Charmy's 2011 PORTLAND PNNA Show Report w/Lots of Pics!

[The Penny Lady]

Friday: I love visiting Portland, it’s always so green and lush, full of beautiful trees – it makes you feel like you’re in the mountains. When I arrived, I enjoyed seeing all the pretty colors of the trees – last year it rained quite a bit and the trees had already lost most of their leaves, so it was nice to see such beautiful fall colors.

 

 

The show is held at the DoubleTree hotel in Portland. Set up was from 3-6pm, then opened to the public on Saturday and Sunday.

 

After I was finished setting up my booth, we opened up a very nice bottle of Merlot (we shared it with a couple other dealers, so it didn’t last long!)

 

I then took a tour around the show, and checked out some of the exhibits.

 

And here are our wonderful, hardworking show promoters, Lisa and Scott Loos

 

This is Walter Ostromecki, the ANA VP – he does an amazing job putting together and running the kids’ treasure hunt program and the scout’s merit coin collecting merit badge class at the ANA shows and several other coin shows.

 

My table was on the kids’ treasure hunt – this time, they had to look for a lady bug sticker at the participating dealers’ tables – can you find the one at my table in this picture?

 

Then Friday night we went to one of my favorite restaurants – PF Changs. Since it’s always so crowded (especially on a Friday night), we usually eat (and drink) at the bar. This is a neat horse statute outside PF Changs

 

Me and my Portland buddy Ron

 

 

Glenn/PonyExpress also joined us.

 

Our hard-working cutie-pie bartenders!

 

This is the fortune cookie I got at PF Changs and fortune that was inside – seriously!

 

Saturday: Before the show, we went to breakfast at this wonderful place out in Lake Oswego – it has old fashioned décor and delicious eggs benedict!

 

When the show opened, there were quite a few people waiting to come in. Several forum members made it to the show and stopped by my table (of course, they are holding their new “The Penny Lady” copper coin cards!

 

Brian/Meltdown

 

David/SeattleSlammer

 

Realone (he wanted to remain incognito)

 

Matt/BillyGoatsGruff

 

Rob/Lostsisler

 

Jeff Shevlin and his grandson Toby

 

Karl/Kove

 

Me!

 

There was a definite “buzz” to the show for a good part of the day on Saturday; however, several dealers, including me, found that many customers were not looking to spend a lot of money, so sales in general were low. I heard that Portland has a very high unemployment rate, and they have been among the hardest hit states for home foreclosures, so I think many people were wanting to keep their money in their wallets in Portland.

 

Here’s the bottle of wine we had on Saturday – it was very yummy!

 

I was able to visit a couple of my favorite dealers, especially my wonderful Conder token dealer (Gary Groll) who recently moved to the Pacific Northwest.

 

Gary always has some wonderful Conder tokens! I picked out several that I fell in love with, then narrowed it down to three tokens: one is in an almost terminal die state (Middlesex 746), another is extremely rare (Middlesex 298), and the third one is not rare, but fun and pretty (Middlesex 1017) – I can’t wait to have Todd properly photograph them for me.

 

 

Gary also had on display in his case a very cool print, and two extremely rare books worth 6 figures.

 

This “Pig’s Meat” poster is an original hand-painted artwork relating to the “pig” Conder tokens

 

This issue of the Coin Collectors Companion was printed especially for Thomas Spence and includes some of Spence’s handwritten notes.

 

Rob/Lostsisler showed me a couple nice Lincolns that I bought, but then he pulled out this really beautiful 1877-S Seated Liberty Half LoveToken. As everyone knows, I am a copper lover and, other than some Native American silver rounds, I don’t own ANY silver coins. However, this piece just caught my eye, especially since it is the same date as the key date to the Indian cent series, so I decided to pull the trigger and buy it (shhhhh, don’t tell Todd or I’ll never hear the end of it!!!). It has beautiful engraving on the obverse in the fields on both sides of Liberty, and is in at least AU55-AU58 condition – all original.

 

 

On Saturday night, Ron and I went to another very good chain restaurant – the Claim Jumper. Again, it was packed (it happened to be Homecoming night for the local high school!), so we at the bar. I really like how decorative the draft beer pull handles are so I took another photo of them at the Claim Jumper (I also had taken a photo of the one at the German pub in Pittsburgh)!

 

 

I decided to have their house special Mai Tai – and boy was it yummy! They even added an extra orange slice and cherry for me!

 

Though their chicken tortilla soup was very tasty, I’m a spice wimp and it was a little too spicy for me, so I gave it to Ron

 

 

Sunday: When the show opened on Sunday, about a dozen or so people were waiting to come in. More trickled in but the show remained sparse throughout the day. Most people just wanted to stop by and chat which is fine, especially when the show is slow – and Sunday was very slow. I made a couple sales, then it was time to pack up and head to the airport for home!

