My Long Beach report.

SanctionII

I decided to get away from work and attend the Long Beach show. I called a friend of mine who lives in west LA to see if he wanted to get together. He said yes and invited me to stay at his place.

I drove from the SF Bay area to Long Beach on Thursday morning. I left home at 3:00 a.m. At about 4:45 a.m. driving south on I-5 a road construction crew was working (resurfacing the right lane and restriping the white line separating the right lane from the shoulder). As a result the traffic was forced into the left lane for many miles. During this time driving on this stretch of road the construction crew did something that required the closing of the left lane. Traffic came to a halt. I sat in my car for over 30 minutes. Eventually traffic started moving again and I continued on my road trip.

At about 7:15 a.m. I arrived at Lavall Road just before I-5 heads out of the valley up into the Tehachapi mountains and Tejon Pass. I stopped to fill my gas tank and walk around. The price of regular at Chevron on Thursday morning was $5.79/gallon (on my return stop at the same Chevron last night at 9:00 p.m. the price of a gallon of gas increased almost a dollar).

Once I came into the LA basin I found myself in a traffic jam caused by two cars colliding in the two middle lanes of I-5 just before the I-5/I-405 interchange. This accident caused another 15 minute delay.

My two delays added 45 minutes to my trip. My pit stop to get gas, walk and grab something for breakfast added another 20-25 minutes.

The trip otherwise was smooth.

I arrived at the convention center parking garage at 10:00 a.m. Total travel time was 7 hours. Total time driving was just under 6 hours.

I entered the bourse about 10:15 a.m.

I spent time on Thursday dealing with PCGS. I submitted about 45 coins for grading. Filling out submission forms and placing coins in flips takes time. Then standing in line to be called to an intake person and speaking with the PCGS employee about your submission takes time.

While at the PCGS lounge area working on submission forms anothet person came up and sat at my table. When I pulled out a capital holder containing coins I wanted to submit he looked at the coins and asked me about them. I then asked about the coins in flips he was holding.

He told me he was from Norway and that the coins he was holding did not belong to him. He said the coins belong to a friend of his; and that he was going to submit the coins for grading for his friend.

He showed me the coins he was holding. They included an 1891 CC gold eagle and an 1892 CC gold eagle. The 1891 is likely an EF or low AU. The 1892 is an MS.

He also showed me this 1796 dollar (see photo below).

I do not know if this 1796 dollar is genuine. If it is genuine I have no idea what it would grade. It is an attractive coin.

After I finished submitting coins to PCGS I had this high quality lunch that only cost $19.85 (see photo below).

While eating lunch I chatted with two other collectors and had a good conversation with them.

I then went to the ANACS table and spoke to two gentlemen about an MS 1857 flying eagle cent I have had for many years in my 7070 album. Previous dealers I showed the coin to thought it may be counterfeit and told me to get an opinion from ANACS.

The gentlemen from ANACS weighed the coin (its weight is good). They both thought it looked "different", with a matte like appearance. They said it may or may not be authentic. For now it goes back in to the 7070 album.

I stopped and talked to Andy at Angel Dee's table. Always nice to chat with Andy.

I stopped by and talked to Charmy. I looked in her case and saw a 1940 PF66RD Lincoln cent. I looked at it and became interested in same as an upgrade to the PF62RD example I have in my 1940 proof Registry Set. I told Charmy I was interested but that I wanted to look for others on the bourse. I told her I would talk to her about the coin on Friday.

I looked for other such cents on the bourse. I found a few, both raw and slabbed. The all were not attractive. So on Friday I purchased Charmy's coin. It is very nice. As a result my 1940 proof set upgraded and is now ranked #10.

I spent about 30 minutes cruising the bourse after seeing Charmy.

I left Long Beach in the late afternoon and headed to west LA. My friend and I hung out at his place. He cooked me this dinner (see photo below).

We had an enjoyable evening.

One more thing about Thursday on the bourse. Two of the "stars" of the Storage Wars tv show were present at this table (see photo below).

I went back to Long Beach on Friday morning. When I arrived I dealt with PCGS again. I submitted a proof Franklin that was slabbed before CAM designations were awarded. I am having that coin reconsidered and hope it receives a CAM designation.

Three other coins were submitted for reconsideration as varieties.

