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Charmy's 2015 CHICAGO CENTRAL STATES Coin Show w/tons of Pics!!!

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I left for the Central States show just two days after returning from the Santa Clara show but I was still looking forward to being in Chicago for this show. This is me so happy that I sailed through TSA at the airport with no crowds, bag check or hassle whatsoever!

 

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So I had plenty of time to grab some breakfast along with a pre-flight beverage before my flight.

 

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Before I left, I had checked the weather reports which said Chicago would be in the 50’s but sunny. I had forgotten about the wind and when I landed, boy was it chilly mostly due to the wind! But it was indeed beautiful and sunny!!

 

I usually prefer to stay at the host hotel because I feel it’s safer being as close to the convention center as possible, not to mention most other dealers stay there too – safety in numbers. Also, Central States gives the dealers a $200 refund if we stay at the host hotel for at least 3 nights, so this is an added incentive to stay at the host hotel.

 

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I checked, settled into my room and saw that I had a nice view from my window. The convention center is in the second picture.

 

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This is the same view during the day.

 

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Then I took my bags over to security. This is the walkway between the hotel and the convention center. It was nice for this cold wimp not to have to go out in the cold each morning!

 

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There were already several dealers in the hotel lounge having dinner, so I joined a group of them for a quick bite before heading out to the riverboat casino over in Elgin which was about 20 miles away.

 

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The folks who put on the Central States show work hard to get the public in and make sure the dealers have what they need. I realize there are a lot of politics in putting together a large coin show like this, and I’m sure Central States has its fair share of this, but Patricia Foley who is the bourse chair is amazing at making sure things run smoothly, and so is her dad Kevin Foley.

 

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I set up my booth as usual, and had several dealers stop by with some great coins to buy. These are some of my early newps

 

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This is a gorgeous 1885 proof I bought.

 

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And a great 1897 “1” in the neck variety that I already sold.

 

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And a scarce 1873 Double Die in PCGS AU58 (also already sold)

 

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Rick stopped by and checked out some of my new purchases.

 

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My good friend Mitch Ernst was so excited to show me a very rare Lewis and Clark/George Washington Season medal he just bought from Rick Snow for his “Sower” medal collection. Apparently, this piece was found in the ground with a metal detector in Idaho and was authenticated by John Kraljevich. Here’s a little history on this fantastic medal:

 

During Washington's second term a special set of three medals was designed by John Trumbull (1756-1843), one of the leading American artists of the Revolutionary Era. They came to be called "Season" medals, even though their subjects were not the seasons per se. These medals were calculated to encourage Indian recipients to adopt a "civilized" American life-style. However, Indians generally preferred medals featuring the image of a king or president. A total of 700 were struck in Birmingham, England. Of these, Lewis requisitioned 55 from the Secretary of War to supplement his supply of Jefferson peace medals. Lewis and Clark distributed all 55 medals to Indian leaders they met.

 

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Mitch also brought me this bottle of Nebraska wine. He said the wine came from grapes he and his family actually picked themselves!

 

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Later in the afternoon, we opened Mitch’s bottle as well as a bottle of wine from Temecula that I had brought with me.

 

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After the show closed, a group of us headed over to recommended local steak house for dinner.

 

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We had this wonderful bottle of Mount Veeder Cab.

 

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They had great calamari!

 

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I’m not an oyster fan, but the others in my group said they were really good.

 

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This was their “small” cut of prime rib!

 

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Rick and Matt

 

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Me and Ron

 

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I had to get up extra early on Thursday since I had a WIN board meeting at 8am, followed by our general meeting at 9am.

 

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Allan Schein who wrote a book on “Mexican Beauty – Belleza Mexicana, Un Peso Caballlito” gave a very fascinating presentation on the Little Horse Peso.

 

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Funny crazy Mad Marty stopped by to say hi!

 

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As well as Don/ModCrewman

 

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And Brian Boosi/BoosiBri

 

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Matt and Evan stopped by

 

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Thursday was a crazy busy day for me, both selling and more buying. Here are some more pretty penny newps….

 

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This is this year’s Central States elongated souvenier coin.

 

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After the show on Thursday, we held our WIN mixer at the hotel lounge and had a nice turnout.

 

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Mitch, Rick and Walt

 

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Mitch and me

 

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Amanda and Shelly

 

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During our mixer, Walt gave the ANA’s Points of Light award to our very own WIN VP Amanda!