 

Before I end my report, I wanted to relay a couple interesting events that occurred at this show, one good and one bad. I’ll start with the bad one. I didn’t get all the details but a dealer had put his inventory in his car after the show Saturday night (I’m not sure for how long or why he left it there), but someone apparently had watched him leave the show and then broke into his car and took the inventory (again, I’m not sure how much was taken but I heard it was significant). To me, this is sickening and heartbreaking. Security reminded all the dealers on Sunday morning to be extremely careful and diligent when leaving the show.

 

Now the good thing. On Saturday, an elderly couple who have been my customers for quite a while, were looking at some coins in my case when a dealer came over to speak with them. After the dealer left, the couple told me that they had just bought a beautiful 1916-D Mercury dime in PCGS AU58FB from this dealer for over $5,000, and that the dealer came over to tell them that he had made a mistake. Apparently, the dealer also had a 1916-D Mercury dime in PCGS XF45 and when he looked at his price list, he quoted the couple the price for the XF45 rather than the AU58 (for which he had paid over $10,000).

 

 

However, the dealer didn’t ask the couple for the coin back, nor any more money, he just wanted to make sure the couple knew that the 1916-D dime they bought was worth a lot more in case they intended to resell it.

 

So after the dealer left, the couple told me the story and asked what I thought they should do. I said if it were me, I wouldn’t feel comfortable keeping the coin under those circumstances, and that I would probably go back to the dealer and try to work something out that was more fair to both parties. The couple said they felt the same way. So when they were finished with our transaction, the couple went back over to the dealer and offered to “undo” the deal, either giving him more money or returning the coin. However, they were even more surprised when the dealer refused both and said it was his mistake and that he wanted the couple to keep the coin, and didn’t want any additional money either. Of course, the couple was quite surprised – and told me that, even though the dealer refused to take any additional money for the coin, they still intended to send him more money when they got home.

 

When the couple told me this, I too was very surprised because losing more than $5,000 on a deal due to a simple mistake would cause any dealer severe heart palpitations. So when I thought about including this story in my show report, I went over to the dealer to ask if he minded me using his name. I told him it was a very heartwarming story, and that it would really show the coin community that there are truly some honest and honorable dealers amongst us. However, the dealer said he really didn’t want any notoriety, and that yes, it was a “costly” mistake, but it was his mistake and he felt good about handling it this way.

 

So on that note, see you all in Baltimore!!

 

[cpm9ball]

Thanks for the report, Charmy.

 

I have relatives in Portland, and it has been about 20 years since my last visit. Have you ever visited Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood, climbed Multnomah Falls or viewed the salmon run at the Bonneville Dam?

 

Is that the ladybug on the top of your middle lamp?

 

Chris

[johnny9434]

thats a wonderful report charmy and a good time to be had by all. i can understand what the guy said about the 1916 D dime as well. as tough as it was there wouldnt be any hard feelings here

[Hard Times]

Charmy,

Great show report. As a misplaced Oregonian that I am, I will point out two things of interest. First, great to see you went to a bar that had my fave beer on drought - Deschutes Black Butte Porter (I am having one right now with dinner here in Tejas), and second, Napa wines? Whazup with that? Do you know how many amazing boutique wineries there are in regions around P'town? The first winery in Oregon was Tualatin Vineyards out of Forest Grove, my hometown. Charles Coury, moved up to Oregon from Cali to find the perfect 'Pinot Noir' as his son who I went to school with kept talking about for which I hadn't a clue as a kid what that meant. Coury later sold and it is now David Hill Winery, one of dozens in the area where Coury pioneered winemaking in Oregon. Gotta have some of that when in P'town Charmy!

 

Best, HT

 

+who%27s+your+papa%3F--1296242531--620--wine_news'>Coury the Oregon winemaking pioneer

 

January 31, 2011

read: 1946 / emailed: 0 / share: email

David Hill in Forest Grove.

David Hill in Forest Grove.

Pinot, Who's Your Papa?

 

By Karl Klooster

 

An economic development committee is charged with promoting the attributes of a community in an effort to attract new business, boost tourism and generally stimulate the local economy.

 

A memorable statement or slogan that sets a place apart could significantly enhance that effort. So when members of Forest Grove’s economic development group came across something they found quite special, they pursued it.

 

The claim is that Oregon wine pioneer Charles Coury, who came north and bought property west of Forest Grove, was the first to identify Northwestern Oregon as a prime place for the finicky Pinot Noir grape to achieve its full potential.

 

A meteorologist and horticulturist, Coury studied oenology at UC Davis. And the thesis he wrote for his master’s degree there serves as the crux of Forest Grove’s case.

