OK, I have to ask. What was the best ANA evah and why?

Justacommeman

Well it looks like 2011 Pittsburgh wasn't the best of shows. So what were some of the all time great shows where great coins were hanging from the chandeliers and dealers and collectors alike went home with a wheel barrel full of fat stacks and fresh inventory to boot? I'm a rookie compared to a lot of you and I would love to hear some ole timey stories.........Tell me about some of the great ANA shows/venues or all time non ANA shows if you will........MJ

llafoe

1891 Chicago... I was able to purchase all that modern crap from CRO and I got a free bonnet too; oh the memories!

Tootawl

Baltimore, Denver, and Boston come to mind. Good cities - easy to get in and out of. It's not only the show, but what the town has to offer. A fellow board member (and good friend ) once called me the ultimate numismatic tourist since I like to show up a few days before a show and see what the city has to offer.

Tootawl

<< <i>1891 Chicago... I was able to purchase all that modern crap from CRO and I got a free bonnet too; oh the memories! >>


1891? Wow, you are old!

Justacommeman

<< <i>

<< <i>1891 Chicago... I was able to purchase all that modern crap from CRO and I got a free bonnet too; oh the memories! >>


1891? Wow, you are old! >>



That's where he meet his third wife. MJ

WTCG

<< <i>Well it looks like 2011 Pittsburgh wasn't the best of shows. So what were some of the all time great shows where great coins were hanging from the chandeliers and dealers and collectors alike went home with a wheel barrel full of fat stacks and fresh inventory to boot? I'm a rookie compared to a lot of you and I would love to hear some ole timey stories.........Tell me about some of the great ANA shows/venues or all time non ANA shows if you will........MJ >>



A few remarkable ANA convention milestone moments from my point of view:

2000 Philadelphia - First ANA convention ever attended. Would've gone to the 1999 spring Sacramento show but was out of town that weekend.
2001 Atlanta - First over $5000 walkthrough upgrade made.
2002 New York - First over $10000 walkthrough upgrade made.
2004 Pittsburgh - Went 16 for 16 with walkthrough submissions. First show I did over $250,000 worth of total business.
2005 San Francisco - First show I broke $500,000 worth of total business.
2008 Baltimore - Handled deal worth over $1 million. Made two auction companies very happy.

Experiences are different for everybody. A show that isn't great for some may be a blockbuster for others. The 2003 Jacksonville convention was probably the worst ANA convention I can recall. The 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2008 summer conventions were the ones that stick out in my mind.

llafoe

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>1891 Chicago... I was able to purchase all that modern crap from CRO and I got a free bonnet too; oh the memories! >>


1891? Wow, you are old! >>



That's where he meet his third wife. MJ >>



Yep, but I had to divorce Lizzie in 1892. I think she was just using me for that CRO bonnet anyway!

TwoSides2aCoin

A gal brought some coins to me, ... mostly foreign. In this collection were several (8 or 9 ish ) ANA "Katchy Kards" in a binder.

These things were from the 70's and there's a small piece of gold along with a "stamp'. Nice promotion and the gold is worth about fifty bucks today, I think. The cards sold for $7.50 IIRC . It was an excellent idea back then and is an excellent idea, still today... IMHO

Mitchell

1990 San Diego midwinter. I killed in that show and I wasn't even trying.

Upgrades that I remember: two Norfolks 66-> 67; Gettysburg 65 -> 66, 66 -> 67; antietam 65 -> 66. All of this when the pops were much smaller.
There was more.

EagleEye

I think the 2003 ANA in Baltimore was the best-ever because of the 1913 Lib nick reunion.

Next would be the 2002 ANA in NYC because of the 1933 $20 auction across town.

GeorgeKellogg

My favorite is the 2002 New York ANA. The highlights include:

1. It was the first summer ANA after 9/11 and New York seemed like the "right" location. It was my first trip to the Big Apple and there was both excitement and "post-9/11 nervousness" in the air.
2. I attended the Sotheby's auction of the Farouk/Fenton 1933 double eagle, which sold for about $7.6 million--genuinely thrilling!
3. The food was wonderful, from New York-style pizzas, to bagels and cream cheese to die for, to huge, delicious corned beef and pastrami sandwiches, to dozens of different types of oysters at the Oyster House in Grand Central Station.
4. I purchased a lovely 1854-D half eagle at the show. My traveling companions also found some neat, "fresh" coins.

