Charmy's February 2025 (Final) LONG BEACH EXPOS SHOW REPORT w/Lots of Pics!
ThePennyLady
Posts: 4,485 ✭✭✭✭✭
As you all know, this show was likely the last Long Beach Expos show as we know it. For me, and many others who have participated in the Long Beach show over the past many years, we are saddened by this. Of course, there was lots of talk about other possibilities with regard to continuing a large show in California, or even just west of the Mississippi. There are rumors that a conglomerate of dealers may get together to put on a new show in Southern California, suggesting various locations from Los Angeles to Orange County to the Inland Empire, etc. There were even rumors that Collectors Universe may not be completely finished with this show, that they may revamp it at another less expensive location, and cut back on how many times a year it is held, and even limit it to just coins so they would not need as large of a venue. Whatever happens, it is clear that most of the dealers and collectors who attend the Long Beach show would like to have another large show in the California area to attend, and I for one feel there is a definite need for a large show in California, especially Southern California where there are plenty of resources and deep pockets. Time will tell....
My boothmate Rich and I arrived at the show as usual just before set up. I took a few minutes to see what I could find in the dealer trading room and picked up a few pieces. We were let in the show at noon and there was quite a large crowd of dealers waiting to get in. Set up went smoothly, and I was able to walk around and do some shopping. This nice 1856 Flying Eagle cent was the first coin I found on my hunt and I quickly snatched it up!
I also acquired several beautifully toned proofs throughout the show, including this stunning emerald green toned 1885!
These three other proofs are pretty amazing as well!
I also bought this neat 1857 with a cracked planchet on both sides for my personal error collection
I also bought this nice 1922 No D (Strong Reverse) that came with the old ANACS grading card from 1985 and was issued to The Coin Shop.
One other piece I acquired for my personal collection is this scarce 1903 Indian cent encased pocket mirror from Capitol Milling Co. in Los Angeles. I found out that Capitol Milling is a 19th century business in Chinatown that is still in existence. The piece is in pretty rough shape but, even though it's a tough pocket mirror to find (as are most pocket mirrors from California), it didn't cost that much so I went ahead and bought it.
Finally, this is the small group of pieces I acquired throughout the show
PCGS was busy helping dealers submit coins as soon as set up began.
That afternoon after things died down, we took a few minutes to relax and open a bottle of wine to share.
On my way out to dinner that evening, as I usually do after dealer set up, I put a group of my colorful advertising cards on the media table that most shows provide for dealers to place their ads, show flyers, etc. near the registration area for collectors.
Weird thing happened when I passed by that table the next morning BEFORE the public was even let in - all my cards were gone! Some dealer I'm assuming (since the public hadn't even lined up yet) had taken them and probably just threw them away. I am guessing they didn't want the competition! In any event, I had some extra cards so I placed them back on the table. Then a few hours later, I checked the table and they were all gone again! Wow, I have no idea who had an issue with my advertising cards, so I tried one more time and placed more cards on Friday. Poof, they too disappeared. Just so you know, I work hard to be a positive influence in this industry and try to do my best to treat folks the way I would like to be treated. This experience was very frustrating for me as these advertising cards are not inexpensive, and are large half-page sized thick, 2-sided glossy cards. I have no idea why someone would take the time to monitor that table to keep removing just my cards. I think it is very sad that some insecure dealer must have had some grievance with me and/or didn't like me marketing my business at the show. I just want to say that this was a very unnecessary, passive aggressive thing for someone to do, and they could have just approached me so we could discuss whatever issue they had.
Any way, that night we went to a great authentic Italian restaurant we discovered last year, La Parolaccia, on Broadway in Long Beach. We each brought a bottle of wine for our usual wine tasting with dinner, though this time the bottles were a little more special. Of course, we don't end up finishing the bottles and take them back with us to have at the show the next afternoon.
Thursday morning I took some time to take photos around the bourse floor before the public was let in.
The US Mint was set up in the back of the room
Jim Stoutjesdyk at Heritage was presented with the ANA's Presidential Award
Long Beach Expo ladies
My good friend Matt Chapman and his beautiful wife Tina (whom I finally met after knowing Matt for over 15 years!)
David McCarthy of Kagin's
A friend of mine, John Cox, brought a couple bottles of older wine that he wanted to share with me. So he decided to wait and open them on Friday when we could get together at King's Fish House.
