the exclusive grading service there. ANACS has always had a table, as has NGC but it is my understanding that NGC has chosen not to set up at the Long Beach show for this year due to economic reasons.