Charmy's 2012 DENVER ANA SHOW REPORT w/lots of pics!!!
ThePennyLady
Posts: 4,468 ✭✭✭✭✭
Happy Mother’s Day to all the other mother’s on the forum! I hope you all get to spend some quality time with your family. I arrived home from the show last night, was exhausted, and went to bed early so Then my sweet hubby took me to Mimi’s for a wonderful breakfast this morning, so I’m getting a little late start on putting my show report together. But here goes….
Wednesday – I arrived in Denver early in the afternoon, with beautiful clear skies and wonderfully warm weather. I took some pictures from the plane as we flew over the majestic Rocky Mountains.
I took a cab to the convention center which was about 45 minutes away – I hadn’t realized how far outside of Denver the airport actually was! Luckily the cab had a flat rate of $55.
Set up was at 3:00pm so I had a few minutes to visit with other dealers in the lobby before we were let in. Here’s a typical group of motley dealers I found lurking in the lobby!
Roger/MustangGT, DennisH, Lee Bellisario, Todd/Blu62Vette/BluCCPhotos, Tony/Northern Nevada Coin
The ANA created different dealer badges so we all had to get new badges. But for some reason, the lighting was off (or it could have been something weird with the printer) because my new badge shows me with RED hair!
After I was set up, I took a tour of the ANA and U.S. Mint exhibits (the collector exhibits weren’t set up yet)
These are all replica bills
Money burnt in a house fire
A couple very hard-working ANA guys – Rod Gillis and Walter Ostromecki
Oh, and now that I have "The Penny Lady" trademark, I had a few hats made, but for some reason, I can't get any of my guy friends to wear them?!?!
After set up day was over, we decided to head to the casinos up in the old mining towns of Central City and Blackhawk, which were about 45 minutes away. The towns are very quaint with most of the buildings looking like they were built in the 1800’s, with a few exceptions. There were probably at least 20 casinos between the two towns which were only a mile apart.
We went to the poker room at the Lady Luck casino, which ended up not being quite so lucky for us!
We had (not so great) bratwurst for dinner courtesy of the poker room, and this was my drink of choice all night!
They had some very unique names for some of their casinos…
Thursday – The ANA had their usual opening ceremony prior to letting the public in. Tom Hallenbeck presented an award to Chuck D'ambra.
As you can see, there was quite a crowd of people waiting for the show to open, but even so, Thursday seemed a little light compared to other large show opening days.
However, it didn’t take long for the room to start filling up and having the usual buzz and the forum members to start dropping by. Here are a few forum members and others….
Buck/Hobo and Mark/ColoradoCoinGuy
JMW/Joe
USArok/Terry
Mark Feld trying to earn extra money as a Pepsi salesman!
Julian/Julian Liedman
My next door neighbors (Todd and his dad Roger) - I didn’t even need rubberbands to keep them them in line, I could just reach over with my empty water bottle and bop them anytime I felt like it!
Don Berry/TEC Elongated Club
I also bought this very nice 1901 PanAm Expo elongated Indian cent from Don
I was helping with the kids’ Treasure Trivia game again – here are some of the little cutey pies who came by my table for the question (and Penny Lady coin card!)
The U.S. Mint's Buffalo mascot
I had submitted several of my Conder tokens for grading at NGC and was very excited to pick them up at the show. I was very pleased with the grades, most being MS65! Todd took photos of them for me, but here is a group shot.
The Denton’s 298 (NGC MS64 BN) is quite rare (the obverse is a connoisseur smoking a pipe, at a table spread with medals, an old man behind him putting on his head a fool’s cap and the reverse is an ass and a mule saluting “BE ASSURED FRIEND MULE YOU NEVER SHALL WANT MY PROTECTION”).
Also one of my favorites is the Yorkshire/Beverly 13 (NGC MS65 RB) is also rare and depicts the universal Pawnbroker symbol.
