Charmy's Big 2024 FUN SHOW REPORT w/tons of Pics!
ThePennyLady
Posts: 4,468 ✭✭✭✭✭
Wow, what a show! This show was a whirlwind for me and I couldn't believe it was over when it was time to pack up on Saturday. Most dealers I spoke with said they too had a very busy and successful show. For me, quality pennies seem to be remaining strong, even in this slightly softer market. I think quality pieces in any denomination are garnering strong prices, particularly those in the new CAC holders. I found a lot of beautiful Pretty Pennies for my inventory including a scarce 1873 Double Liberty Indian cent in PCGS AU58+, a very cool Indian cent error for my collection, and some gorgeous encased Indian cents and pocket mirrors for my exonumia collection. I also enjoyed seeing several of my regular friends and customers, as well as many folks I only get to see and talk with at this show. As usual, the FUN show is a great start to the New Year!
(photos courtesy of the Orange County Convention Center website)
I left sunny Orange County, California, for sunny Orange County, Florida early Tuesday morning, flying through Houston.
As we were boarding our plane to Orlando, I noticed the seating configuration was very different. The first class section had pod-type seats which I had never seen before. We were told that there were several 767 international airplanes that were in Houston for mechanical updates and repairs that needed to get back to Orlando, so we were given one of those planes. Since I had a first class seat, I had one of those amazing pod seats! It was so roomy and private that I wished the flight was actually longer! I even found a penny (face up) on the floor when I entered my pod! There was plenty of leg room, my own table, a larger tv screen (I watched the Barbie move during my flight), and the seat laid all the way down. I was in heaven!
I arrived in beautiful Orlando just as the sun was setting.
I checked into the Hilton, one of the host hotels, grabbed some dinner, and settled in for the night. I happened to have a beautiful view of the pool outside my window
This is the daytime view outside my window
Set up at the convention center was at 2pm, so I headed over to the North Concourse early to register and check in with some of my dealer friends.
(photos courtesy of the Orange County Convention Center website)
When it was just about time for set up, there was a very large crowd of dealers gathered in the lobby.
Set up day is the day I do my searching and hunting for new Pretty Pennies for my customer want lists and general inventory. In addition to going "shopping" at other dealer tables, (except for Long Beach) I set up at most large shows by myself, so I am very fortunate and extremely grateful to have several dealers, as well as customers, come to my table with their boxes and handfuls of pennies for my consideration.
These are the coins I found during set up day, as well as throughout the show, which included this beautiful scarce 1873 Double Liberty Indian cent in the coveted grade of PCGS AU58+
Sometimes, if I'm lucky, I come across a piece or two for my personal collection. However, at this show, since many folks know that I collect various penny exonumia and Indian cent error coins, I had several interesting pieces come to my table, including those mentioned above that I ended up purchasing.
This 1868 Indian cent struck thru error is pretty scarce, and I've never seen one like it before. A dealer who had seen my website where I post my personal collection, including my Indian cent errors, couldn't make it to the show gave this error cent to another dealer to show me. I examined it carefully, saw that it had a piece of silver metal that "fell" onto the blank planchet or planchet strip and got struck into the Indian cent. The metal piece even has part of it that wraps around the rim of the coin. It's a very fascinating error. I showed it to Jon Sullivan (an error expert), Rick Snow, and Chris Pilliod (a metal expert) who all said it is very unusual and a fascinating piece. We all speculated that the piece of metal is most likely silver, but the coin would have to be removed from the holder and tested to determine the specific metal content. I was thrilled to be offered this "WOW" error coin, and was very happy to add it to my error collection.
A dealer friend who very well knows my exonumia collecting interests and from whom I've purchased many encased cents brought me several beautiful gem encased Indian cents, an encased celluloid Indian cent, and a couple Lincoln cent pocket mirrors. I have over 150 encased Indian cents and pocket mirrors, yet I didn't have any of these in my collection. So, I once again, I was very happy to add all of these beautiful pieces to my collection.
I brought one of my nicer cabs to enjoy at the show, and to share with my friends. It was a Piazzo Del Dotto cab from Napa and I can say that it didn't last very long!
