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Charmy's 2015 SUMMER BALTIMORE SHOW REPORT w/lots of Pics!!!
ThePennyLady
Posts: 4,441 ✭✭✭✭✭
This was the first time I attended the Summer Baltimore show, mostly due to conflicts with the ANA Summer Seminar, but also I had heard the summer shows were much slower with much lower attendance than the spring and winter shows. Also, with all the recent media attention about the riots, it gave me pretty low expectations about attendance and sales but I didn’t have any shows scheduled for July so I thought I’d give it a try. However, other than the theft of Rick’s rare 1864-L proof Indian cent, I saw nothing scary or problematic during my entire time in Baltimore, and I even ended up having really good sales and bought several great coins, so I was very glad I attended this show.
Due to flight schedules and that I wanted to do some auction lot viewing before the show, and maybe play some poker at the new casino, I left on Tuesday which is a day earlier than I usually leave for the Baltimore show. I got through security at the John Wayne airport with no bag check so I had plenty of time for my usual preflight beverage!
It seemed like a long time since I had set up at a show (almost 6 weeks), so this is me very happy to be going to the Baltimore show.
Other than the obvious perks of upgrading to first class, one of the other perks is that your bag gets tagged with a bright orange priority label and is put on the plane last so it can come off first – so I watched as my bag was one of the very last bags to be loaded.
Arriving in Baltimore!
The Whitman folks were also nice enough to open security a day earlier so we had a place to safely store our bags until the show opened on Thursday. Since I arrived after hours, we were led through a very empty bourse floor in order to get to the security room.
This is the security room – when you drop your bag off, they give you a ticket for your bags (the other half of the ticket is stuck to your bag), and they require the ticket, an ID, and signature when you retrieve your bag.
I had a really nice view of the harbor from my hotel room
On Wednesday morning, I took my time (getting adjusted to the time change), then headed over to auction lot viewing. I forgot to take a photo when I was viewing lots (it was very packed with folks looking at coins), but I took this shot of the viewing room the next day after the show opened.
I ran into these two wheelers and dealers in the auction room, and then we did some wheeling and dealing afterwards!
Rick Show and Brian Wagner
A pre-show very empty convention center registration lobby
In and around the convention center
Outside the convention center, a lone police officer was on watch
Camden Yards is just a block behind the convention center
Coin business taken care of, I headed to the casino!
The poker room is large and was pretty full.
The show opened at 8:00am Thursday morning – way too early for this west coast gal! But I got to the show on time and began setting up.
Here’s me all set up and open for business!
One of the first people I ran into at the show is one of my most favorite (and handsome) dealers – Dino Koromvokis!
Thursday was a really busy day for me. I had some great sales, and by Thursday afternoon, I had bought quite a few nice coins, much more than I had anticipated I would find at this show!
Here are some highlights:
I even found an Indian cent proof in a DOILY HOLDER (which I am keeping for my own collection)!!
I also picked up a few Lincoln errors I had submitted to PCGS. This is an error I bought that came with the old ANACS cert card
This piece is actually the 10th planchet that broke off of my 9-planchet deep die cap error
I bought this very pretty nickel struck on a cent planchet at a local show a few months ago so I decided to get it graded too. I thought it would come back MS65, but what do I know!
After the show, Rick and I decided to head back to the poker room!
Outside the casino, they had this gorgeous classic car on display!
We decided to have dinner in one of the casino restaurants – the entrees were amazing, as well as over-abundant! I ordered the pasta and had enough left over for two lunches!
Rick had the meatloaf.
They even had some great live music in the lounge
Of course, the Penny Lady had to have a photo next to the Penny machine!
Friday there was a decent crowd, but it was slow even in the morning.
Stacks Bowers’ table seemed to always be busy.
At noon, I headed to the auction to bid on a few lots I had picked out. By the way, I understand that the auction the night before for the Early copper didn’t end until 5:00am on Friday morning!!
Unfortunately for me, but good for whoever was bidding, the lots I wanted had already reached my limit before they came up, so I watched a few of the sales, then went back to my table without even bidding on anything!
This is a view from the inside of the convention center looking out on Charles street.
This is one of the bottles of my local wine I brought with me to share with my friends in the afternoon. It went very quickly!
David at PCGS is always nice and very helpful.
