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Belated CICF Review, 4/12/14
nicholasz219
Posts: 1,386 ✭✭✭
I really haven't seen anything posted by any of the forumites here about the CICF and thought I would share my thoughts.
This was the second CICF I have attended since my many year absence because of girls, college and marriage. This was also my second show that I brought my daughter. In a change up from last year's ANA, which was her first show, we brought her best friend J. along with. This was J.'s first coin show and I was curious as to how the girls would behave where we had a full day of nothing but coins.
First and foremost, I stopped by the booth of Andy Lustig who had a previously discussed bag o' British. I was very delighted at the mix he put together for my daughter and we had many hours on the following rainy day sorting, looking up and organizing the new additions to the British coinage collection of hers. He is a gracious and kind dealer who gave both girls some attention and we were on our way!
Both girls were a bit awestruck at the size of the room and so many precious expensive things in close proximity. I told them that they shouldn't buy everything that they see first and to be patient because a lot of dealers will only have high priced stuff and they should be able to find some things they like for their budget. They each had $20 of their own money and I think I ended up giving them about $30 or $50 more to spend between the two of them. We found a dealer from Michigan, Far East Coins or something similar, I'll have to find the card. The lady manning the table was the daughter of the dealer but spent a lot of time with the girls and helping them find interesting things in the world coin books (all around $1-5). They found some really neat proofs, a French Africa piece and some other items that I think put them out about $8 apiece. I bought each of them an UNC silver peso from the late fifties as a "Dad buys a nice-ish coin for each before he spends all of his money" item. Fred Knust of First Light Numismatics also out of Michigan was sharing a corner table with this dealer and commented on how well behaved both girls were and how curious they were to look through the binders and chit chat with the adults. I told him I would be back later.
They started to get the hang of it and more comfortable after the first dealer, so I told them to look for the other dealers with junk boxes and books on their tables. A Russian dealer named the Great Svengoolie in my brain but something else entirely in reality also sold them a proof colorized animal coin, I think a cat for a fair price and pointed them in the right direction. The Russian dealer had a 2 Para/3 Kopek coin that I briefly considered but decided that I would really have to see if there was any other Russian out there. (I was mostly in the market for Roman Imperial and spidey sense was going off that none of the at least three other major Russian dealers had bought it.)
Somehow at this point, an hour and a half had passed and the girls were "starving" as they so succinctly put it. Considering that my car was in the pay lot (I hate this about shows in Rosemont) I decided we should walk and grab a bite to eat at a restaurant that was not Morton's Steakhouse. Well, after going about five blocks in the wrong direction we found King's Bowling and Burgers and had a nice, if overpriced lunch. ($60)
We returned to the show to ECIN Numismatics and I was able to purchase the Titus coin at a discount which always makes me happy. He had many other coins I would have considered too, but more common, later emperors in the price range that I wanted and I really didn't see anything that was going to make me spend a significant amount of my money that day right then.
Turning around and seeing Josh from Civitas free, I stopped by to say hi. We caught up a bit and talked about the show as the girls went over to buy some coins from Harlan J. Berk (which to this day I never have, lol.) Josh had some nice stuff available like always and I was tempted by a Parthian drachm but decided upon a Carinus, Trajan Decius and Claudius II Gothicus that were priced right by Josh to get me to buy. These are all in my collection below. As usual, Josh was great and it was just as good chatting as it was buying coins from him.
I went back over to First Light Numismatics and ended up purchasing several coins as I talked with Fred. Fred is great and had a nice selection of seemingly everything! I bought a great Victorian penny, two farthings, a very nice Tacitus (see collection), a Quintillus, Galerius and Gallus Caesar. We had a nice time and I promised to look him up to fill some other holes in my collection. He gave me a nice price on the lot as well and had a great range of stuff in all price ranges. I could have bought about five more coins there, easily.
I stopped by the Time Machine tables but nothing caught my eye and even when he brought out some boxes for me I really didn't see stuff in my price range that grabbed me. Plenty of stuff outside of my price range of course. He is a gentleman and I bought many pieces from him last year so I was disappointed to find nothing there.