 

In his dissertation, he wrote, “Any variety yields its highest quality wines when grown in a region where the maturation of the variety coincides with the end of the growing season.” He further argued that Northwestern Oregon’s short-but-focused summer growing season presented exactly such conditions.

 

Coury, who had spent considerable time in the wine regions of France, particularly Alsace and Burgundy, was eager to test his theories. And he set out to do so on what is now called David Hill, just west of Forest Grove.

 

He picked a site that had first been planted in vinifera grapes in the 1880s by German immigrant Ernest Reuter, and went on to establish his first vines there in 1965.

 

However, business setbacks forced him to abandon his efforts early, leaving it up to David Lett, who eventually earned the affectionate moniker Papa Pinot, to take up the cool climate cause.

 

The Forest Grove folks, led by banker Don Jones and the city’s economic development director Jeff King, said they were in no way seeking to challenge Lett’s revered title.

 

“It’s well deserved,” King said. “He planted Pinot Noir the same year as Coury. He made the world aware of Oregon Pinot’s world-class quality, and he championed the variety all of his life.”

 

King argues, however, “Coury deserves credit for having started it all.” He said that’s what led the committee to adopt the slogan, “Forest Grove: Where Oregon Pinot Noir Was Born.”

 

Forest Grove may not be where the first Pinot Noir wines were made, he acknowledged, but it’s where the impetus originated.

 

The city’s website goes even further, asserting that Coury actually “planted the first of Oregon’s Pinot Noir grapes.” When queried about this, King said he wasn’t aware of that, it wasn’t correct, and it would be addressed.

 

A subsequent check showed the website’s wording has been modified to say, “planted the first of Oregon’s Willamette Valley famous Pinot Noir grapes.”

 

The author undoubtedly meant to say, “famous Willamette Valley” or “Willamette Valley’s famous,” but this was a hurried change. It demonstrates Forest Grove’s sensitivity to something it didn’t expect to escalate into an issue.

 

So, has the city exceeded its bounds with its sweeping statements?

 

There seems to be no argument that Coury was convinced great Pinot Noir grapes could be grown in Northwestern Oregon. However, that conviction was shared by fellow UC Davis student David Lett before he and Coury went north together.

 

In fact, upon first arriving in Oregon, the two shared an apartment in Silverton and initially sought to buy suitable vineyard land in that area. Finding nothing available, they expanded their search with Coury finding a spot in the Forest Grove area and Lett locating one in Dundee.

 

The question also remains regarding when Coury actually planted his first Pinot Noir cuttings on Reuter’s Hill. Jones said their research places it in 1965, the same year Lett planted his first cuttings in the Corvallis area before buying the Dundee Hills property in 1996.

 

This is understandably an important point with the Lett family, since the date of David Lett’s plantings is clearly documented, whereas Coury’s timeline is apparently less certain. Nonetheless, it was Lett who ultimately proved the promise of Pinot Noir in the Willamette Valley, both for the fruit and the wine.

 

With the recent wording change on its website, Forest Grove has corrected the obvious error that elicited strong opposition from Southern Oregon wine industry members.

 

They point out the well-documented fact that Oregon’s first Pinot Noir planting were put in near Roseburg by Richard Sommer in 1961, four years prior to either the Coury or Lett plantings in the Willamette Valley.

 

Bruce Smith, owner of Oregon Wine Country Tours, wrote the Oregon Wine Press to say that first-to-plant honors clearly belong to Sommer.

 

“It is common knowledge among Oregon winemakers that Richard Sommer deserves the title,” he said. “I quote from your paper: ‘In 1961, he was experimenting with varieties of grapes — mainly Riesling and Pinot Noir — and planted the first post-Prohibition vinifera on an old turkey farm west of town.’”

 

Greg Cramer, owner of MarshAnne Landing Winery, just north of Roseburg, said, “It is time for Forest Grove to relinquish a false claim and acknowledge a hasty decision. It was an error, and we all make them.”

 

Furthermore, the Southern Oregon contingent takes exception to Forest Grove’s slogan. Their interpretation is that “where Oregon Pinot Noir was born” should be where it began rather than where it has gained its greatest recognition.

 

Jones and King said they were fully aware of Sommer’s role in Oregon wine history, just as they were of Coury’s. Jones said, “I spoke at length with wine pioneers Erath and Bill Fuller — founder of Tualatin Vineyards — who acknowledged the pioneering roles of both men.”

 

Southern Oregon winemakers contend, with justification, that Northern Oregon gets all the glory. They, on the other hand, are making outstanding wines at very competitive prices, but their achievements have not as yet attracted the recognition they deserve.

 

However, it is not Pinot Noir for which those Southern Oregon accolades are being earned. Sommer may have been the first in the state to plant it, but it hasn’t proved to be the most notable variety among the many that flourished under his care.