 

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After the mixer, we headed into the City to one of our favorite Chicago restaurants, Centro.

 

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This Argentina Malbec was a perfect choice for our dinner!

 

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I had their delicious Oreicchiette with Sausage and Rapini

 

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On Friday, the show started out slowly, but soon picked up with a nice crowd throughout the day.

 

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More great newps!

 

This was one of the prettiest 1869 Indian cents I’ve had – and it didn’t last long. The first customer who looked at it, bought it!

 

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Mike/Noddle of the Coin Show radio show came by.

 

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One of my favorite dealer friends, Jim Bush

 

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After the show, we decided to head back to the casino to try our luck. Outside, we discovered it had been raining, which was unexpected. Luckily, the rain made it not quite as chilly outside.

 

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We had dinner at the casino’s steakhouse, Buckinghams. Their food was better and less expensive than all the other restaurants we ate at.

 

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Ron and Rick split a big huge steak.

 

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I had their wonderful lobster pasta

 

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Couldn’t resist imitating Nina eating ribs!

 

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I enjoyed playing poker, even though there were some “bullies” at the table who tried to push some of the players around by going all in with weak hands. I was lucky enough to be dealt some strong hands and did very well against the bullies, and walked away with $750!

 

 

Saturday was the typical slow day, with several dealers having already left and a very thin crowd.

 

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Chris McCawley

 

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While it was still slow, I took the opportunity to check out the exhibits. WIN member Nancy Wilson took Best of Show for her wonderful exhibit on rare Santa Claus notes.

 

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There was another exhibit that displayed some “familiar” pieces!

 

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One of the dealers usually holds a small silent auction and this time there were a few nice coins I had placed bids on. He even had a beautiful 1856 Flying Eagle with some gorgeous pink/yellow toning. I wished I could have bid on that piece but it was beyond my budget, but I found out that Rick was the lucky one who had won this awesome piece. Unfortunately, my photos did not pick up on the very pretty colors.

 

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Whenever I go to the PCGS offices to pick up or drop off coins, it’s usually Ophelia who I deal with. I always look forward to seeing her as she is always smiling, happy, and a pleasure to deal with. And the same is true when she works the shows!

 

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Even though it was a slow day, I had a couple regular customers come by and make some nice purchases so I was glad I stayed all day on Saturday. But soon it was time to pack up and head to the airport. The PCGS table was one aisle over from me against the wall and since they were on the same flight as me, they were packing up about the same time. At one point when I looked over at their table, I noticed an abundance of security guards around their table since it looked like Brinks was taking possession of their coins for shipping.

 

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Then it was time to head back to the airport. Right after my bags went through the tunnel screening, the screened who was reviewing the images of the bags said with a wink, “I wish I could confiscate one of these bags that I keep seeing coming from the convention center.” He was saavy enough not to mention what was in the bags and I was just glad he wouldn’t require one of the TSA agents to go through them!

 

One of the things that is really neat about the O’Hare Airport is they have these very colorful lights that go on in waves as you walk through the terminal.

 

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Once I got to my gate, I ran into Ian of GreatCollections.com and discovered he would be sitting right behind me on the plane. I told him he better behave himself and not kick me!

 

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Good-bye Chicago….

 

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Hello Orange County!

 

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And hello little mischievous Penny!!!!

 

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Unfortunately, I missed my hubby as he had already left to race his buggy in the NORRA Mexican 1000 race, which is similar to the Baja 1000 – it’s a 1300+ mile race from Ensenada to Cabo and he'll be gone a week. The yellow car is his – note the little Penny Lady bumper sticker on the right front fender!

 

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That’s my hubby in the blue race suit. The white car was his and his partner’s car last year (he sold his share in the white car to his partner and bought a faster car to race this year).

 

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That’s it for now – next up is the Tukwila/Seattle show later this week!!!

 

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I enormously appreciate all the amply illustrated show reports, and moreover am tremendously impressed you're able to enjoy such an active night life of sumptuous dining, wining and gaming, and then still looking fresh and beautiful, not a bit hungover, not dragging after insufficient sleep for most persons, can still expertly handle those copper coins to advantage, plus attend meetings, take numerous photos and compose detailed reports while traveling around the country. What's the secret of your dynamism?

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As usual, wonderful report, Charmy! Now, it's time for breakfast. I think I'll have a big steak with Oysters Rockefeller.

 

Chris

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