One other that I really like is the Suffolk 38 (NGC MS65 BN) – it’s is one of the most beautifully toned Conder tokens I’ve seen: The obverse is a Shield of arms of Sudbury and says “MAY THE TRADE OP SUD-BURY FLOURISH.” The reverse says “PRO BONO | PUBLICO | 1798”
After the show ended on Thursday, we went to dinner at the Palace Arms in the Brown Palace hotel. The hotel was built by a wealthy cattle baron in 1892 because, the story goes, that he went to another upper class hotel and restaurant in town and was not allowed in because he was wearing his blue jeans and boots, so he built his own high class hotel and restaurant. And I have to say that the restaurant was one of the nicest I’ve ever been to, and the food probably the best dinner I’ve had. The Palace Arms, though pricey, is well worth the experience.
I ordered basically a fancy tomato soup. They served me this bowl with a little cheese and watermelon covered crouton along with a creamer of the soup that I poured over the crouton. It was really pretty as well as amazingly tasty!
The wine list was over an inch thick.
I even broke my wine fast for this meal!!
After dinner we went over to 16th street and sat in the patio of a bar that opened up to the street. 16th Street is lined with shops, pubs and restaurants (no cars allowed). There were horse-drawn carriages, bicycle rickshaws, and lots of people just walking around.
The weather was so beautiful, probably 70-75 degrees at 9:00pm – then, all of a sudden this huge wind came up and large drops of rain began to fall. Just like that, the temperature dropped probably 10 degrees! We moved inside, saw some other dealers, chatted with them for a little while, then I called it a night!
Friday – I woke to a very different Denver – it was cloudy, cold, and dreary! The forecast called for heavy rains all the way through Saturday. Wow, I had been so impressed by Denver’s wonderful bright blue skies, warm sunny weather – and then, just like that, the temperature dropped by 30 degrees and I had to put away the capri pants and sandals and break out the jacket!
At the show, things seemed to pick up on Friday. Typically Friday is the slowest day because the “die hards” come on Thursday, and the people who couldn’t get off work come on Saturday. But perhaps the rain brought more people into the show because it looked like Friday was better attended than Thursday! I know I was busier on Friday and was pleased with the sales. I also made some great purchases, including a beautiful 1914-D Lincoln PCGS MS64 BN (CAC) and a very cool triple saddle struck Lincoln!!!
The ANA had a raffle and if they called your name, you could spin a wheel and possibly win a few seconds inside a money booth and crab as much money as you could.
Walter Ostromecki got a chance to catch as much money as he could which was then donated to the ANA’s YN program.
Notice the $100 bill on the top left of the booth – it’s actually on the outside! Rick Snow put it there to tease Walter
Friday we went to dinner at the Berlin Café off 16th Street. They had some absolutely wonderful German food - not the best choice for my diet.
And although others had the customary mug of German beer, I simply stuck with my boring glass of water.
Then we decided to head back up to the casinos in Central City/Black Hawk. Even though it was raining on and off and was quite cold, we did not anticipate the amount of snow we encountered as we drove up to the mountains. It was like Christmas in May!
This time we decided to go to the largest casino – Ameristar in Black Hawk – because we were told they had many more poker tables than any other casino, and they did have quite a few. Even with all the snow and ice, the casino was packed! While waiting for a table, I played some 3-card poker for a while, and then got on a 4-8 limit table with a half kill. I should have stayed at the 3 card table, because I did better there!
As we were leaving Black Hawk, we ended up being behind a car that had no back hatch, just plastic with tape around the edges. I don’t think the driver thought it was going to be very cold and snowy – he must have been freezing inside!
Saturday: I was very pleasantly surprised at how busy Saturday was and good sales were. Due to there not being an auction and PCGS not doing any onsite grading, and the fact that there was another coin show in Denver just the week before, I didn’t have very high expectations for this show being very good overall. But I ended keeping pretty busy and having good sales. I even sold my 1877 PCGS MS62 BN on Saturday afternoon, which was a nice surprise! So considering the obstacles that helped prevent this show from being as successful as it could have been, and in spite of what I’ve heard from a few other dealers, I think this show was better than expected. Even with some of the limitations it has, the ANA really does work very hard to put on a successful show. They always have fantastic exhibits and educational programs, and the work hard to please both the collectors and the dealers, so I for one, will continue to be an avid ANA supporter.