After set up day, I went to dinner with some of my "regular" group, Karl and Joanne Stephens, Don Chinnick and Wolfgang Meirer. We went to an amazing steakhouse restaurant, Charley's Steakhouse, where Don treated us to some amazing wines he had brought and shared with us.
They had a beautiful selection of steaks to choose from.
Delicious bread and a very tasty meatball appetizer
A couple of our steak dishes
I arrived at the show early on Thursday to get organized and ready for the "throngs" of folks who I was hoping would make it to the show! And we were not disappointed!
The FUN show board at the ribbon cutting ceremony
Tony Swicer, President
Bob Hurst, Vice President
Tom Uram, ANA President
The "throngs" were indeed waiting to get into the show!
I got very busy right from the beginning showing coins to folks, and didn't even get away from my table until later in the day. I was able to take some photos around the show in the early afternoon. Some of you may even see yourself among the crowds!
Several forum members stopped by to say hi and check out my inventory, but I didn't get many photos of them, but here is
Ron/On_The_Crag
Soon it was time to head out to dinner. I made plans with another of my usual group - Rick, his son Kenny, Neil Urich, Ron Mirr and his sister Karen. We went to Maggianos for some good wine and Italian food!
The next morning I had an early breakfast awards ceremony at the convention center. I was nominated for and was deeply honored to receive the 50th annual Numismatic Ambassador Award at the FUN show yesterday. This beautiful plaque was given to me and 4 others (Bruce Benoit, David Frank, Sam Gelberd and Jeffrey Rosinia) for our contributions to the hobby.
I also won this coin as a door prize
A collector stopped by my table to show me this 1874 off center Indian cent he acquired. It used to be a museum piece and had the museum number actually written directly on the coin. He found an article depicting this exact coin. The number has since faded but can still be seen on the blank off center part of the coin.
Amanda and Billie - the Grey Sheet gals (as I fondly call them) - were just one table away from me. I always enjoy their company and finally took a moment to snap their photo for my show report. They are such charming, witty, and beautiful ladies, I'm just sorry I didn't have a chance to spend more time with them during this show.
Matt/ChangeInHistory came by to say hi
On Friday we heard some loud cheering and clapping at the front of the bourse floor, and we later found out that security had apprehended a jerk thief who had stolen a lot of gold coins. He resisted the security guards, tried to punch them, so they had to throw him to the floor, a security guard put his knee on him to restrain him, then threatened to taser him. As the guy was caught, he threw all the coins he had stolen onto the bourse floor (which they were able to gather every one of them). A large group had gathered around, and once he was caught, everyone cheered. This is a photo of the creep!
Friday was also extremely busy and I wasn't able to get away from the table much to take photos. It was after 4pm when things finally slowed down and I was able to open the second bottle of wine I had brought - one of my very favorites, a Rombauer Zinfandel from Twin Rivers/Napa.
That night for dinner, I went with my foreign coin dealer gang to celebrate Karl's birthday at Capitol Grill - a very popular steakhouse restaurant among the coin dealers.
Once again, Don Chinnick graciously treated us all to more bottles of his amazing wine!
The company was wonderful as usual, the food was delicious, and the wine was awesome!
It was Karl's birthday, so the restaurant prepared a special dessert for him/us
Saturday morning I went to the show early so I could have some time to take pictures of the exhibits and around the bourse. It was raining when I got there but soon there was a huge downpoor that lasted about an hour. I hoped it wouldn't keep collectors away from the show, but when the show opened, there was still quite a crowd waiting to get in.
In the exhibit area, I noticed the plaque of past Best of Show winners and saw my name from 2014!
There were several interesting exhibits but my favorite was the one on Two Cents. At the time I took the photos, they hadn't announced this year's winners so I don't know which exhibit won Best of Show.
This is the panning for gold area, with a Mr. Ed as a mascot!
The spider press
CAC Table
NGC 
PCGS (James Sego and Justin Waddell)
A dealer friend stopped by to show me a couple very cool/scarce pattern coins
GreatCollections were giving out their first calendars - very beautiful!
Even on Saturday, there was quite a bit of public at the show
But soon it was time for me to pack up and head to the airport. So long Orlando until next year...
