Charmy's 2019 FUN SHOW Report with Lots of Pics!
ThePennyLady
Posts: 4,494 ✭✭✭✭✭
Having had a 6-week hiatus away from shows, I was REALLY looking forward to the FUN show. For me, it's always been the best show of the year, both buying and selling. And this show did not disappoint. I've read a few reports with mixed reviews, but based on my personal experience at this FUN show, it was super busy and very successful. On Wednesday I did most of my buying, and on Thursday, I never even left my table until 5pm. Friday was a little slower than Thursday, but still had very steady traffic.
As you all know, since I specialize in copper, I personally can't gauge how the market in general is doing. I can say that based on my sales, quality Indian and Lincoln cents are still strong and popular, but early copper seems to have flattened over the last year. But if you're looking for what's going on in the coin market as a whole or reports on how bullion was selling, perhaps you may want stop reading here.
In this report, as usual, you will see pictures of my "nasty wine, while eating whatever," along with pics of the "lights of the city," and of course last but not least "how pretty my coins are." You'll also see pictures of some of the educational exhibits at the show, some of the forum members who stopped by, some of the faces behind the grading tables, photos of the bourse floor in general, and more. So if you're just wanting to be entertained and follow along my adventures at this coin show, then sit back, grab a glass of your favorite nasty wine or other beverage, and read on!
I left chilly but sunny SoCal Tuesday morning. As usual, we took off from John Wayne Airport heading west over the ocean, then turned back and headed east. The view of Newport Beach and the coastline is always breathtaking from the sky.
I connected through Houston, then finally landed in Orlando Tuesday night.
Rick had arrived on Monday and had rented a car so he was kind enough to pick me up at the airport. After I checked in to my hotel (one of the many "Rosen" hotels in the area), we walked across International Drive (right past the famous upside down house) and grabbed a bite and drinks at one of the local pubs, and listened to some great music.
The next morning (Wednesday) after sleeping in a little, we grabbed breakfast then headed over to the convention center to view some auction lots and do a little business before the bourse opened for dealer set up.
By the time the doors opened at 2pm, there was a huge crowd of dealers waiting to get in.
I set up pretty quickly, and it wasn't long before my usual vest pocket dealers began stopping by to show me their Pretty Pennies. I also took a few minutes to hit some of my favorite dealer tables to see if I could fill some want lists. Wow, I found some fabulous and scarce pennies at this show, including an 1888/7 in PCGS F12, a beautiful 1877 in PCGS MS65 BN, a unblemished 1914-D in PCGS MS64 RD, and a colorfully toned1916 MPL in PCGS PF66 RB!
I also found more than the usual number of quality Pretty Pennies throughout the show.
Here are a couple pics of the bourse floor taken from my table (1025) during set up (that's Rick's son Kenny in the dark red shirt photo-bombing my pic!)
After things settled down later in the afternoon, I opened one of my very favorite "nasty" wines that I had brought with me - Rombauer Cab!
My buddy Neal (retired FBI now coin dealer) happened by and shared a cup with me.
After set up was over, a group of us headed over to Charley's Steak House on International Drive for an amazing dinner! It is located right across from the very scary looking Starflyer ride which is all lit up at night and changes colors.
Charley's is rather pricey but I can't say I've ever had a better steak! And their lobster bisque was full of tasty chunky lobster.
Of course we had some great wine too! They have a huge wine selection - this bottle of Rodney Strong Cab was one of their featured wines and it was so amazing that we had two bottles!
The show opened to the public on Thursday.
I was non-stop busy from the moment the public began streaming in until 5pm when I had to leave for a meeting. It was great to be so busy that the day just flew by! Again, these are photos of the bourse taken from different directions at my table location.
Dave/DPoole took a moment to stop by to say hi
I also picked up a couple of nice penny pocket mirrors for my collection, including a couple that John Kraljevich had set aside for me.
John also sold Rick Snow these two original letters from the designer of the Indian cent, James Longacre. They were written shortly before he died.
I also bought this very cool Christmas postcard that would be given out with a penny tucked inside the tiny envelope that is glued to the inside of the card.
After the show ended, six of us headed over to PF Changs - I know it's a chain, but when you're in the mood for Chinese food, you can't go wrong with PF Changs. Our table was filled with lots of great and varied dishes! And what goes better with Chinese food than a very tasty refreshing Mai Tai!
Knowing that Rick and I are huge Game of Throne fans, during dinner Neal presented both of us with actual rocks he picked up from one of the castles in Dubrovnik, Croatia, where Game of Thrones was filmed!
Although Friday wasn't nearly as busy for me as Thursday was, it was still steady and I had good sales throughout the day. A few more forum members stopped by to say hi.