The show was extremely busy on Thursday, and I never was able to get away from my table until later in the day so unfortunately I didn't get a chance to take any photos of how crowded the bourse was that day. And from talking with other dealers, they too were especially busy throughout the day.
That night we (and a lot of other dealers from the show) went to 555 Steakhouse for dinner. This is a fabulous restaurant, with absolutely delicious dishes, especially their steak.
I brought this delicious bottle of Del Dotto port which would have gone really well after our steak dinners. However, we were informed that the restaurant was precluded from opening that bottle because of the high alcohol content. I had never heard of such a thing so we were unable to taste the port that night.
As I mentioned, 555 is very popular with many dealers from the show, and there were several groups of dealers having dinner on Thursday night as well.
Walt Ankerman and his group were right next to us
James Sego and his group were not far away
More dealers
When we left the restaurant, there was this little delivery robot running around. I'm not sure where it was taking the food, but it was very cute!
When I arrived at the show on Friday, I took time before the public came in (that's why the aisles don't look very full) to take photos of several of the dealers around the bourse, some of whom I'm not sure I'll see at other shows down the road.
My boothmate Rich
Macy works at the booth across the aisle from me and happened to be wearing a similar outfit to me!
Tim/Mr.Spudd stopped by to say hi
Our friend Buck across from us had to leave his table, so Rich graciously agreed to sit at his table while he was gone
That night we went to our favorite Friday night restaurant, King's Fish House, which is just up the hill behind the convention center.
They have free corkage which is great for us!
We also met up with my friend John Cox who generously shared this bottle of old wine that he had brought.
Saturday morning I again took some time to take photos around the bourse. These are my good friends at GreatCollections. They had on display a group of coins that had been burned up and melted together in the Los Angeles fires.
PCGS was consistently busy throughout the show
Russell was the one who sold me the encased Indian cent pocket mirror
Rob stopped by to say hi
As usual, on Saturdays I participate in the kids' Treasure Trivia contest, and I usually get around 50 kids who stop by and make a guess at a specific penny-related question. In my last show report, I mentioned that I was giving a talk to a group of high school YN's and had asked Whitman, Wizard, and Transline to donate some Red and Blue books to hand out, which they all generously did. I had several books leftover from the high school program so I handed them out to the kids as they stopped by my table until the books were all gone.
Soon and sadly, it was time to pack up and call it quits! Everyone I spoke with said they had a very good show and were very disappointed that the show would be ending. Even though we don't get a lot of east coast dealers, the west coast dealers in general really have enjoyed this show. We are all hopeful that someone will figure out a way to either carry this show over to a new location or start a new 200+ dealer show somewhere here in the west. The west coast dealers are eager and hopeful to continue doing business at a large west coast show!
So that's it for this show report. My chubby Penny likes when I'm home because I feed her sooner than my hubby does!
Next up: The Buena Park show (March 8-9) and the PNNA Tukwila/Seattle show (April 11-13).
Comments
Thank you for the great show report - I enjoy reading it.
How low class someone is taking your business cards.
Love the Groth wines - one of my all time favorites.
Wonderful report, Charmy. Love that ‘56 FE!!!
I REALLY hope this is not the final LB report. Love that show. I’ll keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.
Dave
Nice, I like 👍
Awesome, as always- good to see @ANACSPAUL and the ANACS crew. 555 is excellent!
Excellent review as always. Your pics are the best. Peace Roy
BST: endeavor1967, synchr, kliao, Outhaul, Donttellthewife, U1Chicago, ajaan, mCarney1173, SurfinHi, MWallace, Sandman70gt, mustanggt, Pittstate03, Lazybones, Walkerguy21D, coinandcurrency242 , thebigeng, Collectorcoins, JimTyler, USMarine6, Elkevvo, Coll3ctor, Yorkshireman, CUKevin, ranshdow, CoinHunter4, bennybravo, Centsearcher, braddick, Windycity, ZoidMeister, mirabela, JJM, RichURich, Bullsitter, jmski52, LukeMarshall, coinsarefun, MichaelDixon, NickPatton, ProfLiz, Twobitcollector,Jesbroken oih82w8, DCW
SOCAL is TOO big to not have a BIG show somewhere. Let's hope it happens.
