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UPDATED: Charmy's 2011 HOUSTON MONEY SHOW Report w/lots of Pics!
ThePennyLady
Posts: 4,441 ✭✭✭✭✭
I landed in Houston Wednesday evening while the sun was going down. We had to sit on the tarmac for about half an hour since another plane was still parked at our gate, so I took some photos of the sun setting on Houston from the plane.
I ran into the Bruders at the airport so we shared a taxi to the convention center so we could unload our inventory at security before heading to our hotels. (It’s funny, because I also ran into the Bruders a couple weeks ago at the Baltimore airport – unplanned – and we shared a taxi then as well!) I’ve never stayed at an Embassy Suites hotel before and was nicely surprised to see that I had a full living room, kitchen, and separate bedroom – all for just lil ol me!
Here is the view of the convention center from my room at night and in the morning
After I got settled in my room, I went back over to the Hilton to meet some friends – the Hilton is right across from the convention center and next to a very pretty park that is already decorated with lights.
In the morning I walked over to the grocery store to pick up some supplies, including of course a nice bottle of wine!
Here’s the park in the daytime
Then I headed over to the convention center which is HUGE! Set up was from 9am to 1pm.
Here is the Greater Houston Coin Club’s table – note their really cool table cover!
These guys at AOCS are the ones who created my copper Coin Card, and they are set up just up the aisle from me. Here is their pretty 1 oz. Christmas round, as well as their own Coin Card.
When the show opened, there were probably 50+ people waiting in line to get in. When I took this photo, the crowd of people were already entering and spreading out in different directions.
Here are the PCGS and NGC tables which were both very busy on Thursday afternoon.
One of the first people to stop at my table was Al/HardTimes – a local from Texas – he wanted to make sure I tried some of their yummy Texas wine so he brought me this wonderful bottle of Malbec from Fredericksburg, Texas. I opened it to let it breathe for a couple hours, and Al and I shared a cup together!
Several more forum members stopped by!
Christian/CMerlo1
Wade/FrankieFanatic (formerly MorganHunter2)
Joe/JoeFro
Edwin/Edix (who actually sang “Red Red Wine” so he could get one of my Coin Cards)!
Glen Holsonbake/PonyExpress
Carl and the rest of the Houston Coin Club volunteers do a great job putting on this show. They are very friendly and accommodating to both dealers and collectors, they spend a lot of money on advertising including several large freeway billboards, and are always walking the floor interacting with the dealers. Here are a few of the volunteers.
They even put on a bbq dinner with live music for the dealers at the end of set up day.
Even though I’ve heard the bbq dinner is very good, a few of us opted out and went to The Grove which is just across the street. The atmosphere there is wonderful, with hug open windows that look out on the park which had huge Christmas ball decorations and green floodlights.
Ron chose this absolutely wonderful bottle of 2008 Italian Ca’Marcanda wine, one of the best bottles of wine I’ve had!
I also tried some quail for the first time – and it was actually very good!
After dinner, we headed over to Sambuca’s where we heard they had a band playing.
There also was this interesting character (Charles) who apparently is a fixture at Sambuca’s
Parked outside the club was this wonderful horse and buggy.
Here’s is what the bourse looked like around 11:30 on Friday.
As far as how the show is going, though it was quite busy yesterday with good attendance, and in spite of the tremendous amount of advertising the Greater Houston Coin Club does to promote this show, most dealers are reporting that sales are very slow. And so far, unfortunately, today is not much better, and attendance is down quite a bit today. Hopefully, things will pick up, but most dealers are not holding out much hope for huge sales at this show. But we’ll see as the day goes on. I’ll post more later!
I ran into the Bruders at the airport so we shared a taxi to the convention center so we could unload our inventory at security before heading to our hotels. (It’s funny, because I also ran into the Bruders a couple weeks ago at the Baltimore airport – unplanned – and we shared a taxi then as well!) I’ve never stayed at an Embassy Suites hotel before and was nicely surprised to see that I had a full living room, kitchen, and separate bedroom – all for just lil ol me!
Here is the view of the convention center from my room at night and in the morning
After I got settled in my room, I went back over to the Hilton to meet some friends – the Hilton is right across from the convention center and next to a very pretty park that is already decorated with lights.
In the morning I walked over to the grocery store to pick up some supplies, including of course a nice bottle of wine!
Here’s the park in the daytime
Then I headed over to the convention center which is HUGE! Set up was from 9am to 1pm.