Bill/Ponderit
Bob/Watersport and his friend Dave
Brian/Wabbit2313
And Mel
At 1:30, I headed over to the Fly-In Club meeting. Chris Pilliod gave a fascinating presentation on the various Indian cent errors he's collected over the years. He really had some amazing errors, including a rare triple struck Indian cent and this very rare V nickle struck on an Indian cent planchet.
After the meeting before I went back to my table, I took a few pictures around the bourse floor. These are the very busy and hard working folks at the PCGS table
And here's a picture of my bff Cindi
Another pic of the bourse at the other end of the room from my table
That night the "Coin Dealers Helping Coin Dealers" group held a reception/meet and greet at Maggiano's.
It was a really nice gathering of probably over 100 people. They served all kinds of hors d'oiuvres with a cash bar. Rob Oberth works does a great job getting everyone together and managing this group on Facebook. They also gave out a nice souvenir half dollar.
That's Rob on the right
Here are photos of the various folks who attended
After the reception, we stayed for dinner at Maggianos
They had a special on another of my favorite wines!
Saturday morning I had to get up early for an 8am Women In Numismatics board meeting, followed by our general meeting.
We had a really good speaker, Jim Zylstra, who gave a presentation on "bride-price" in primitive money. It was a fascinating talk on a very unusual numismatic topic!
After the meeting, I decided to peruse the educational exhibits. The FUN show is known to have some very competitive and well-crafted exhibits. Here are just a few of the exhibits - I don't know which exhibit one as it wasn't announced until later on Saturday.
This is Paul working the NCS table
Even though they were swamped, the folks at the NGC table were very kind to take a few minutes to pose for this photo!
And of course here's my bff Cindi working at the ANACS table, along with her co-hort Matt!
After the doors opened to the public, the bourse filled up nicely, though there were many more folks "just looking" or there to ask questions or get appraisals.
Soon it was time, once again, to pack up everything and start my long trek back home. Knowing there was a huge snow storm hitting most of the mid and eastern U.S., I was a little worried about delays and flight cancellations. I was returning through Chicago and I had faith that Chicago knew how to handle tough weather. Even though my flight out of Orlando was delayed, it took off in time to get me to Chicago for my connection to Orange County. Bye-bye warm sunny Orlando, for now!
However, when we arrived in Chicago, it was still a bit of a nail-biter because we were stuck on the tarmac waiting for the plane at our gate to get de-iced before it could take off.
I had only 20 minutes to make it from the C terminal to my gate at the B terminal and I had to lug my heavy bags with him as I hurried to my gate - I was one of the last people to board my flight! But I need not have worried because we were stuck at our gate for quite a while before we took off because our plane had to be de-iced, and several planes ahead of us getting ready to take off also had to be de-iced.
However, I again began to get a little concerned about my flight because the John Wayne Airport has a curfew and if an incoming flight gets there past 11pm, they are diverted to LAX which is over an hour away from my home (whereas John Wayne is only 10 minutes away). But even with all the delays, our flight crew managed to make up time and landed at John Wayne at 10:30pm! YAY!
My hubby was out of town at our place in Lake Havasu when I got home, so I only had my grumpy Siamese kitty Sierra (who ignores me) and sweet Penny waiting for me at home! Both were very ho-hum about me arriving home because I was disturbing their rest!
Next up, the Long Beach show the end of January!
Comments
Awesome report @ThePennyLady! What a tour of coin, food, and FUN. Thank you!
Fun report! Pay no mind to the "nasty wine" sideswipe - I'd take a glass of nasty over a nasty, sour disposition all day long. Life is far too short to be so bitter over what one perceives as "dreck" coins or "dreck" dealers, yikes.
10-4,
My Instagram picturesErik
My registry sets
Always enjoy reading your reports! Hopefully one day I can make one of these shows and make an appearance in one! lol
Gotta say I'm shocked that 88/7 is in a F holder. Sure...I don't know the variety but that's a VG8 IMHO.
LOL on the nasty wine!
I used to eat at Charley's every year until I took my newly married bride there on an impromptu honeymoon 15 years ago and they knowingly served us spoiled food! We were all the way across the room when our food rolled out the kitchen door and you could immediately smell it.
This was in the afternoon..surely they would not try that stunt in the evening.
Thanks for another great show report, I especially enjoyed your photos of the coast after taking off from the airport, beautiful!
+1
I neglected to say hi, so “hi!”...
Enjoyed the photo tour.
Great seeing you again, Charmy. A characteristically fun FUN report.
I managed to sell that 55DDO AU58, BTW. Got a good price.
Here's a warning parable for coin collectors...
Elmer, thanks! I will never give up my nasty wine! ;-)
AMW, The lighting in my photo does not show the letters in Liberty on the 1888/7 but in hand you can see enough of Liberty to warrant the fine grade. And as far as the food at Charley's, I'm terribly sorry you had a bad experience there, but every one of our steaks was truly excellent!
Kaz, thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed those photos of the coast. They turned out so well, that I included more than I usually do.