I spent more time cruising the bourse, talking to dealers, looking at coins I am interested in (including proof Barber half dollars) and enjoying hobby time. I talked to one dealer who had a supply of the proofs I collect. We talked and I found out that he is a dealer because he wants to instead of having to (financially). That is much different than a dealer who has to earn a living (to earn money to pay for life's expenses). Interesting. I talked to another dealer who also has a supply of the proofs I collect. He is a bulk purchaser of proof sets from other dealers. He evaluates the sets he purchases in bulk for varieites, Cameos, etc. that are worthy of grading. His cases at the show had many very nice high grade examples of these coins.

I did pick up two proof Washington quarters to upgrade two of my proof sets.

Both Thursday and Friday I saw steady foot traffic on the bourse. The crowds were not heavy in number, thus there were no human traffic jams on the bourse.

I left about 3:00 p.m.and headed again to west LA to meet my friend. We hung out at his place, then had dinner at 6:00 p.m. I was going to spend the night with him and drive home today.

However I changed my mind and drove home after dinner. I left west LA at 7:20 p.m. and pulled into my driveway at 1:20 a.m. this morning.

All in all a good hobby get away.

When I first posted this thread I had types it on my cell phone and as a result there were many typos. Sorry about that. I have edited my initial post to eliminate the typos (hopefully all of them).

kaz

Thanks for the report! Glad you made it through the drive and survived the "high quality lunch." My cursory opinion of the dollar is that it looks genuine but probably cleaned at some point.(correction: a fake as it is the off center bust which was only used in 1795) Gas around here is about half what y'all are having to pay.

ricko

@SanctionII .... Thanks for an interesting report. Cannot determine authenticity of the coin from the pictures, but it does look good. Cheers, RickO

pcgscacgold

Great report. So much gold overseas. Gas here just topped $4.00 again for lowest grade. Wish my car didn’t consume the expensive kind.

Good luck with the submissions.

braddick

I am just about convinced that 1796 dollar is a high-end counterfeit.
Great show report! I am glad traffic wasn't too gnarly for you.
Did you end up picking up that PR66 Lincoln from Charmy?

RichieURich

Nice report, thanks for posting it!

streeter

Would you go back next year?

SanctionII

I did pick up the PF66RD 1940 cent.

I will most likely go back to Long Beach next year, only next time it will be for a vacation with my wife (staying up to a week and enjoying the beaches in LA and Orange Counties.

Lakesammman

Nice report - sounds like a good time!

SanctionII

P.S.

I also picked ip a 1957 double mint set in OGP that contains 4 gorgeous gem multi colored toned Lincoln cents.

Toned Lincoln lovers would really like these cents.

keyman64

Congrats on the trip. I just filled up my gas tank for $3.25/gallon here in central Florida. Gas sure is expensive on the left coast.

vplite99

Thanks for the report. The 1796 dollar is a Chinese counterfeit.

Namvet69

A good friend is the real deal! Thanks for sharing your story. Peace Roy

jclovescoins

Cool lunch lol
1796 is fake

2ndCharter

I'll stay in South Carolina - filled up at $3.01 last week and can travel to the FUN show in about 7 hours.

winesteven

1. Congratulations @SanctionII on your 1940 Proof 66 Red newp, and moving up to #10. That’s a real nice coin!
2. @keyman64 , the one month gas tax holiday Governor DeSantis gave us started today, which reduces prices 25 cents a gallon.
3. @2ndCharter , I hope to see you at FUN this January. I’ll have an Educational Exhibit based around my unique Indian Head Cent set. I hope you stop by to see it.

Steve

1northcoin

Thanks. Enjoyed the report. Looks like your friend"s culinary skills could provide some real competition for the $19.85 "High Quality Lunch." (FWIW I had a similar"High Quality" lunch at COSTCO yesterday at $1.50, sans the Cheetos)

kaz

@vplite99 said:
Thanks for the report. The 1796 dollar is a Chinese counterfeit.

You are correct. It has the off center obv that was only used in 1795. Editing my first reply

logger7

Definitely a strong argument for getting raw coins like the ones you mentioned graded. I preferred the healthier of the two lunches you showed me, they digest better.

WAYNEAS

Thanks for your show report.
Wayne

Walkerguy21D

Great report, thanks for posting!

johnny9434

No musterd with the hot dog?

coinkat

Its not always about what you buy or sell... it is about what you learn

Dug13

Great report, thanks for sharing.
Do you feel pricing is still strong or is it softening a bit?

Gas around here -- 2.97 to 3.09.

"high quality lunch that only cost $19.85 "
Not bad for Tube Steak, lol

marcmoish

What a splendid show report.

That dollar does look fake, but heck many GTG's have surprising results so time will tell.

savitale

Great show report. Sounds like you had an awesome time.