5. I purchased Sol Kaplan's annotated, "sales room copy" of the 1954 King Farouk auction catalog, beautifully bound by Alan Grace in green half morocco. I was the underbidder on this book at the B&M Armand Champa sale in 1994, but snagged it the second time around.
6. I purchased a nice bauble (for my better half) at Tiffany's.
7. We walked back from Tiffany's to Times Square, just in time to escape a spectacular thunderstorm. Afterwards we watched the thunderstorm from the 30th floor, which was more spectacular than a laser light show!
8. We got nice, orchestra seats at "The Producers."
9. We went to Stack's, to see their very rare set of the Col. E.H.R. Green gold coin albums, with photographic plates. In doing so, I confirmed that one of my Dahlonega half eagles had previously been part of Col. Green's collection.

To borrow a line from The Maltese Falcon, it was "the stuff that dreams are made of."

Pistareen

Best ANA ever?

1991 Chicago was pretty unbeatable for the array of things going on there, the people who came because it was the 100th anniversary show, and size of the bourse. Chicago was where I met John Ford and Armand Champa for the first time (among many others) and Walter Breen for the last time.

1989 Pittsburgh was my first and perhaps most memorable. A lot of the people I met there ended up becoming good lifelong friends, from other YNs (two of whom now sit on the ANA Board -- we're getting old) to QDB to Chris McCawley, my first numismatic boss. The market was up then, so the bourse was a constant stream of activity.

Commercially, my best ANA ever was either the 2008 show in Baltimore or last year's show in Boston. If every show was as much of a success as those two, I would dress better.

pruebas

For me it was a tie between the 1998 (?) Summer ANA in Portland and the 2007 Summer ANA in Milwaukee. The reason was simply the availabity of good coins for my collection.

pontiacinf

2002 ANA in NY

was first Time I met Fred W's daughter-she took the time to show me a love
for darkside coinage

Also Catherine Bullowa spent 2+ hours selling me currency-first and last time I ever bought any.

Both ladies made that show spectacular.

FredWeinberg

Bill,

My daughter Sara had a great time
in NY for two weeks, including the ANA.
She had just turned 13 yrs. old.

Do you remember the specific error coin
that she showed you?

Justacommeman

great stuff...........MJ

Barry

Phila early 2000s. It was close to home and the only ANA show I've been to.

PonyExpress8

For recent shows I would have to say Denver followed by Boston for different reasons.

Denver had an amazing selection of coins for sale and display. All 10 of the 1933 Saints on display, and all five 1913 Liberty Nickels plus some other incredible displays.

Boston because expectations were so modest and yet the show did very well despite being stuck in the side room. And such a great city to explore, I think I walked 25 miles that week checking everything out.

For the smaller shows, Portland Spring show turned out to be a big surprise for reasons similar to Boston, modest expectations but actual results much higher across a broad spectrum of dealers.

DorkGirl

Has to be the Denver show for me. It's the only one I have ever been able to make.

It was wonderful....

firstmint

The most interesting ANA convention I ever attended was the 1999 Chicago event that included the "Great Debate" regarding western assay bars, between Michael Hodder and Ted Buttrey.

pennyannie

<< <i>

<< <i>Well it looks like 2011 Pittsburgh wasn't the best of shows. So what were some of the all time great shows where great coins were hanging from the chandeliers and dealers and collectors alike went home with a wheel barrel full of fat stacks and fresh inventory to boot? I'm a rookie compared to a lot of you and I would love to hear some ole timey stories.........Tell me about some of the great ANA shows/venues or all time non ANA shows if you will........MJ >>



A few remarkable ANA convention milestone moments from my point of view:

2000 Philadelphia - First ANA convention ever attended. Would've gone to the 1999 spring Sacramento show but was out of town that weekend.
2001 Atlanta - First over $5000 walkthrough upgrade made.
2002 New York - First over $10000 walkthrough upgrade made.
2004 Pittsburgh - Went 16 for 16 with walkthrough submissions. First show I did over $250,000 worth of total business.
2005 San Francisco - First show I broke $500,000 worth of total business.
2008 Baltimore - Handled deal worth over $1 million. Made two auction companies very happy.

Experiences are different for everybody. A show that isn't great for some may be a blockbuster for others. The 2003 Jacksonville convention was probably the worst ANA convention I can recall. The 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2008 summer conventions were the ones that stick out in my mind. >>




wHAT happened after 2008? Three years of foodstamps?