After the show on Friday, we headed out to dinner. It was such a nice evening, we decided to walk over to Capital Grille.
They had complimentary hors devours – this is a lobster roll and their variety of breads
We especially enjoyed their special summer Generous Pour Wine Tasting!
Ron and I split their filet/lobster tail special and their halibut dinner so we could have a little of both
Rick had their delicious rib-eye
The poured so much wine, that even I couldn’t keep up!
Thus, we were all happy campers by the end of the meal!
After dinner, we decided to walk over to Vaccarro’s for dessert, so I took some photos along the way.
We passed by a street fair where they had live music.
There was quite a line at Vaccarro’s, which I understand is usual.
This little boy was quite happy with his HUGE dessert – and I bet he thought he didn’t have to share it!
The three of us split two desserts, but we still couldn’t finish them!
We all agreed the apple strudel was by far the best!
Across the street from Vaccarro’s, they had a “movie in the park” going on – The Wizard of Oz was playing on the side of a building!
We then walked over to one of our favorite night spots, Howl at the Moon over at the Power Plant
Right off, they played the “Piano Man” and this guy did a great job on the harmonica!
They had the usual chalk board where you could pay $1 more than the last person to have them write whatever you wanted on the board – so of course, I had them get rid of some icky comment about the Baltimore Orioles and replace it with an comment about the wonderful Anaheim Angels!!!
Of course, I requested my favorite classic “Time Warp”
Then a cute group of girls from a bachelorette party showed up and really livened up the party!
And then the very tasty fireball shots came, and came…..
If I thought Wednesday morning came too early, then I was sorely mistaken, because waking up Saturday morning REALLY came waaaaaay too early!!!! I arrived just about the same time as the public was being let in!
Although Saturday seemed pretty slow, I had a couple of good sales, including an 1855 Pattern Cent I had just bought at the show. But I had an early flight out so I had to pack up around noon and head to the airport.
While I was waiting for my flight, I got a text from a friend who told me about Rick’s $127,500 1864 with L Proof Indian cent just being stolen. It just made me sick. Thievery at coin shows is not uncommon, but to me it is the most frustrating, disgusting, and maddening part of this industry. We all work hard for what we have, and to have some pathetic loser just steal what we work hard for is so disheartening. I fervently hope that this special and rare coin is recovered and that the thief/thieves are caught and stuck away for a long time.
Soon I was on my way home, with a 3-hour layover (plus an hour delay) in Dallas. Bye-bye Baltimore….
Hello Orange County…..
We arrived about a half hour before the 11:00 pm flight curfew, so the airport was completely deserted!
My hubby was working all night so my sweet daughter-in-law picked me up at the airport and dropped me off at home. Luckily, my adorable Penny was purring when I picked her up and smothered her with hugs and kisses!
Due to flight schedules and that I wanted to do some auction lot viewing before the show, and maybe play some poker at the new casino, I left on Tuesday which is a day earlier than I usually leave for the Baltimore show. I got through security at the John Wayne airport with no bag check so I had plenty of time for my usual preflight beverage!
It seemed like a long time since I had set up at a show (almost 6 weeks), so this is me very happy to be going to the Baltimore show.
Other than the obvious perks of upgrading to first class, one of the other perks is that your bag gets tagged with a bright orange priority label and is put on the plane last so it can come off first – so I watched as my bag was one of the very last bags to be loaded.
Arriving in Baltimore!
The Whitman folks were also nice enough to open security a day earlier so we had a place to safely store our bags until the show opened on Thursday. Since I arrived after hours, we were led through a very empty bourse floor in order to get to the security room.
This is the security room – when you drop your bag off, they give you a ticket for your bags (the other half of the ticket is stuck to your bag), and they require the ticket, an ID, and signature when you retrieve your bag.
I had a really nice view of the harbor from my hotel room
On Wednesday morning, I took my time (getting adjusted to the time change), then headed over to auction lot viewing. I forgot to take a photo when I was viewing lots (it was very packed with folks looking at coins), but I took this shot of the viewing room the next day after the show opened.
I ran into these two wheelers and dealers in the auction room, and then we did some wheeling and dealing afterwards!
Rick Show and Brian Wagner
A pre-show very empty convention center registration lobby
In and around the convention center
Outside the convention center, a lone police officer was on watch
Camden Yards is just a block behind the convention center
Coin business taken care of, I headed to the casino!
