My FUN trip
yellowkid
Posts: 5,486 ✭
This was my second year attending FUN and I scheduled to allow two entire days in Tampa. I arrived Wednesday afternoon and picked up my Grand Marquis (upgraded from mid size) drove the ten minutes and checked into my suite ( an online bargain, I seldom "suite" ).
Thursday morning I was at the the Marriot coffee shop around eight and had breakfast with some fellow forumites, Glenn H, Mike H, John D, Paul (Coinkid55) was there, looking pretty healthy for someone who had been through what he went through last month, ah youth!
I went into the show at 10, I had made arrangements to meet a couple of people I hadn't met before (members here)for a little "business," contacts were made, business was conducted and I think everyone went away happy.
I had put a down payment on a piece( the Oregon that I have posted here) and I picked that up, it looked nicer in hand and I was quite pleased with it. I bought new Conders from Gary Groll and Ron Sirna, both good guys and fun to talk with and then went looking for commems.
My search was in vain until later in the day when I was able to buy a very sweet toned Pilgrim on the floor. I happened to be in the right place at the right time and saw a fellow talking with a dealer and on the case, among other things, was the Pilgrim. I said nothing and when the deal didn't transpire I waited until the seller walked away and then said "great Pilgrim," we went outside and in a little bit it was mine. This is a variation of a scenario I have been through a thousand times in the antique world, but this was a first in my coin collecting life and it was fun, a piece is always enjoyed more when there is a story to go with it. The seller was from Indianapolis and after talking for awhile we were laughing at all of the collector idiosyncrasies we shared. I had some other things and was able to sell them all to dealers. It was welcome cash as I have over spent recently and ny wife is having a new gas range delivered tomorrow and then a bathroom remodeling project. I can't believe what you can spend on a toilet.
The two entire days format gave me plenty of time to socialize, and I took advantage of it. I had never really talked with BluCC's Dad Roger before and we had a most enjoyable conversation, I was also able to get all of my new acquisitions (save one which was raw and was submitted to NGC for grading) imaged by Todd, who was very busy ( hey, he does nice work) along with a few I had brought along. I met poster Tesoro for the first time and schmoozed with a number of collectors and dealers at length. I checked in with Charmy who was busy. Charmy I didn't know you were a Waffle House habitue, those pics looked like the WH on Dale Mabry, n'cest pas? Next time we find ouselves at a show where there is a WH we will will have to get a few people together for some of their great fare. I'm a "scattered, smothered, and covered" guy myself and always look for a WH when I'm traveling. Alas, there are none in New England, just as well, my cholesterol level is high enough.
No dealers I talked with gave any indication that sales weren't anything but good, and I know that none of them would fib
It is a huge place and kind of hard to get a handle on attendance but it appeared as if it was a busy show, many was the table that I had to wait to get a place in front of the cases. I look at a lot of things but really concentrate on tokens and commems so I can't offer an opinion as to what is selling and what isn't, other than I didn't see many nicely toned examples of anything. I will post pics of my new things as soon as the images arrive.
It was good to get home to my little New England town, all the folks at our village store wanted to know how my trip went, there is nothing like country life.
Thursday morning I was at the the Marriot coffee shop around eight and had breakfast with some fellow forumites, Glenn H, Mike H, John D, Paul (Coinkid55) was there, looking pretty healthy for someone who had been through what he went through last month, ah youth!
I went into the show at 10, I had made arrangements to meet a couple of people I hadn't met before (members here)for a little "business," contacts were made, business was conducted and I think everyone went away happy.
I had put a down payment on a piece( the Oregon that I have posted here) and I picked that up, it looked nicer in hand and I was quite pleased with it. I bought new Conders from Gary Groll and Ron Sirna, both good guys and fun to talk with and then went looking for commems.
My search was in vain until later in the day when I was able to buy a very sweet toned Pilgrim on the floor. I happened to be in the right place at the right time and saw a fellow talking with a dealer and on the case, among other things, was the Pilgrim. I said nothing and when the deal didn't transpire I waited until the seller walked away and then said "great Pilgrim," we went outside and in a little bit it was mine. This is a variation of a scenario I have been through a thousand times in the antique world, but this was a first in my coin collecting life and it was fun, a piece is always enjoyed more when there is a story to go with it. The seller was from Indianapolis and after talking for awhile we were laughing at all of the collector idiosyncrasies we shared. I had some other things and was able to sell them all to dealers. It was welcome cash as I have over spent recently and ny wife is having a new gas range delivered tomorrow and then a bathroom remodeling project. I can't believe what you can spend on a toilet.
The two entire days format gave me plenty of time to socialize, and I took advantage of it. I had never really talked with BluCC's Dad Roger before and we had a most enjoyable conversation, I was also able to get all of my new acquisitions (save one which was raw and was submitted to NGC for grading) imaged by Todd, who was very busy ( hey, he does nice work) along with a few I had brought along. I met poster Tesoro for the first time and schmoozed with a number of collectors and dealers at length. I checked in with Charmy who was busy. Charmy I didn't know you were a Waffle House habitue, those pics looked like the WH on Dale Mabry, n'cest pas? Next time we find ouselves at a show where there is a WH we will will have to get a few people together for some of their great fare. I'm a "scattered, smothered, and covered" guy myself and always look for a WH when I'm traveling. Alas, there are none in New England, just as well, my cholesterol level is high enough.
No dealers I talked with gave any indication that sales weren't anything but good, and I know that none of them would fib
It is a huge place and kind of hard to get a handle on attendance but it appeared as if it was a busy show, many was the table that I had to wait to get a place in front of the cases. I look at a lot of things but really concentrate on tokens and commems so I can't offer an opinion as to what is selling and what isn't, other than I didn't see many nicely toned examples of anything. I will post pics of my new things as soon as the images arrive.It was good to get home to my little New England town, all the folks at our village store wanted to know how my trip went, there is nothing like country life.
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Comments
The Penny Lady®
And your Pilgrim acquisition is a cool story.