WTCG

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>Well it looks like 2011 Pittsburgh wasn't the best of shows. So what were some of the all time great shows where great coins were hanging from the chandeliers and dealers and collectors alike went home with a wheel barrel full of fat stacks and fresh inventory to boot? I'm a rookie compared to a lot of you and I would love to hear some ole timey stories.........Tell me about some of the great ANA shows/venues or all time non ANA shows if you will........MJ >>



A few remarkable ANA convention milestone moments from my point of view:

2000 Philadelphia - First ANA convention ever attended. Would've gone to the 1999 spring Sacramento show but was out of town that weekend.
2001 Atlanta - First over $5000 walkthrough upgrade made.
2002 New York - First over $10000 walkthrough upgrade made.
2004 Pittsburgh - Went 16 for 16 with walkthrough submissions. First show I did over $250,000 worth of total business.
2005 San Francisco - First show I broke $500,000 worth of total business.
2008 Baltimore - Handled deal worth over $1 million. Made two auction companies very happy.

Experiences are different for everybody. A show that isn't great for some may be a blockbuster for others. The 2003 Jacksonville convention was probably the worst ANA convention I can recall. The 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2008 summer conventions were the ones that stick out in my mind. >>




wHAT happened after 2008? Three years of foodstamps? >>



You want the epilogue? Here it is...

2009 Portland - Don't remember this one much. Probably means it was okay, not bad but not that memorable.
2009 Los Angeles - Contrary to most others had a very good show and good time.
2010 Fort Worth - Not good for me. Most memorable moment was the speeding ticket I got one morning in Irving.
2010 Boston - Very good show. Handled a high six-figure deal. Not quite as big as the Baltimore deal though.
2011 Sacramento - One of the best spring shows ever. Lots of others disagree but it was a winner.
2011 Rosemont - Not best ANA ever but certainly one of the best.

swhuck

I've been to maybe half a dozen ANAs or so. Easily the best from my perspective was Sacramento 1999, right after the Statehood quarter series started. I worked it as a club volunteer and saw all the people coming through the door. The registered attendance was over 9K, but I think we probably broke 10K from people showing up at the last second to ask how much their coins were worth -- and I think I talked to all of them.

I also bought a couple of pretty nice coins -- a classic head half eagle and a nice 1795 lettered edge cent.

TwoSides2aCoin

... the acknowledgement that we were free to hold gold again is why

NewEnglandRarities

I would echo the 2002 New York and the 2008 Boston events as being two of my best (from a sales/buying aspect) and also as the most fun. Rosemont was a great show for me, but you can't pick them all.

pennyannie

I can sure believe the ticket part, i say Texas has a lot of revenue agents dressed like cops.





<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>Well it looks like 2011 Pittsburgh wasn't the best of shows. So what were some of the all time great shows where great coins were hanging from the chandeliers and dealers and collectors alike went home with a wheel barrel full of fat stacks and fresh inventory to boot? I'm a rookie compared to a lot of you and I would love to hear some ole timey stories.........Tell me about some of the great ANA shows/venues or all time non ANA shows if you will........MJ >>



A few remarkable ANA convention milestone moments from my point of view:

2000 Philadelphia - First ANA convention ever attended. Would've gone to the 1999 spring Sacramento show but was out of town that weekend.
2001 Atlanta - First over $5000 walkthrough upgrade made.
2002 New York - First over $10000 walkthrough upgrade made.
2004 Pittsburgh - Went 16 for 16 with walkthrough submissions. First show I did over $250,000 worth of total business.
2005 San Francisco - First show I broke $500,000 worth of total business.
2008 Baltimore - Handled deal worth over $1 million. Made two auction companies very happy.

Experiences are different for everybody. A show that isn't great for some may be a blockbuster for others. The 2003 Jacksonville convention was probably the worst ANA convention I can recall. The 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2008 summer conventions were the ones that stick out in my mind. >>




wHAT happened after 2008? Three years of foodstamps? >>



You want the epilogue? Here it is...

2009 Portland - Don't remember this one much. Probably means it was okay, not bad but not that memorable.
2009 Los Angeles - Contrary to most others had a very good show and good time.
2010 Fort Worth - Not good for me. Most memorable moment was the speeding ticket I got one morning in Irving.
2010 Boston - Very good show. Handled a high six-figure deal. Not quite as big as the Baltimore deal though.
2011 Sacramento - One of the best spring shows ever. Lots of others disagree but it was a winner.
2011 Rosemont - Not best ANA ever but certainly one of the best. >>