Soon it was time to pack up and head to the airport. As I mentioned, the Denver airport is quite a bit outside of the city limits, sort of out in the boonies all by itself. But it looks like one of the busiest airports I’ve seen. And it has some interesting architectural tents covering the departure terminals.
My flight was a pretty easy 2 hours, and I was once again very glad to be home. Frontier Airlines is in the new terminal at the John Wayne Airport, and it has a lot more restaurants and shops, and also some pretty designs inside the terminal. This was just over the baggage claim area.
So that’s about it for this report. I very much enjoyed the show and seeing all my friends and forum members, and meeting new friends and new forum members. Next stop – the Long Beach show in a few weeks (table 848). Hope to see you there!!
Wednesday – I arrived in Denver early in the afternoon, with beautiful clear skies and wonderfully warm weather. I took some pictures from the plane as we flew over the majestic Rocky Mountains.
I took a cab to the convention center which was about 45 minutes away – I hadn’t realized how far outside of Denver the airport actually was! Luckily the cab had a flat rate of $55.
Set up was at 3:00pm so I had a few minutes to visit with other dealers in the lobby before we were let in. Here’s a typical group of motley dealers I found lurking in the lobby!
Roger/MustangGT, DennisH, Lee Bellisario, Todd/Blu62Vette/BluCCPhotos, Tony/Northern Nevada Coin
The ANA created different dealer badges so we all had to get new badges. But for some reason, the lighting was off (or it could have been something weird with the printer) because my new badge shows me with RED hair!
After I was set up, I took a tour of the ANA and U.S. Mint exhibits (the collector exhibits weren’t set up yet)
These are all replica bills
Money burnt in a house fire
A couple very hard-working ANA guys – Rod Gillis and Walter Ostromecki
Oh, and now that I have "The Penny Lady" trademark, I had a few hats made, but for some reason, I can't get any of my guy friends to wear them?!?!
After set up day was over, we decided to head to the casinos up in the old mining towns of Central City and Blackhawk, which were about 45 minutes away. The towns are very quaint with most of the buildings looking like they were built in the 1800’s, with a few exceptions. There were probably at least 20 casinos between the two towns which were only a mile apart.
We went to the poker room at the Lady Luck casino, which ended up not being quite so lucky for us!
We had (not so great) bratwurst for dinner courtesy of the poker room, and this was my drink of choice all night!
They had some very unique names for some of their casinos…
Thursday – The ANA had their usual opening ceremony prior to letting the public in. Tom Hallenbeck presented an award to Chuck D'ambra.
As you can see, there was quite a crowd of people waiting for the show to open, but even so, Thursday seemed a little light compared to other large show opening days.
However, it didn’t take long for the room to start filling up and having the usual buzz and the forum members to start dropping by. Here are a few forum members and others….
Buck/Hobo and Mark/ColoradoCoinGuy
JMW/Joe
USArok/Terry
Mark Feld trying to earn extra money as a Pepsi salesman!
Julian/Julian Liedman
My next door neighbors (Todd and his dad Roger) - I didn’t even need rubberbands to keep them them in line, I could just reach over with my empty water bottle and bop them anytime I felt like it!
Don Berry/TEC Elongated Club
I also bought this very nice 1901 PanAm Expo elongated Indian cent from Don
I was helping with the kids’ Treasure Trivia game again – here are some of the little cutey pies who came by my table for the question (and Penny Lady coin card!)
The U.S. Mint's Buffalo mascot
I had submitted several of my Conder tokens for grading at NGC and was very excited to pick them up at the show. I was very pleased with the grades, most being MS65! Todd took photos of them for me, but here is a group shot.
The Denton’s 298 (NGC MS64 BN) is quite rare (the obverse is a connoisseur smoking a pipe, at a table spread with medals, an old man behind him putting on his head a fool’s cap and the reverse is an ass and a mule saluting “BE ASSURED FRIEND MULE YOU NEVER SHALL WANT MY PROTECTION”).