WS
Excellent show report Charmy! I am happy to hear you had such a wonderful time
(minus the business card thief of course...)
Abby Zechman
PCGS Education Coordinator
Thank you for the excellent report!
Thanks for your report. Terrible about someone taking your business cards.
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
Thanks again for a delightful show report Charmy.
Definitely a small minded person to steal your business cards.
I was in awe of the 20% alcohol in your DEL DOTTO dessert wine.
Do you remember what the year was?
Wayne
Kennedys are my quest...
That's why the restaurant wouldn't cork the port for us, due to the high alcohol content - they said it would be like opening a bottle of whisky at the table. The bottle has no year but I bought it a few years ago.
The Penny Lady®
As always thank you for investing you're time in doing these reports. I like the green Indian. Matches the green flip and green bean. Great match up.
I always enjoy reading your show report and seeing all the greeat pics.
Thank you so much for your time and effort in posting.
Penny loves her upcoming YN's.
Love reading your show tales, I was sad to read about the theft of your cards.
The culprit must be heavily dosed with insecurity, and your cards trigger the crap out of this person.
A little research states:
NV Del Dotto 'Dolores' Port- This very serious dessert wine is a blend of vintages and is primarily Cabernet Sauvignon with lesser parts Cabernet Franc and Zinfandel. The aromas are captivating showing off toasted figs, nutmeg, red cherry cordial and cigar accents. The flavors are intense showing sweet cherry, raspberry liquor, toffee and spice box accents. Inviting and novel, this is a gorgeous effort.
Recommended with Fudge brownies.
I am not a port drinker but my daughter in law is.
Will see what she says.
Enjoy your new pickups.
Wayne
Kennedys are my quest...
Always enjoy your posts. Thank you. I took a group of clients to Del Dotto in Napa for a tasting years ago. One of my favorites if not my favorite CA winery.
Thank you for another great show report. Enjoy the wine photos as much as the coins.
Nice 1856 flying eagle!
Might be final Long Beach but I’m still going to need the Alka Seltzer
Great show report as always Charmy. And thanks for including my picture, I really appreciate that 🌞. Too bad my neck was hurting, I look all crooked, lol
Mr_Spud
Charmy, I wrote a show report. You wrote a book about it. Thank you for investing your time in doing this.
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
It was a fun and very busy show for me. Wish I could do Tukwila, but it is too close to Central States and my usual assistant already drives to all of these shows, and that would be a lot of driving. See you at CSNS probably!
Thanks for the great report.
@ThePennyLady Great report as always. I hope the show
will remain.
Do you ever dine at the restaurants in this report other than
during the convention?
Thank you. Yes but in other cities since Long Beach is still almost an hour away from where I live. We especially like to go to King's Fish House in Lake Forest.
The Penny Lady®
Charmy - Really like your show reports.
Thanks as always for posting your write-up, they're always enjoyable.
Thank you all for always making me feel appreciated when I post these show reports. It's been over 15 years since I started preparing these reports and I have been continuously amazed by the response I get from these forums. You are all exactly why I take all the photos and put them together with my narratives to create these reports.
As far as the Long Beach Expo goes, I am very hopeful somehow someone will put together a large show out here in the west. When that happens, I will be right there with my camera phone to document that show too! Until then, look for my next report of the upcoming CSNS show in April!
The Penny Lady®
Thank you Charmy, for your reports. I have only been to a small, twenty (or so) dealer show, so these larger affairs are a treat for me to see, vicariously.
Matt Snebold
Thank you for the report.
So Long Beach has in the neighborhood of 200-250 dealers ? That's about half (?) of FUN...but you would think it would be critical mass so that a show promoter could at least break even.
Fingers crossed that the show continues. Would look to go in a few years when my schedule and $$$ allow.
Charmy, as always fantastic pics and fantastic prose.
I would have hired a kid to hang out at the table looking like he was playing games on his smartphone and then try and catch the thief red-handed !!
Charmy, you make a "coin life" look so Glamorous!!
Casual collector: Morgans & Peace Dollars & 20th Century Type Set. Successful BST transactions with Morgan13, CoinFinder, CoinHunter4, Bretsan.
Charmy,
You took some time out at the Buena Park show to talk to me, and I greatly appreciated it, thank you. It was also very nice to meet you.