FUN Show Summary - Darkside Point of View (with photos)

Aethelred · January 12, 2004 10:56AM

My goal for this show was to add several George III coins to my type set and to add to my US Fractional Currency set. I left Asheville, NC on Thursday at about 10:30 a.m. and made it to Brunswick, GA to crash with LordM. We did a little coin trading and I ended up with an NGC MS-63 1800 Maundy Penny. We left GA early Friday and were in Orlando by 10:30 where we were greeted by Spinaker at the hotel. After unpacking we left for the show. When we got there we were greeted by Mongoose and informed that Rhound was on the floor buying every British coin in sight. We waited for Ajaan outside the convention center as we were told he and his wife were on the way from their hotel, but they went in by way of another door, so we did not see them until later. I also met Danglen, who had a table at the show.

Once inside Mongoose gave me a hot tip on a US dealer who had a large selection of Maundy sets, so that was my first order of business. I did not find any sets I wanted, but I did buy a 1770 Maundy Penny and a 1815 Eighteenpence. High quality British material was in short supply and bringing strong prices. Later in the day I found a pretty 1806 Halfpenny and a 1807 Penny along with a wonderful pair of George III Sixpences dating 1816 and 1817, they were so nice I had to have both. I also got a nice 1787 Sixpence.

After the show Ajaan & his wife, Mongoose, Rhound, Spinaker, LordM and I went back to the hotel for a late night trading session along with lots of beer and pizza not to mention some cigar swapping between Mongoose and I. To be quite honest I had a much better time with our little group than I did at the show. We showed off our collections, learned a little about coin photography from Mongoose and had a great time trading coins in a relaxed and friendly setting that the show could not begin to compare with.

On day two I went in search of a new gold coin for the George III set. I bought an 1809 Half Guinea (PCGS AU-50) from John Kern for a very good price. Then I found a new book on US Fractional Currency, the first published in about 40 years. Less than five minutes later they announced over the intercom that the author was at a certain table, so I rushed over and had my book autographed. I closed the day by purchasing several Fractionals from Harlan J. Berk. I also got to see the missing 1913 Liberty Nickel, which was on display, yawn!

We then went back to the hotel to relax for a few hours befor going out to dinner. At dinner we were joined by Danglen and a friend of his and Tootawl, who made it late because of an accident with his cell phone. After dinner we departed for our respective homes.

FROM LEFT: Mongoose, Aethelred, Rhound, Ajaan, LordM, Kelly, Spinaker

FROM LEFT: Mongoose, LordM, Kelly and Ajaan relaxing

Rhound and Spinaker working on their part of an NGC submission.

laurentyvan · January 12, 2004 11:00AM

Quite an interesting group- a lot of numismatic expertise shoulder to shoulder; I love it!
Was there a particular highlight for you at the show?

rhound1977 · January 12, 2004 11:02AM

I swear that beer next to me is not mine!!!! Great pictures and narrative, damn I need to comb my hair and loose thrity pounds..

oldshep · January 12, 2004 11:02AM

Excellent post!! Great to get to see the motley crew.
Shep

Aethelred · January 12, 2004 11:12AM

<< <i>I swear that beer next to me is not mine!!!! Great pictures and narrative, damn I need to comb my hair and loose thrity pounds..

>>

Chances are that beer was consumed by Kelly, who drank more than any three of the rest of us!

lordmarcovan · January 12, 2004 11:24AM

<< <i>I swear that beer next to me is not mine!!!! Great pictures and narrative, damn I need to comb my hair and loose thrity pounds.. >>

Hey, I am a complete teetotaller, so it definitely wasn't mine! You wouldn't know it to look at me, though. Geez. I wish thirty pounds was all I had to lose!

That is my 1904 $20 Liteside gold piece next to the mysterious beer bottle, though.