This time I flew through Denver which was covered with snow and quite beautiful
My hubby had left for our place in Lake Havasu to do some repairs before it gets too hot, so only Penny (and our other old kitty Sierra) were there to greet me!
As I mentioned above, it was a great show, very busy, with lots of great material to buy, and many collectors hunting for material for their collections. If judged by this show, you wouldn't know the coin market is supposed to be on the "soft" side. This was the first show run by the new convention coordinator, Katie Williams, and there were a few "new manager" glitches but nothing serious at all. The FUN show is still a very smoothly run very successful show, one I very much look forward to attending each year!
Next up, the Long Beach show (January 31-February 3, table 529)!
Comments
Thank you for the excellent report. Appreciated by those who could not attend!
Great report!
Thanks for taking the time to put it together for those of us who could not attend!
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
Excellent reporting
Thanks for your super report.
Terrific report
Thank you for putting it together!
TBD
Fantastic report, one of your best, as you really captured all the aspects of the amazing show.
And congratulations on your well deserved award!
Thanks! What a great recap! And you got to fly Polaris on the airline I just retired from….and I’ve never gotten to fly in that class…..even after 25 years…..😉
Thanks once again for another great show report Charmy😊.
I was unsure if you were going to post on this show. Oh but ye of little faith.
Wayne
Kennedys are my quest...
I know I'm a little late in posting but I usually unwind on Sundays after a show, and I now watch my adorable yet very active 8-month old grandson on Mondays so that's a "non-work" day for me which set me back a little from preparing this report.
The Penny Lady®
Like I have always said "family first".
Your have a real keeper there and quite a cutie.
Wayne
Kennedys are my quest...
Wow great report thanks for sharing!!! The food and coins look amazing!!!
I've been waiting on your show report. ( getting a little concerned ) Thank you so much for the report and the great pictures. Now I gotta go find something to eat.
And a good Riesling or Chardonnay to wash it down lol
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
Fantastic update, Charmy, as usual !!
Long Beach is later this month ? Wow....didn't it used to be a few months after FUN ? I wonder if they are trying to be a Winter destination to bump up attendance ?
It's most always some time in February, it's just a little earlier in February this time.
The Penny Lady®
Enjoyed your report. Especially liked seeing the exhibits and the o/c Indian cent. Well deserved award you received.
Thanks for your report, Charmy, they are always excellent! I'm glad we finally got to meet (albeit too briefly) at IMEX.
Kind regards,
George
Thanks for your report and all the pictures, Charmy! You're a true Epicurean!
…….
And this is a leap year so they even had an extra day in the month to plan it! 😉
Nice writeup and pics. Congrats on your award.
I am a newer collector (started April 2020), and I primarily focus on U.S. Half Cents and Type Coins. Early copper is my favorite.
Nice to stop by for a quick chat with you - Always appreciate the EFFORT for you doing your show reports.
WS
Another outstanding show report. I appreciate your efforts. Congrats on winning the award. You do so much for the hobby.
Successful BST with BustDMs , Pnies20, lkeigwin, pursuitofliberty, Bullsitter, felinfoel, SPalladino (CBH's - 37 Die Marriage's)
$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
As always, a great report.
Nice to see they caught the creep with all the stolen gold.
Great picture of your grandson!!
"“Those who sacrifice liberty for security/safety deserve neither.“(Benjamin Franklin)
"I only golf on days that end in 'Y'" (DE59)
Wonderful as always. Love to see all the activities!
Great report, Charmy. So much fun and info in one report.
Thank you as always.
Coin community wins!!!
Great show report as usual. I loved seeing photos of all your pickups and displays throughout the show.
Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.
Donato
Donato's Complete US Type Set ---- Donato's Dansco 7070 Modified Type Set ---- Donato's Basic U.S. Coin Design Set
Successful transactions: Shrub68 (Jim), MWallace (Mike)
Great report.
Your 1868 obverse struck-through cent seems to have a slight wood-grain pattern. The silver (presumably) inclusion is elongated in the same direction (parallel to) the wood-grain. That is an indication that the silver bit was included in (or on) the bronze ingot BEFORE it was completely rolled out. So, technically, it is an off-metal planchet inclusion and not a "strike-through".
Hard to believe that guy got caught with MULTIPLE coins. You'd think after stealing 1 or 2, he'd take off and not get greedy but nobody ever said thieves were smart.