By this point the kids had pooped out and were playing their Kindles at the abandoned Jonathan Kern tables. (I don't know what happened but he was gone all day saturday which is a shame because I like to buy there.) They were begging me to go and so I promised them "not much longer" (lie of the day) and headed to Moneta to see Kenn Hollister. Luckily Kenn and his wife Rennie (not sure if I spelled that right) are great and sociable people, so when the kids chased me down to pretty much demand that we leave, Rennie spent a lot of time showing them things that interested them in their cases and explaining seemingly everything while Kenn and I talked and he showed me ancients. I finally purchased a Lucius Verus denarius (see collection) from him that was pried very right and a good last purchase of the day. Fiona and J. were looking at Kenn's group of Asian gambling tokens from the 1700-1800's and Fiona was telling me all about one that she liked. So he gave me a good price on it and she now has a gambling token from Siam. He is one of my favorite people as well and it is always nice to see him and his wife.
I was definitely more prepared for this show this year with an idea of what I was looking for, a better idea of what to see and what to spend on each thing and also many dealers to head to and others to avoid for simple time management purposes. I only blew my budget by 50%, including ridiculous lunch pricing, but whatever. The kids had a great time, both buying presents for each of their moms whose birthdays were upcoming and learning a lot about the world in one day. I loaded up J. with 2x2's, some binder sheets and some info for her and her parents to look at. Her Mom texted me later and told me what a great time she had and how she came home and just chatted their ears off about her adventure that day.
It was a great day, especially being with my daughter and even more so that she enjoyed it and had a friend to keep her company while I coin-nerded out.
This was the second CICF I have attended since my many year absence because of girls, college and marriage. This was also my second show that I brought my daughter. In a change up from last year's ANA, which was her first show, we brought her best friend J. along with. This was J.'s first coin show and I was curious as to how the girls would behave where we had a full day of nothing but coins.
First and foremost, I stopped by the booth of Andy Lustig who had a previously discussed bag o' British. I was very delighted at the mix he put together for my daughter and we had many hours on the following rainy day sorting, looking up and organizing the new additions to the British coinage collection of hers. He is a gracious and kind dealer who gave both girls some attention and we were on our way!
Both girls were a bit awestruck at the size of the room and so many precious expensive things in close proximity. I told them that they shouldn't buy everything that they see first and to be patient because a lot of dealers will only have high priced stuff and they should be able to find some things they like for their budget. They each had $20 of their own money and I think I ended up giving them about $30 or $50 more to spend between the two of them. We found a dealer from Michigan, Far East Coins or something similar, I'll have to find the card. The lady manning the table was the daughter of the dealer but spent a lot of time with the girls and helping them find interesting things in the world coin books (all around $1-5). They found some really neat proofs, a French Africa piece and some other items that I think put them out about $8 apiece. I bought each of them an UNC silver peso from the late fifties as a "Dad buys a nice-ish coin for each before he spends all of his money" item. Fred Knust of First Light Numismatics also out of Michigan was sharing a corner table with this dealer and commented on how well behaved both girls were and how curious they were to look through the binders and chit chat with the adults. I told him I would be back later.
They started to get the hang of it and more comfortable after the first dealer, so I told them to look for the other dealers with junk boxes and books on their tables. A Russian dealer named the Great Svengoolie in my brain but something else entirely in reality also sold them a proof colorized animal coin, I think a cat for a fair price and pointed them in the right direction. The Russian dealer had a 2 Para/3 Kopek coin that I briefly considered but decided that I would really have to see if there was any other Russian out there. (I was mostly in the market for Roman Imperial and spidey sense was going off that none of the at least three other major Russian dealers had bought it.)
Somehow at this point, an hour and a half had passed and the girls were "starving" as they so succinctly put it. Considering that my car was in the pay lot (I hate this about shows in Rosemont) I decided we should walk and grab a bite to eat at a restaurant that was not Morton's Steakhouse. Well, after going about five blocks in the wrong direction we found King's Bowling and Burgers and had a nice, if overpriced lunch. ($60)
We returned to the show to ECIN Numismatics and I was able to purchase the Titus coin at a discount which always makes me happy. He had many other coins I would have considered too, but more common, later emperors in the price range that I wanted and I really didn't see anything that was going to make me spend a significant amount of my money that day right then.
Turning around and seeing Josh from Civitas free, I stopped by to say hi. We caught up a bit and talked about the show as the girls went over to buy some coins from Harlan J. Berk (which to this day I never have, lol.) Josh had some nice stuff available like always and I was tempted by a Parthian drachm but decided upon a Carinus, Trajan Decius and Claudius II Gothicus that were priced right by Josh to get me to buy. These are all in my collection below. As usual, Josh was great and it was just as good chatting as it was buying coins from him.
