ANA Show Report
golden
Posts: 9,795 ✭✭✭✭✭
This was my 53rd consecutive (1970-to date ) ANA show.
I left home on Sunday morning for the two-day drive to Pittsburgh. After three areas of road construction, that did not slow me down, I arrived at my hotel just east of Cincinnati in the afternoon.
I continued the drive on Monday morning and arrived at my hotel at the Pittsburgh airport in early afternoon.
On Tuesday morning I had the very modest breakfast at the hotel and then drove to the convention center. Traffic was very slow the last 3 miles. I pulled into the parking garage ( $13 ) and got one of the very last parking spaces. I was very early so I walked around the convention center. The center is on the Allegheny River and has a nice view.
When the show opened to ANA members at 12:30 there were several hundred people waiting to go inside. My first stop was at Great Collections to drop off 3 foreign coins for their auction. It was a very fast and smooth transaction.
I next went to see Pierre Fricke to look at a Large Cent that he had on his price list. It was nice and in the grade that I needed. I thought the price was ok so I made the purchase.
My next stop was at Chris Victor-McCawley's table. He had a Large Cent that I had been eyeing for a long time. They had recently purchased another Large Cent of the same date and in a higher grade. I liked the recent purchase better and I thought the price was fair, so I added another one to my collection.
I then started to look at the tables in the Ultra-Premium section. At the Mid-American table, I saw a $2 1/2 gold piece from the Dahlonega Mint in an old green holder. I have been looking for one of those for several years. It was a nice-looking coin. It was not cheap, but I decided to step up to the plate and make the purchase. At this point, I was on a roll.
Next, I started at aisle 100 and made a systematic search of all the tables for coins that I needed. Along the way I said hello to David Kahn, Julian Leidman, Kenneth Goldman and Liz Coggan.
By late afternoon, I had not found anything else and decided to call it a day.
Heading back to the show on Wednesday traffic was very slow again. I started around the floor where I had left off on Tuesday. I saw a foreign gold coin that I liked but just could not get the deal to come together. I spent the rest of the day on the bourse floor but did not see anything that I needed. I headed back to my hotel for the night.
I went back to the show on Thursday. My first stop was to drop off some coins for Messydesk (John ) to image for me. I saw a complete Morgan Dollar Proof set graded from 62-65 (with the 1895 in 63) priced at $275,000. Common Morgan Dollars were priced at $34, circ $2 1/2 Indians were $390, American Eagles were spot + $6, one ounce gold bars were spot + 20, and 10 ounce silver bars were spot +20. I saw hot dogs at the concession stand for $6.50.
I had a nice chat with new ANA Governors Kenny Sammut and John Brush. I am sure that they will do a great job. I looked at the exhibits and the great Tyrant collection of British coins.
At 3 PM I attended the ANA member awards celebration. The food was great. When that was over, I headed back to my hotel.
Friday morning, I checked out of my hotel and headed south. I went to the New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia. I had signed up ($79.50) to do the bridge walk. You walk on a catwalk that is 20 feet under the bridge. You are in a harness and hooked to a cable. The walk under the bridge is 3030 feet long. At the highest point, you are 851 feet above the river. What a great experience. I spent the night in the area and headed for home on Saturday.
I had a great time at the ANA and am looking forward to next year at Chicago ( Rosemont).
Comments
Nice read.
Congrats on your purchases!
Great show report. Looking forward to seeing your new large cents. Pierre Fricke is the guy to see for large cents, and is exceptionally fair to do business with. I did (another) trade with him at Summer FUN for a middle date cent I needed.
Great story about the New River Gorge bridge.
My wife and I got engaged on that catwalk. Back then (1986), it was “free” to walk on as someone had cut a hole through the security fence, and it was an easy hike from the campground nearby.
Reads like a diary, I like it, 53rd consecutive, wow, good stuff.
Excellent report. Sounds like you had a productive trip. I have only made it to 3 ANA's and have never been able to make a purchase.
Successful BST with drddm, BustDMs, Pnies20, lkeigwin, pursuitofliberty, Bullsitter, felinfoel, SPalladino
$5 Type Set https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/u-s-coins/type-sets/half-eagle-type-set-circulation-strikes-1795-1929/album/344192
CBH Set https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/everyman-collections/everyman-half-dollars/everyman-capped-bust-half-dollars-1807-1839/album/345572
Liked the report.
Am I to assume you are older than 50?
I am scared of heights and trust trust harnesses so... I'm wondering if I would try the walk?
WTS, My daughter tells me "what are you afraid of? The older you get... you have less to lose".
I said that I was going to do the walk when I first heard about it last year. The closer it came to my 3PM time to walk, the more I started to think about it. When I saw 3 old ladies get off of the bus after they had finished the 1PM walk, I said to myself " If they can do it so can I ".
Post up some pics of the newps!