I liked the display of counterfeit detectors. A few years ago I posted on this forum some pictures of one that I bought (cheap) at a local coin show. Now I know why somebody offered to buy it (I didn't sell, though). The display indicates that this type is "Exceedingly Rare"
Apparently, mine is an intermediate development (not in that display) which has "PAT. AP'D FOR" (patent Applied For), but no final patent number.
Balanced with genuine half dollar:
Out-of-balance with fake (lightweight) cast half dollar:
.
Thanks to your report, I now know a little more about it (see far right CCD):
.
Wow.......almost feels like I was there. Thank you for the comprehensive experience.
.
Cool, I see one of my Moonlight Mint feeding fingers from my Denver Mint surplus coin press (B):
.
@dcarr
I can see why you think this as I did too at first. However, the metal piece actually wraps around the coin and onto the rim (it's hard to see in the photo since it's right next to the prong). So I and the other experts I showed it to all agree that it was struck through a separate piece of metal and wasn't part of the planchet.
The Penny Lady®
im certainly glad they busted that dirt bag. excellent report charmy, thank you
Awesome report! I've been in international business class twice (a roundtrip), and I'm right there with you on wanting a longer flight. London to Seattle and I was wishing we could keep going to LAX just so I could get a few more hours of luxury. Of course, if you really up your penny-selling game, you can have one of those planes all to yourself and the whole cabin can be your pod
That it "wraps around the rim" is even more of an indication that it is a planchet inclusion and not a strike-through.
If it were a piece of silver that fell onto the planchet just before it was struck, the die would shear off the piece of silver at the edge of the collar as the die entered the collar. It would not wrap around the edge.
If it were a deeper planchet inclusion, it would show the depth of that inclusion on the edge.
So I think the other experts are mistaken in this case.
The metallurgist I showed it to examined the coin in hand and believes the silver fragmant was on top of (not mixed in) the planchet strip when the blank planchet was punched out of the strip, before it entered the collar and was struck by the obverse die.
The Penny Lady®
Thank you for a wonderful show report. I always look forward to these.
Great report Charmy and congrats on the award! The Polaris seats on United are terrific when going across the pond on overnight flights, glad you liked them. I was surprised to see them on the IAH-MCO flights and the explanation you received makes sense.
Best, SH
Congrats on your award
Thank you, Charmy. I was not able to go this year and so I really appreciate seeing the show through your lens.
I disagree. There is no way for the silver fragment to wrap around the edge in that scenario.
The only way that something like that could happen would be if the bronze strip was lying on top of the silver fragment when punched. Remember, the punching process uses a round flat die to try and push the bronze strip through a donut hole (resulting in a round planchet getting sheared out of the strip).
The punching process is pretty violent with high-level shock waves moving through the metal (it is, by far, the loudest operation in minting). The shock usually dislodges any stray matter unless strongly bonded to the planchet already.
Fantastic report and pics. Congrats on the award too. Well done!!!
Dave
@dcarr Respectfully, I am not persuaded. After (1) my personal examination of this piece in hand, and after 4 experts, including (2) an error expert/specialist who replaced Fred Weinberg as PCGS's error grader, (3) a metallurgist by trade who also collects and studies error coins, and (4) Rick Snow all examined the coin in hand, in addition to (5) NGC's own error expert who examined it outside of encapsulation, I am convinced the coin to be a strike thru.
Also, again very respectfully, while I appreciate your opinions, I feel this discussion is a bit distracting to this show report thread and does not need to continue here, so I kindly request that if you wish to discuss this further, feel free to contact me directly by pm or email. Thank you.
The Penny Lady®
I think NGC got the grade wrong too…..
to soon ?
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
Thanks for another outstanding report!
I agree with you about the grade Crypto, I see no reason or flaw why it shouldn't have graded at least MS63.
The Penny Lady®
It is always of interest to me how errors are graded in comparison to non errors. To some errors are damage. So how are the grades determined?
Error grades are supposed to be determined by the same criteria as a non-error coin, based on the wear and details of the parts of the coin that still exist.
The Penny Lady®
Awesome show report, Charmy. It's always great to read these
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
the food the food