The poker room is large and was pretty full.
The show opened at 8:00am Thursday morning – way too early for this west coast gal! But I got to the show on time and began setting up.
Here’s me all set up and open for business!
One of the first people I ran into at the show is one of my most favorite (and handsome) dealers – Dino Koromvokis!
Thursday was a really busy day for me. I had some great sales, and by Thursday afternoon, I had bought quite a few nice coins, much more than I had anticipated I would find at this show!
Here are some highlights:
I even found an Indian cent proof in a DOILY HOLDER (which I am keeping for my own collection)!!
I also picked up a few Lincoln errors I had submitted to PCGS. This is an error I bought that came with the old ANACS cert card
This piece is actually the 10th planchet that broke off of my 9-planchet deep die cap error
I bought this very pretty nickel struck on a cent planchet at a local show a few months ago so I decided to get it graded too. I thought it would come back MS65, but what do I know!
After the show, Rick and I decided to head back to the poker room!
Outside the casino, they had this gorgeous classic car on display!
We decided to have dinner in one of the casino restaurants – the entrees were amazing, as well as over-abundant! I ordered the pasta and had enough left over for two lunches!
Rick had the meatloaf.
They even had some great live music in the lounge
Of course, the Penny Lady had to have a photo next to the Penny machine!
Friday there was a decent crowd, but it was slow even in the morning.
Stacks Bowers’ table seemed to always be busy.
At noon, I headed to the auction to bid on a few lots I had picked out. By the way, I understand that the auction the night before for the Early copper didn’t end until 5:00am on Friday morning!!
Unfortunately for me, but good for whoever was bidding, the lots I wanted had already reached my limit before they came up, so I watched a few of the sales, then went back to my table without even bidding on anything!
This is a view from the inside of the convention center looking out on Charles street.
This is one of the bottles of my local wine I brought with me to share with my friends in the afternoon. It went very quickly!
David at PCGS is always nice and very helpful.
After the show on Friday, we headed out to dinner. It was such a nice evening, we decided to walk over to Capital Grille.
They had complimentary hors devours – this is a lobster roll and their variety of breads
We especially enjoyed their special summer Generous Pour Wine Tasting!
Ron and I split their filet/lobster tail special and their halibut dinner so we could have a little of both
Rick had their delicious rib-eye
The poured so much wine, that even I couldn’t keep up!
Thus, we were all happy campers by the end of the meal!
After dinner, we decided to walk over to Vaccarro’s for dessert, so I took some photos along the way.
We passed by a street fair where they had live music.
There was quite a line at Vaccarro’s, which I understand is usual.
This little boy was quite happy with his HUGE dessert – and I bet he thought he didn’t have to share it!
The three of us split two desserts, but we still couldn’t finish them!
We all agreed the apple strudel was by far the best!
Across the street from Vaccarro’s, they had a “movie in the park” going on – The Wizard of Oz was playing on the side of a building!
We then walked over to one of our favorite night spots, Howl at the Moon over at the Power Plant
Right off, they played the “Piano Man” and this guy did a great job on the harmonica!
They had the usual chalk board where you could pay $1 more than the last person to have them write whatever you wanted on the board – so of course, I had them get rid of some icky comment about the Baltimore Orioles and replace it with an comment about the wonderful Anaheim Angels!!!
Of course, I requested my favorite classic “Time Warp”
Then a cute group of girls from a bachelorette party showed up and really livened up the party!
And then the very tasty fireball shots came, and came…..
If I thought Wednesday morning came too early, then I was sorely mistaken, because waking up Saturday morning REALLY came waaaaaay too early!!!! I arrived just about the same time as the public was being let in!
Although Saturday seemed pretty slow, I had a couple of good sales, including an 1855 Pattern Cent I had just bought at the show. But I had an early flight out so I had to pack up around noon and head to the airport.
While I was waiting for my flight, I got a text from a friend who told me about Rick’s $127,500 1864 with L Proof Indian cent just being stolen. It just made me sick. Thievery at coin shows is not uncommon, but to me it is the most frustrating, disgusting, and maddening part of this industry. We all work hard for what we have, and to have some pathetic loser just steal what we work hard for is so disheartening. I fervently hope that this special and rare coin is recovered and that the thief/thieves are caught and stuck away for a long time.