Also one of my favorites is the Yorkshire/Beverly 13 (NGC MS65 RB) is also rare and depicts the universal Pawnbroker symbol.
One other that I really like is the Suffolk 38 (NGC MS65 BN) – it’s is one of the most beautifully toned Conder tokens I’ve seen: The obverse is a Shield of arms of Sudbury and says “MAY THE TRADE OP SUD-BURY FLOURISH.” The reverse says “PRO BONO | PUBLICO | 1798”
After the show ended on Thursday, we went to dinner at the Palace Arms in the Brown Palace hotel. The hotel was built by a wealthy cattle baron in 1892 because, the story goes, that he went to another upper class hotel and restaurant in town and was not allowed in because he was wearing his blue jeans and boots, so he built his own high class hotel and restaurant. And I have to say that the restaurant was one of the nicest I’ve ever been to, and the food probably the best dinner I’ve had. The Palace Arms, though pricey, is well worth the experience.
I ordered basically a fancy tomato soup. They served me this bowl with a little cheese and watermelon covered crouton along with a creamer of the soup that I poured over the crouton. It was really pretty as well as amazingly tasty!
The wine list was over an inch thick.
I even broke my wine fast for this meal!!
After dinner we went over to 16th street and sat in the patio of a bar that opened up to the street. 16th Street is lined with shops, pubs and restaurants (no cars allowed). There were horse-drawn carriages, bicycle rickshaws, and lots of people just walking around.
The weather was so beautiful, probably 70-75 degrees at 9:00pm – then, all of a sudden this huge wind came up and large drops of rain began to fall. Just like that, the temperature dropped probably 10 degrees! We moved inside, saw some other dealers, chatted with them for a little while, then I called it a night!
Friday – I woke to a very different Denver – it was cloudy, cold, and dreary! The forecast called for heavy rains all the way through Saturday. Wow, I had been so impressed by Denver’s wonderful bright blue skies, warm sunny weather – and then, just like that, the temperature dropped by 30 degrees and I had to put away the capri pants and sandals and break out the jacket!
At the show, things seemed to pick up on Friday. Typically Friday is the slowest day because the “die hards” come on Thursday, and the people who couldn’t get off work come on Saturday. But perhaps the rain brought more people into the show because it looked like Friday was better attended than Thursday! I know I was busier on Friday and was pleased with the sales. I also made some great purchases, including a beautiful 1914-D Lincoln PCGS MS64 BN (CAC) and a very cool triple saddle struck Lincoln!!!
The ANA had a raffle and if they called your name, you could spin a wheel and possibly win a few seconds inside a money booth and crab as much money as you could.
Walter Ostromecki got a chance to catch as much money as he could which was then donated to the ANA’s YN program.
Notice the $100 bill on the top left of the booth – it’s actually on the outside! Rick Snow put it there to tease Walter
Friday we went to dinner at the Berlin Café off 16th Street. They had some absolutely wonderful German food - not the best choice for my diet.
And although others had the customary mug of German beer, I simply stuck with my boring glass of water.
Then we decided to head back up to the casinos in Central City/Black Hawk. Even though it was raining on and off and was quite cold, we did not anticipate the amount of snow we encountered as we drove up to the mountains. It was like Christmas in May!
This time we decided to go to the largest casino – Ameristar in Black Hawk – because we were told they had many more poker tables than any other casino, and they did have quite a few. Even with all the snow and ice, the casino was packed! While waiting for a table, I played some 3-card poker for a while, and then got on a 4-8 limit table with a half kill. I should have stayed at the 3 card table, because I did better there!
As we were leaving Black Hawk, we ended up being behind a car that had no back hatch, just plastic with tape around the edges. I don’t think the driver thought it was going to be very cold and snowy – he must have been freezing inside!