Here is the Greater Houston Coin Club’s table – note their really cool table cover!
These guys at AOCS are the ones who created my copper Coin Card, and they are set up just up the aisle from me. Here is their pretty 1 oz. Christmas round, as well as their own Coin Card.
When the show opened, there were probably 50+ people waiting in line to get in. When I took this photo, the crowd of people were already entering and spreading out in different directions.
Here are the PCGS and NGC tables which were both very busy on Thursday afternoon.
One of the first people to stop at my table was Al/HardTimes – a local from Texas – he wanted to make sure I tried some of their yummy Texas wine so he brought me this wonderful bottle of Malbec from Fredericksburg, Texas. I opened it to let it breathe for a couple hours, and Al and I shared a cup together!
Several more forum members stopped by!
Christian/CMerlo1
Wade/FrankieFanatic (formerly MorganHunter2)
Joe/JoeFro
Edwin/Edix (who actually sang “Red Red Wine” so he could get one of my Coin Cards)!
Glen Holsonbake/PonyExpress
Carl and the rest of the Houston Coin Club volunteers do a great job putting on this show. They are very friendly and accommodating to both dealers and collectors, they spend a lot of money on advertising including several large freeway billboards, and are always walking the floor interacting with the dealers. Here are a few of the volunteers.
They even put on a bbq dinner with live music for the dealers at the end of set up day.
Even though I’ve heard the bbq dinner is very good, a few of us opted out and went to The Grove which is just across the street. The atmosphere there is wonderful, with hug open windows that look out on the park which had huge Christmas ball decorations and green floodlights.
Ron chose this absolutely wonderful bottle of 2008 Italian Ca’Marcanda wine, one of the best bottles of wine I’ve had!
I also tried some quail for the first time – and it was actually very good!
After dinner, we headed over to Sambuca’s where we heard they had a band playing.
There also was this interesting character (Charles) who apparently is a fixture at Sambuca’s
Parked outside the club was this wonderful horse and buggy.
Here’s is what the bourse looked like around 11:30 on Friday.
As far as how the show is going, though it was quite busy yesterday with good attendance, and in spite of the tremendous amount of advertising the Greater Houston Coin Club does to promote this show, most dealers are reporting that sales are very slow. And so far, unfortunately, today is not much better, and attendance is down quite a bit today. Hopefully, things will pick up, but most dealers are not holding out much hope for huge sales at this show. But we’ll see as the day goes on. I’ll post more later!
Charmy HarkerThe Penny Lady®
0
Comments
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
Great report Charmy.
Sorry I can't be there, but my wife's Birthday is tomorrow, hitting the big 5-0. Some things are more important than a coin show.
Carl put on a great show and promotes it well. I hope the local collectors appreciate his efforts.
I always enjoy your reports and the pics that you include.
Hope the show picks up for ya'.
Mike
Sounds like you really need to "watch your back" down there, Charmy. All that advertising may be a double-edged sword. Stay safe.
Also nice to see that PonyExpress8 has the BCCS Banner
being prodly displayed... funny thing how Glenn's shirt is
the same color as the banner... how'd you manage that Glenn ? LOL
edited for a typo...
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coin collecting is not a hobby, it's an obsession !
New Barber Purchases
NGC registry V-Nickel proof #6!!!!
working on proof shield nickels # 8 with a bullet!!!!
RIP "BEAR"
The show also features security cameras, guards, etc. Even then you still need to be aware of your environment for your own safety.
There is CFA level 1 there.
A gun show
A coin show
Of course I do wear this everywhere just to be on the safe side.
World Collection
British Collection
German States Collection
<< <i>It was nice to see Charmy today, the show looked pretty slow while I was there but I did manage to pick up a couple of newps so all was not lost. As for crime I'm not aware of any around the convention center in the daylight, I parked across the street in the underground garage and never have felt like there was a problem., when I came out of the garage today their were 2 cops I talked with as they strolled down the front of the convention center.
Of course I do wear this everywhere just to be on the safe side.
>>
I've always been curious about one thing, when a creep sticks a gun in your face and says "gimme the dough," what is the game plan?
EAC 6024
<< <i>
<< <i>It was nice to see Charmy today, the show looked pretty slow while I was there but I did manage to pick up a couple of newps so all was not lost. As for crime I'm not aware of any around the convention center in the daylight, I parked across the street in the underground garage and never have felt like there was a problem., when I came out of the garage today their were 2 cops I talked with as they strolled down the front of the convention center.