Seattle, sorry I missed seeing you at the show, I always enjoy chatting with you.
DPoole, it was great seeing you too. And I would have loved to make an offer on your beautiful 1955/55 but as you saw, I already had a few in AU!
The Penny Lady®
Thanks again for taking the time to post your show report. Looks like they haven’t gotten around to flipping that building back over, lol. Looks like a great time from here! I love seeing what coins you picked up. The 77 Indian, 14D and the 16 matte! Wowzers! Nice coins!
I’ve been referring to all the attendees as “the Fortunate folks” in my head all week. I guess I can’t let you guys have all the FUN, I don’t think I’ll miss next year. Glad you made it home safe, winter travel is always a nail biter. I’ve been pinched by it before and now just wanting to attend bad enough to allow for it.
Love your report as usual.
I really liked the pics of that nasty wine and whatever y'all are eating...
Marvelous report My Lady ..... viewing with my eyes as your Gopro
Thank you very much for the details Charmy.
Hey ..... how did Penny get on the very top?
Thank you Paradise! This photo shows how she does it - she jumps from the tv table, to the slot machine, to the cabinet.
The Penny Lady®
Wonderful report, thank you for sharing. Always fun to see your reports and I always seem to recognize someone in your pics that I know from the Midwest where I am located.
I love how your reports usually have the same happy ending - kitties
Wonderful report. Your photos (and commentary) add a lot to the numerous other reports on FUN.
I copied the several photos of the steaks so I can send them to some of my Cousins who espouse veganism.
Awesome report as always
Very clever!
I always enjoy these reports, which obviously take some time. How is the conder collection coming along? I miss seeing those.
Thank you for the excellent report!
Larry
That's a whale of a report. Great work!
I really like those encased pocket mirrors. Little works of art.
And that steak menu is overwhelming.
Thank you.
-Mark
"If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"
My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress
Thank you Charmy, once again, for a fabulous show report. The pictures always make your reports special. Great wines as usual... Love those Rodney Strong Cabernet's...Cheers, RickO
Thanks for the quality report again! Back to a top notch location IMO. Make mine a Chateau lafite and a 72 oz. filet mignon well done.
Thanks for the nice pix of educational exhibits. Allows people not attending to enjoy and learn from them. I have a cat that looks just like your Penny!
The pardon is for tyrants. They like to declare pardons on holidays, such as the birthday of the dictator, or Christ, or the Revolution. Dictators should be encouraged to keep it up. And we should be encouraged to remember that the promiscuous dispensation of clemency is not a sign of political liberality. It is instead one of those valuable, identifying marks of tyranny.
Charles Krauthammer
Great report. I always look forward to it. Can't believe anyone would try and take you down a notch for taking the time to give us a well-rounded idea of your experiences, wines, meals, lights and all.
Dealing in Canadian and American coins and historical medals.
Great seeing you again Charmy - its been a long while. Thanks for your report!
WS
It was great seeing you at the show - Rick's new Longacre letters were incredible! It was interesting seeing him sending instructions to the Mint just days before he died...
What is now proved was once only imagined. - William Blake
Great report (as usual) Charmy! Love these things. After every major show, I start watching for your report. They are all so well balanced, and not just about coins. Great work!
Are you attending the Boeing Show this weekend? Unfortunately I'm out of town this weekend, so I'll miss it. Dang.
Thanks again for the report, and fabulous pictures!
Dave
Sad
Thank you and a great report Charmy! Next best thing to being there... Cool exhibits! AB
love the 1914 d Lincoln cent you have there. I like
Great report as always!
My YouTube Channel
I love reading these reports makes me feel the buzz on the floor and adventure!!
Great report as usual, and great tastes in wine. I sell Rodney Strong(Tim Klein) and Silver Oak, but wish I had Rombauer.
Great report Charmy! Bottle of wine next time - I promise!
Thank you , Charmy for another great show report. I will be coming by to say hello in Long Beach. See you there.
Great Show report. Thanks for posting.
Lava, I still pick up a piece here and there for my Conder token collection. I recently picked up a set of three Norfolk 6 pieces in various die states - they are very cool!
The Penny Lady®
@ThePennyLady I bought a new desktop PC and it just passed your show report challenge with flying colors!
Gorgeous tokens
I always enjoy reading your show reports Charmy, the pictures are always nice to look at along with a nice read of the shows. You just keep doing what you are doing, nasty wine and all (my family owns a winery which someone might call nasty wines lol) as most of us here really enjoy the time that you spend to report what the show was like for you. You take care, keep buying and selling those nice pennies that you do and hope you have a very nice New Year!
Joe
Bump for the nice Norfolks.
Very fun report. I'll stop by and say Hi at the next Baltimore.
..Tom
LRC Numismatics eBay listings:
http://stores.ebay.com/lrcnumismatics
I feel like I was there!!!!! Great reporting!!!!!! Hope you had FUN~