Saturday: I was very pleasantly surprised at how busy Saturday was and good sales were. Due to there not being an auction and PCGS not doing any onsite grading, and the fact that there was another coin show in Denver just the week before, I didn’t have very high expectations for this show being very good overall. But I ended keeping pretty busy and having good sales. I even sold my 1877 PCGS MS62 BN on Saturday afternoon, which was a nice surprise! So considering the obstacles that helped prevent this show from being as successful as it could have been, and in spite of what I’ve heard from a few other dealers, I think this show was better than expected. Even with some of the limitations it has, the ANA really does work very hard to put on a successful show. They always have fantastic exhibits and educational programs, and the work hard to please both the collectors and the dealers, so I for one, will continue to be an avid ANA supporter.
Soon it was time to pack up and head to the airport. As I mentioned, the Denver airport is quite a bit outside of the city limits, sort of out in the boonies all by itself. But it looks like one of the busiest airports I’ve seen. And it has some interesting architectural tents covering the departure terminals.
My flight was a pretty easy 2 hours, and I was once again very glad to be home. Frontier Airlines is in the new terminal at the John Wayne Airport, and it has a lot more restaurants and shops, and also some pretty designs inside the terminal. This was just over the baggage claim area.
So that’s about it for this report. I very much enjoyed the show and seeing all my friends and forum members, and meeting new friends and new forum members. Next stop – the Long Beach show in a few weeks (table 848). Hope to see you there!!
0
Comments
Happy Mothers Day to all moms
Richard
my car art & My Ebay stuff
I always look forward to each and every one. And as always, thanks for taking the time and effort to post.
Mike
Why are all the serial numbers the same
I used to be famous now I just collect coins.
Link to My Registry Set.
https://pcgs.com/setregistry/quarters/washington-quarters-specialty-sets/washington-quarters-complete-variety-set-circulation-strikes-1932-1964/publishedset/78469
Varieties Are The Spice Of LIFE and Thanks to Those who teach us what to search For.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
AB
Seeing all of your pics is the next best thing to actually being there!
Nice tokens too!
Many members on this forum that now it cannot fit in my signature. Please ask for entire list.
One change - this note and all the other notes on the board it was on ARE copies.
I owned a Suffolk 38 once- not as nice as that one though!
Dave
Authorized dealer for PCGS, PCGS Currency, NGC, NCS, PMG, CAC. Member of the PNG, ANA. Member dealer of CoinPlex and CCE/FACTS as "CH5"
<< <i>Oh man, your table crasher got written out of the report again... >>
I can't believe she left out the one doing all the work.
<< <i>Oh man, your table crasher got written out of the report again... >>
Wei, that's because you won't let me take your picture for my report! But yes, I did allow Wei to "crash" my table because he had no other official home at the show. And since Todd had his own table with his dad, it really helped to have him there when I needed to run an errand.
I forgot to mention that on the way back from Black Hawk the night it snowed, the highway was so very foggy with very little visibility that we could only go about 15-20 mph and all we could see was part of the white line on the edge of the highway. Wei was supposed to meet us at the casino that night but he got a little leery of the wet and snowy highway conditions and decided to turn back - and I certainly don't blame him.
The Penny Lady®
Ron
<< <i>
<< <i>Oh man, your table crasher got written out of the report again... >>
Wei, that's because you won't let me take your picture for my report! But yes, I did allow Wei to "crash" my table because he had no other official home at the show. And since Todd had his own table with his dad, it really helped to have him there when I needed to run an errand.
I forgot to mention that on the way back from Black Hawk the night it snowed, the highway was so very foggy with very little visibility that we could only go about 15-20 mph and all we could see was part of the white line on the edge of the highway. Wei was supposed to meet us at the casino that night but he got a little leery of the wet and snowy highway conditions and decided to turn back - and I certainly don't blame him. >>
That temporary home during the show was certainly appreciated. Normally I share the table with the dealer directly across the aisle from the Penny Lady but that wasn't possible this time.
As for the second casino night, I originally cancelled going because of several reasons. Later that night I changed my mind again and by the time I reached the higher elevations the visibility on I-70 was down to almost zero with freezing rain at first then accumulating snow. On the account of not wanting to lose my rented Chrysler 300 down an embankment or risk getting stranded up in the mountains because of possible chain requirements I decided to turn back to Denver.