 

The bottom line is that as much as this may be a meaningful matter internally, the consumer couldn’t care less. Wineries would be better served to quit wrangling among themselves, hook their horses to the same wagon, and hit the road to sell “Brand Oregon” nationwide.

 

Maybe then, wine lovers elsewhere might stop saying, “Oregon? I didn’t know they made wine there,” and start buying more bountiful bottles from the Beaver State.

[thebeav]

Great report Charmy.

 

I would have been in on that spicy soup.....Nothing is ever spicy enough or 'hot' enough....

 

Paul (here in the home of the chicken wing)

[The Penny Lady]

Thanks everyone!

 

Chris, I would love to see more of the sites in Portland, but I travel so much that, for this show I usually just fly in on the morning of set up, then I leave straight from the airport. Maybe next year I'll try to go in a day earlier. And yes, you spotted the ladybug!I

 

HT, thanks for all the info about Oregon wine, it was very informative. I have tried several tasty Oregon and Washington wines, I usually do like to try local wines when I'm traveling, but my buddy Ron already had these wines, so we just drank them (he's originally from Northern California and likes California wines).

[Keigwin]

There was a definite “buzz” to the show for a good part of the day on Saturday...

 

What could that buzz possibly have come from? .

 

Thanks for another fine, fun report! And shame on you for buying silver. Tsk, tsk.

Lance.

[cpm9ball]

Thanks everyone!

 

Chris, I would love to see more of the sites in Portland, but I travel so much that, for this show I usually just fly in on the morning of set up, then I leave straight from the airport. Maybe next year I'll try to go in a day earlier. And yes, you spotted the ladybug!I

 

I realize that your show tour doesn't leave you a heck of a lot of time for traipsing around the countryside, but if you ever get the chance, you've just got to visit Timberline Lodge. It was built under the auspices of the WPA in the 30's. It's massive hand-hewn beams which had to be hauled up a few thousand feet from the treeline below and the central, octagonal fireplace provide support for the upper floor balconies that are open to the main reception hall. It's quite spectacular.

 

Chris

[RWB]

Nice report!

 

The show venue didn't look like a parking garage!!! And there were lights --- !

 

ANA-- Wake up!

[noow]

[Hard Times]

Thanks everyone!

 

Chris, I would love to see more of the sites in Portland, but I travel so much that, for this show I usually just fly in on the morning of set up, then I leave straight from the airport. Maybe next year I'll try to go in a day earlier. And yes, you spotted the ladybug!I

 

HT, thanks for all the info about Oregon wine, it was very informative. I have tried several tasty Oregon and Washington wines, I usually do like to try local wines when I'm traveling, but my buddy Ron already had these wines, so we just drank them (he's originally from Northern California and likes California wines).

 

HI Charmy,

All sounds good, next time in P'town, connect with Jerry Bobbe, he dang sure knows his local wines - Jerry, Conders, and Pinot - Heaven on Earth!

 

PS I will bring you a bottle of good Texan wine at the Money Show if you are coming this year - count on it!

[The Penny Lady]

Thanks everyone!

 

Chris, I would love to see more of the sites in Portland, but I travel so much that, for this show I usually just fly in on the morning of set up, then I leave straight from the airport. Maybe next year I'll try to go in a day earlier. And yes, you spotted the ladybug!I

 

HT, thanks for all the info about Oregon wine, it was very informative. I have tried several tasty Oregon and Washington wines, I usually do like to try local wines when I'm traveling, but my buddy Ron already had these wines, so we just drank them (he's originally from Northern California and likes California wines).

 

HI Charmy,

All sounds good, next time in P'town, connect with Jerry Bobbe, he dang sure knows his local wines - Jerry, Conders, and Pinot - Heaven on Earth!

 

PS I will bring you a bottle of good Texan wine at the Money Show if you are coming this year - count on it!

 

HT, I will be in Houston and I can't say I've actually had any (or even heard of any) Texan wine, so I definitely look forward to sharing some with you! (Now I hope your "Texan wine" isn't just another name for tequila with a scorpion in the bottom!)

[RWB]

"Texas wine" is the squeezin's from armadillos.

[Hard Times]

"Texas wine" is the squeezin's from armadillos.

 

Roger - that be true as armidies are like ants down here and easy pickin's on the roads.

 

Actually, the Hill Country west of Austin and the regions surrounding Dallas are both full of excellent wineries. Grape growing for wines in Texas was originally brought in by the priests who ran the missions in and around Bexar and elsewhere (now San Antonio) in the late 17th century. Many of the wineries in the hill country were started by German immigrants and have been handed down over the centuries - old vines can make some good wines.

 

Origin of Texas wine production

 

Best, HT

[e1cnr]

great report - lots of pics

for those of us who did not make it.

[CMCART]

Thanks for the report and the great pics - !!!