Of course I do wear this everywhere just to be on the safe side.
>>
I've always been curious about one thing, when a creep sticks a gun in your face and says "gimme the dough," what is the game plan? >>
Wet your pants?
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
Here's a new way to stay safe...anybody who walks up to your house you should shoot them first then worry about it later. I'm sure uncle Carl wouldn't mind taking a bullet to the chest for the sake of you having the sense of preemptive security.
Authorized dealer for PCGS, PCGS Currency, NGC, NCS, PMG, CAC. Member of the PNG, ANA. Member dealer of CoinPlex and CCE/FACTS as "CH5"
<< <i>I've always been curious about one thing, when a creep sticks a gun in your face and says "gimme the dough," what is the game plan? >>
I spent 6 years in the Navy back in the early/mid 70's, four of those years in the Beachjumper teams which is where I learned how to shoot. I still shoot IDPA and IPSC 3 gun frequently although I'm older and slower now, but I can draw and fire reasonably well from concealment. I was also trained pretty well to be aware of my surroundings whether on foot or in a vehicle, and I must be neurotic because I still practice all the things we were taught before going overseas.
I think WCTG's suggestion is pretty sickening/disgusting/creepy, I can't believe someone would even say that on these boards. You may be willing to turn the safety of yourself and your family over to whoever accosts you on the street or in your home, but my family is more important than that to me. The idea that wanting to protect your family is in any way related to randomly shooting people walking up to your house just fills me with loathing.
World Collection
British Collection
German States Collection
Haven't seen parking attendants with Uzis, but there were a bunch of FBI guys with M-16s at DC Metro stations during the DC sniper thingy. Looked like cold war footage from East Germany, but I was glad they were there.
Thanks for another great report Charmy.
You are the epitome of a 'faithful reporter'.
.
Of course you always have to be careful, but in Houston we do take security very seriously.
Let me start by saying that I feel completely safe here at the convention center. Security is quite prominent, and the show people take security very serious. Most dealers who travel a lot have learned to always be diligent, but there is only so much we have control over when it comes to thieves. In any event, let’s get back to the show and wine report!!
The weather here in Houston has been wonderful! Very mild and pleasant, similar to Southern California (though I hear we had pretty heft winds back in Orange County on Wednesday night!).
Friday at the show was a pretty slow day for everyone it seems, though surprisingly sales for me did pick up later in the day. I’ve talked to a few dealers and everyone was very disappointed that there was no auction here, and they felt that probably helped curtail attendance at this show. When a show is slow, it does allow me the opportunity to shop around and buy a few nice pieces for inventory, including a beautiful 1872 Indian in PCGS MS65 RB and a pretty toned 1910-S Lincoln PCGS MS65 BN.
Here are a couple tireless people who work hard to put this show on – Patty Fenner and Carl Schwenker
I also walked around and viewed the exhibits – they had quite a diverse selection of exhibits that you could tell people put a lot of time and effort into creating.
So after the show on Friday a group of us walked up a few blocks to Three Forks for dinner – wow! Now that is one amazing steakhouse, with superb service and wonderful food!! And they had a stunning selection of wine! We ended up having three bottles of this wonderful Napa Starmont Cab (we had a large group of people who also love wine)!
After we rolled ourselves out of the restaurant, a few of us went to a small club outside of Houston called The Spot Club to listen to a local band. You can’t beat the atmosphere in a locals bar! The band was really good, and we even played a few games of pool.
On my walk over to the show this morning, I spotted this cute tiny little fog hopping on the sidewalk so of course I just had to take its picture!
Saturday has been pretty slow again, though I did make a few sales. There have been quite a few scouts and kids running around. I saw a couple forum members today, but they didn’t want their photos taken. It’s afternoon here and several dealers have left or are packing up to head home, including me in a couple hours.
Even though the show has been slow and not as well attended, I did ok buying some nice coins and I've had a great time here in Houston. My next show is in Ontario, then I'm off to the PCGS Las Vegas show for a little business and a lot of casino-ing!
https://thepennylady.com/
Larry L.
I just wanted to say that I really appreciate all the forum members who make their way to my table during shows. Sometimes I am busy and it's hard to sit and chat with you all, but other times it's a welcomed "distraction" especially when a show is slow as this one was.
I can't wait for the FUN show - it seems like that show is NEVER slow! See you there....
https://thepennylady.com/
https://thepennylady.com/