It probably belonged to Joe, our intrepid cameraman.

asnooker · January 12, 2004 11:33AM

Oh drats! it looks like Bert and I missed another GREAT fun event! I hope everyone had great Holidays and a fun time at FUN. I miss you all and miss my coin education very much!! My Daughter knows how much I love coins and she and my Brother in Austraila got together and bought me the ship collection from the Austrailan Mint. It's beautiful. I'll try to post a picture the first chance I get. It's all sold out now. Here is the web page link to austrailian mint They are beautiful silver proof coins! They were a limited quanity and sold out very fast. I was so excited when I open the gift and found coins!! I wanted to jump online and tell you all about them but I've been so busy trying to handle everything here. We have established enough income to sustain us and are trying to get Bert's insurance either re-instated or medicade or medicare in it's place. He's still waiting on a transplant but they won't touch him without Insurance of some kind. Enough of that! I don't want to drag anyone down, I want to thank everyone for everything they did! It got us through the tough times, before any other assistance kicked in. I still don't know what we would have done without you all!!!!
I love you all !
I can't wait to be back online with you!
Take care & know what a magnificent thing you did!
Love Pam & Bert

mongoose · January 12, 2004 12:35PM

Nice coins Pam!

Dead King took some good pics, and that beer wasn't mine.

I was drinking the Grolsch...that looks like a Labatts. We are down to a few suspects.

SYRACUSIAN · January 12, 2004 2:11PM

Terry looks 15 years younger when he's not around coins.

cosmicdebris · January 12, 2004 7:19PM

Oh man. Maybe it was better for me not to go. That is one scary bunch I don't think I would have made it back to CT alive

ColinCMR · January 12, 2004 7:46PM

Sounds like a very fun time. Great pics, it's nice to put some faces to names.

Aethelred · January 12, 2004 9:14PM

<< <i>Oh man. Maybe it was better for me not to go. That is one scary bunch I don't think I would have made it back to CT alive >>

They really were a nice bunch of people, at least until the IV drug use started! It really is a shame about that Land Rover ending up in the hotel pool and those fires, who would have thought that a chair would burn that fast?

newbiecollector · January 12, 2004 9:22PM

............ and that is ALL I have to say to you lucky folks that got to attend.....

Coincracker · January 12, 2004 10:13PM

Great pics! As ColinCMR has said it's good to put names to faces.

Clankeye · January 13, 2004 12:59AM

Thanks for sharing the pictures and your show experience.

I would have really loved to have been there.

I will be attending the Portland ANA show in March if anybody comes to this side of the country. Would really enjoy meeting you all.

Clankeye

Shipcoin · January 13, 2004 2:43AM

I like the pictures!

Now I know "Who is who" as former Russian President Gorbachev used to say

Bruce · January 13, 2004 4:02AM

That is cool to see the pictures. I sure wish I was a bit closer to FL and able to attend.

tonyhar · January 13, 2004 4:11AM

I wish I could of got there. Perhaps next year?

1jester · January 13, 2004 4:18AM

Yeah, I too wish I was a bit closer to Florida...

It looks like a great time was had by all.

coinkat · January 13, 2004 9:32AM

great purchases Aethelred... good luck with the continued pursuit of the George III type set.

Askari · January 13, 2004 1:00PM

I'm glad y'all had fun at FUN ... but it sure was quiet on the boards ... too quiet.

eureka · January 17, 2004 8:59AM

Sorry I missed you guys. I just got back from Fla., but haven't been watching the boards for a few weeks now due to work.
I was at the show Saturday. I had one very nice gold token find, but only bought 1 uninteresting darkside coin. I was specifically looking for a couple Mexican coins but didn't have any luck. I actually found one on my want list but the condition made me pass...it was an 1866 Mexico Gold 20 Peso which I've been trying to find for about 8 months now...however it had an obviously cleaned obverse and a large dig under the bust which was probably a gold test mark. That's only the 2nd I've seen since I've been watching for one.
It's been awhile since I've been to a show that large, so it was a real treat - aside from the long lines to park in the morning.
There seemed to be less darkside devoted tables than I had hoped for, but I wasn't disappointed. I was amused to see quite a bit of Cuban material spread out throughout the show.
Anyway, I hope to make it again next year especially with more than 1 day to devote to the show.

FUN Show Summary - Darkside Point of View (with photos)

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