Authorized dealer for PCGS, PCGS Currency, NGC, NCS, PMG, CAC. Member of the PNG, ANA. Member dealer of CoinPlex and CCE/FACTS as "CH5"
<< <i>
<< <i>Oh man, your table crasher got written out of the report again... >>
I can't believe she left out the one doing all the work. >>
Ha! See, that's why I needed my Todd-bopping empty water bottle handy!
The Penny Lady®
<< <i>
<< <i>Oh man, your table crasher got written out of the report again... >>
I can't believe she left out the one doing all the work. >>
You mean Roger?
Your very first picture is of Pike's Peak, looking South East.
Your picture of Tom Hallenbeck giving an award does not fit your description. The person in that picture is Chuck D'ambra, not Howard Hinsley.
Anything goes in the mountains, even in the summer. Are there still casinos in Cripple Creek?
Jim
5$ bills are WOW with the numbers - wanted:
02121809
04151865
Wanted - Flipper notes with the numbers 6-9 or 0-6-9 ON 1$ 2$ 5$ 10$ 20$
Wanted - 10$ Sereis 2013 - fancy Serial Numbers
Thanks for the report!
<< <i>Great report as always. Stationed at Ft. Carson, CO Springs and I've seen snow in mid June.
Anything goes in the mountains, even in the summer. Are there still casinos in Cripple Creek? >>
There are. We went to those during last summer seminar.
<< <i>Your picture of Tom Hallenbeck giving an award does not fit your description. The person in that picture is Chuck D'ambra, not Howard Hinsley. >>
Sorry about that, when I asked Tom who he gave an award to, he must have thought I was talking about Mr. Hinsley. It's been corrected.
The Penny Lady®
<< <i>
<< <i>Your picture of Tom Hallenbeck giving an award does not fit your description. The person in that picture is Chuck D'ambra, not Howard Hinsley. >>
Sorry about that, when I asked Tom who he gave an award to, he must have thought I was talking about Mr. Hinsley. It's been corrected. >>
Yes Charmy, when you are spending hours taking photos, tracking names and locations on your own time and posting all of this on the Forum for free, please try and be more accurate.
I am sure whoever posted that comment [ I did not look] is going to bend over backwards thanking you for correcting it.
And I had no idea the US Mint had a Buffalo(guessing) Mascot...what the?
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
DIA is a long way from downtown Denver, but not that far. In No. Cal. and in So. Cal. driving to a major airport often involves distances equal to or greater than the distance from downtown Denver to DIA. The only difference is that in No. Cal. and So. Cal. there is not the same quantity of open space you see during the drive. Many, many more people and development in Calif. than in Colo.
I grew up in Denver and Colorado and the idea of snow in May, while suprising to some, is par for the course for those who live in Colorado. I remember snow in Denver in July (which quickly melted) and 70 degrees in December. You just never know what you will get from the weather, especially if you venture up into the high country.
And getting to the Denver airport wasn't that bad, I just didn't realize how far away from the convention center it was (most airports I fly into are within 30 minutes of the convention center). And I guess I'm pretty fortunate where I live because I'm only 8 min. from the John Wayne Airport and when absolutely necessary, I'm only 45 min. from LAX.
The Penny Lady®
<< <i> On the account of not wanting to lose my rented Chrysler 300 down an embankment or risk getting stranded up in the mountains because of possible chain requirements I decided to turn back to Denver. >>
FYI, chain requirements are only for trucks and commercial vehicles, never for passenger cars. If it's THAT bad, they close the road.
Just a wonderful report, Thanks for Sharing and Caring for us poor saps that could not make it...!
As we say here in Denver...
If you do not like the Weather, Stick around 5 minutes and it will change...
I'd like to see more of the bigger shows come to Denver, promise we'll put the Cattle in the Corral..."-)
Currently Listed: Nothing
Take Care, Dave