I went back over to First Light Numismatics and ended up purchasing several coins as I talked with Fred. Fred is great and had a nice selection of seemingly everything! I bought a great Victorian penny, two farthings, a very nice Tacitus (see collection), a Quintillus, Galerius and Gallus Caesar. We had a nice time and I promised to look him up to fill some other holes in my collection. He gave me a nice price on the lot as well and had a great range of stuff in all price ranges. I could have bought about five more coins there, easily.
I stopped by the Time Machine tables but nothing caught my eye and even when he brought out some boxes for me I really didn't see stuff in my price range that grabbed me. Plenty of stuff outside of my price range of course. He is a gentleman and I bought many pieces from him last year so I was disappointed to find nothing there.
By this point the kids had pooped out and were playing their Kindles at the abandoned Jonathan Kern tables. (I don't know what happened but he was gone all day saturday which is a shame because I like to buy there.) They were begging me to go and so I promised them "not much longer" (lie of the day) and headed to Moneta to see Kenn Hollister. Luckily Kenn and his wife Rennie (not sure if I spelled that right) are great and sociable people, so when the kids chased me down to pretty much demand that we leave, Rennie spent a lot of time showing them things that interested them in their cases and explaining seemingly everything while Kenn and I talked and he showed me ancients. I finally purchased a Lucius Verus denarius (see collection) from him that was pried very right and a good last purchase of the day. Fiona and J. were looking at Kenn's group of Asian gambling tokens from the 1700-1800's and Fiona was telling me all about one that she liked. So he gave me a good price on it and she now has a gambling token from Siam. He is one of my favorite people as well and it is always nice to see him and his wife.
I was definitely more prepared for this show this year with an idea of what I was looking for, a better idea of what to see and what to spend on each thing and also many dealers to head to and others to avoid for simple time management purposes. I only blew my budget by 50%, including ridiculous lunch pricing, but whatever. The kids had a great time, both buying presents for each of their moms whose birthdays were upcoming and learning a lot about the world in one day. I loaded up J. with 2x2's, some binder sheets and some info for her and her parents to look at. Her Mom texted me later and told me what a great time she had and how she came home and just chatted their ears off about her adventure that day.
It was a great day, especially being with my daughter and even more so that she enjoyed it and had a friend to keep her company while I coin-nerded out.
0
Comments
8 Reales Madness Collection
Cathy
<< <i>Great review - thank you for sharing it! Nice to see the new generations being interested in the hobby. >>
Roman, what are you talking about? It seems to me that Nick practically twisted their arms and bought them some gifts to have them with him. Even so, they begged to leave the place quite soon.
It's just a hunch Nick. Girls have very few possibilities to become collectors statistically speaking, and Cathy as an exception confirms the rule. Otherwise, great report, thanks.
myEbay
DPOTD 3
but seriously great write-up and sound like you had fun .
<< <i>hey don't say that - perhaps there is a Laura between the two of em
but seriously great write-up and sound like you had fun . >>
What?!? Laura, as in Laura Sperber?!?
As for the show report, thanks for the write-up. It's nice that you can share your experience with your daughter and her friend.
EVP
How does one get a hater to stop hating?
I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com
It really was a fun day, probably much longer than they anticipated, but I did bring snacks and make sure we ate relatively early and also had them bring books and kindles because I know no matter how excited or interested any kid is in anything, the attention span is just not there like it is for adults.
Sounds like the young ladies had a fun day.
Of my six granddaughters 4 are very interested in coins; from ancient coins to world coins to statehood quarters.
It's fun talking coins with them and it's especially gratifying when they show me coins they've added to their collections that I didn't buy them.
You never know
Taler Custom Set
Ancient Custom Set
EVP
How does one get a hater to stop hating?
I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com
How does one get a hater to stop hating?
I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com
myEbay
DPOTD 3
Kids are a pretty fertile place to plant ideas and interests. I guess in a sense we are all a bit selfish in that we want our kids to share our hobbies and interests. But we also should be open to what they are interested in so they see that adults also give attention and respect to each other even when we might not be terribly interested in the other thing (iPad or kindle in Fi's case). I don't think that that selfishness is necessarily bad because in short we just want to connect and share something profound with our children in the moment but also something that is much bigger than the two of us as individuals.