PNNA Spring 2023 Tukwila Show Report (Friday afternoon)
airplanenut
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Friday was a very long day for me. I was in Florida the prior week and a half and booked on the 7am FLL-SEA flight Friday morning. Did you see that FLL was under 20” of water? Yeah, my flight didn’t happen. I was offline most of Thursday and found out about my flight at 8:30pm. It looked like I wouldn’t get home until early next week when a wonderful Alaska Airlines rep found an itinerary for me if I could get to Miami fast enough. I threw everything I had in my suitcase (which as I write this on Sunday afternoon still hasn’t arrived, but I digress) and booked it for Miami, an hour away and less than two hours before my first flight would leave. The plan was Miami to New Orleans Thursday night, getting in at midnight, then New Orleans to Dallas to Seattle starting at 5:45am Friday. I barely made MIA in time, but I got out, as when I got to New Orleans, saw a nonstop to seattle on the departures board for 7am. Another call to Alaska and I was on that flight. Then I tried to find a place to sleep in the terminal, which conveniently is bright as can be and blasting jazz, even in the middle of the night when security is closed and only a few folks in my position are there. I got maybe two bad hours of sleep there and woke up when the terminal came alive at 4am. My planned workday on the plane became sleep time instead. I got to seattle around 10am and then spent too much time trying to find my bag before heading home.
On the light rail, I passed the show. So close yet so far!
I also saw a 777-9 take off out of Boeing field. I’m not sure if this is the one I’ve flown on or the other with the same colors, but I’ll find out what they were doing on that test flight on Monday.
I spent a few minutes at home and then went to grab some groceries and pick up my dogs from boarding. When we got home, I took a few minute breather and enjoyed the pups.
Normally, I’m “sick” the day of the show and I go early bird Friday morning. This time I headed out around 3pm and figured I’d spend an hour or two before the dogs needed dinner and I’d crash. There isn’t often much for me at the show, but I like to look, catch up with folks, and hey, maybe I’ll find something. I didn’t even bother to take the time to get cash this time since any bank is out of the way.
The show seemed well attended and it sounds like business was happening, especially with gold. My first conversation was with @Lakesammman and @Bochiman who were sharing a table. A few rows later I ran into James Sego, who hasn’t been at the show in a few years and I didn’t expect to see. It was nice to catch up for the first time in a while, and out conversation eventually moved on from coins to whiskey. I lamented one bottle I haven’t been able to find in the 6 months I’ve been looking, and lo and behold, a local store got it in today, so my search is over (Balvenie 12 year, sweet toast of American oak, if you’re curious). I also caught @ThePennyLady briefly, but unfortunately didn’t have much time to chat as I’d already stayed longer than planned.
I did end up finding one piece. The 1968 Niger 10 Francs has a design I love and usually comes hideous, with haze and hairlines everywhere. A little over a year ago I found one of the four NGC PF69UCAM examples and bought it. I saw another at the show (just made, so pop is now 5) and it was priced too low, so I bought it and now have 40% of the top pop. The coin I already have has slightly nicer mirrors and this one slightly better frost. I’ll probably keep both, but that’s TBD. This isn’t something I’m specifically collecting, but it’s a design I’ve always liked, and now I have two really nice examples when very few such coins exist.
In all, I could have spent longer at the show and taken a closer look at some tables, but I got out of the show what I was hoping for—I always like seeing the people at least as much as the coins. This show is a good one, especially considering how few shows there are in the area and the fact that it’s basically in my back yard.
Comments
@airplanenut... Thanks for the report. The nightmare travel story brought back memories of when I lived/worked in Seattle for twenty years. While not every trip - many were uneventful - there were the occasional glitches that resulted in sleeping in the airport or unplanned layovers. Nice Niger lion coin. Cheers, RickO
Great to see you, brief as it was. It was one of the best PNNA Tukwila shows I've participated in, very busy, lots of traffic, made some good buys. And the Pacific Northwest is always so beautiful. Thanks for sharing your adventures!
The Penny Lady®
Glad you finally got the travel sorted out. What a mess. Nice newp Niger/Lion … a good looking design. I was there Saturday morning for just a couple of hours. @Lakesammman wouldn’t sell me anything for close to retail, because his stuff is too nice. @Bochiman had a portion of his hoard there and I managed to grab this from him … just so I didn’t leave empty handed. 🤘🏻
…… and for all those wondering where the hobby is headed as collectors age … maybe check out the latest backside of Coins Magazine 😆