Soon I was on my way home, with a 3-hour layover (plus an hour delay) in Dallas. Bye-bye Baltimore….
Hello Orange County…..
We arrived about a half hour before the 11:00 pm flight curfew, so the airport was completely deserted!
My hubby was working all night so my sweet daughter-in-law picked me up at the airport and dropped me off at home. Luckily, my adorable Penny was purring when I picked her up and smothered her with hugs and kisses!
Charmy HarkerThe Penny Lady®
0
Comments
Looks like this guy had it under control
That is a massive error. I don't blame you for buying that
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
I miss the Philadelphia Expo, but I've always loved the Baltimore show. Lots of fun.
Mike
How did NGC slab that stack of cents?
BST transactions: dbldie55, jayPem, 78saen, UltraHighRelief, nibanny, liefgold, FallGuy, lkeigwin, mbogoman, Sandman70gt, keets, joeykoins, ianrussell (@GC), EagleEye, ThePennyLady, GRANDAM, Ilikecolor, Gluggo, okiedude, Voyageur, LJenkins11, fastfreddie, ms70, pursuitofliberty, ZoidMeister,Coin Finder, GotTheBug, edwardjulio, Coinnmore...
And you might consider sharing this post with Food and Wine Magazine........ Your food photography gets better all of the time.
OINK
My YouTube Channel
FYI, I've had the deep die cap error for several years now in my personal collection, and just thought I'd get the extra piece certified. It's probably the most wildest, fascinating piece in my collection. NGC graded the piece by the first coin that was struck (the silver colored piece at the bottom), and since it was struck 10 times, it warranted a high grade. I keep it in a clear square acrylic golf ball holder set on foam to display it when I bring it to shows now and then.
I look forward to returning to Baltimore in November - but first, off to Chicago in August where I hope to see some of you forum members!!
https://thepennylady.com/
Love that kid.
Great show report, Charmy.
Rick needs to pray to St. Anthony, and he will get his 1864 L on Ribbon IHC back.
See you in November.
Thanks very much for your time and effort in posting this wonderful report!!
I'm from Balmore' and I love the city.
As I have said from the outset of the riots I knew that there would be no issues with the Baltimore show nor Baltimore in general by the summer.
My family and I have been to the city several times since the riots, the last being on July 4th per my prior post with Pics. We have had no issues whatsoever. All of the doom and gloom speculation was for naught.
I am very much looking forward to the fall show. Given the Summer experience I'm sure that the fall show will be as busy as usual with business as usual.
Again, many thanks for your wonderful report. I thoroughly enjoyed it. You take some great pics!
https://thepennylady.com/
<< <i>Super report! I could not stomach the prices at the restaurants where you went. I don't think that I have ever paid more than $15 for a meal. I like the dollar menu.
Too many positive BST transactions with too many members to list.
https://thepennylady.com/
k
“I may not believe in myself but I believe in what I’m doing” ~Jimmy Page~
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947)
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
<< <i>Raufus, thank you. We had a fun time in Baltimore and definitely look forward to being there again in November!! >>
Thanks again.
I'm looking forward to it as well.
<< <i>
<< <i>Super report! I could not stomach the prices at the restaurants where you went. I don't think that I have ever paid more than $15 for a meal. I like the dollar menu.
Man, its all relative.
We just got back from our first nice vacation in a couple of years. We went to Atlantis in the Bahamas. LOVED IT! However, dinner for two at Nobu was $423!!!! The fine Balto places seem very inexpensive relative to Nobu, Dunes. etc on Paradise Island.
A couple of the places had $14K bottles of various types of wine, etc on the menu. They said they sell about every 6 months. Beyond my comprehension.
Care for a bottle or two?
Well, just Love coins, period.
<< <i>Ridiculous prices there. The Inn at Little Washington (Virginia) would be about the same for what would likely be a lot finer meal. >>
We went there for our 10th Anniversary. You are absolutely correct. That was a really fantastic experience.
Nobu was the most absurdly overpriced.
The other nice places were still high though not nearly like Nobu and the food was very good.
5$ bills are WOW with the numbers - wanted:
02121809
04151865
Wanted - Flipper notes with the numbers 6-9 or 0-6-9 ON 1$ 2$ 5$ 10$ 20$
Wanted - 10$ Sereis 2013 - fancy Serial Numbers
Do all dealers have as much fun as you?