Another October 2025 PNNA Show Report... The Penultimate Tukwila Show?!
airplanenut
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PNNA couldn't have come at a worse time (other than if I were out of town) considering my work and general life schedule right now, but it's always been a fun show and it's too close for me to skip, so early Friday afternoon, I found a stopping point at work (okay, I got so sick of waiting to find a stopping point that I just got up from my desk) and made the short trek to Tukwila.
As always, I rarely go to a show looking for something specific. Sure I've got my want lists, and in the back of my mind I know specific things I'm looking for (typically rather niche), but I don't have much by way of expectations that I'll find anything. That's the case at the big national shows, as well. My MO is to see what's there, and if I find something, great, if not, I enjoy getting to look and hopefully have a few conversations along the way.
And that's just how this show panned out. I saw some neat things here and there, but nothing that I needed to see more closely. One interesting thing about PNNA is it's always been somewhat of a hybrid between local and big show. There are dealers who set up at bigger regional or national shows (such as @ThePennyLady, who I visited as she explained to someone that no, PCGS doesn't make copper coins red by just brushing off or using a pressure washer to get rid of the brown 
), and there are local folks who have some random things in a small amount of their allotted table space. Available coins range from less than one figure to well into the five figures, though the latter are pretty unusual.
@pursuitofliberty wanted to meeting up, and he found me as I was finishing up my first pass of the floor. We chatted for a while, were joined by @CircCam, and also spent a bit of time with @2windy2fish, whom I've met at prior shows. I also had a nice chat with a retired Boeing wind tunnel model builder whom I've known for as long as I've been in Seattle both through coins and when we've worked together, and saw a few other folks I know from the area.
The show was quite busy while I was there, and it wasn't uncommon that tables were difficult to see while walking by. Of course, some of that was from people spreading out and covering them, which is always a pet peeve of mine. More frequently than normal, I also got bumped into more frequently than normal by people walking around with no sense of their surroundings. Drivers and walkers are very alike in Seattle, and I hate it.
Lastly, the buzz on the floor... the future of the show. Come January, Washington is adding sales tax to coins and bullion (it already applies to paper money), so there is a question about how that will affect the show. I was told that the show venue has already been reserved for April, but TBD what happens beyond that. It sounds like there are some trade groups working to get this sales tax walked back before it takes effect, and when talking to one of the show head honchos, I noted that there's an aviation expo I attend every year in nearby Puyallup (go ahead, try to say it... wrong!) where the state waives sales tax for all sales at the show, so perhaps the PNNA could get an exemption. Another option would be to move the show to Portland (it used to be that the fall show was in Portland and just the spring show was in Tukwila, but that changed quite a few years ago), but that has its own set of issues, one of which is that my drive to Tukwila is the same as my drive to the airport where my club parks its planes, and then it's an ~80 minute flight to Portland, and then ground transportation, so... that's less convenient. Long story short, they don't know what's going to happen yet.
Anyway, I digress. After I saw all I could see and had the conversations I was hoping to have, I headed back home and got back to work. I bet no one even knew I was gone, except if they saw the many hours I blocked off my calendar and didn't reply to any messages...
Comments
Thanks for your show report.
Nice report. Made me sad I couldn't make it.
Then, reading the upcoming WA change, made me kind of glad I'm easing out of things rather than still actively buying.
It's a stupid change, imho, but isn't surprising knowing the state and the situation it has been put in.
Will likely "take out" those that set up at shows casually to sell their wares w/o being actual dealers.
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
So true. I got clunked so hard while talking to a dealer that I thought I was being mugged.
The PNNA was in Portland for years..... Years. The organizers pulled it as some point. Im sure they had had good reason, but these taxes are a game changer. I hope they come back to Oregon...
Sorry to have missed you this year! At least we weren't butting heads over rare holders.
Thanks for the report.
Thanks for the show report! Next time we'll have to meet. I was at the show for a brief portion of Saturday afternoon, but didn't get the chance to introduce myself.
Proud follower of Christ!
It was very nice seeing you as always Jeremy, glad you made it to the show. It tuned out to be a really great show, very busy both Friday and Saturday. I love this show!
Regarding the tax issue, while it is a shame that Washington chose to go his route, I don't think it will be a game changer at all - there are several states who charge sales tax on coins (Baltimore, California, Nevada to name a few) and the dealers and collectors deal with it and it doesn't seem to dissuade much coin business.
The Penny Lady®
If it makes you feel any better, I was taking a nap then, so unless you broke into my house (not recommended) you weren't going to find me.
Butting heads? Doesn't it usually go, "Hey Tim, I found a holder you might like at Table X. You're welcome." ?
I hope that's the case. When I was having my chat about the sales tax stuff, other states were mentioned in terms of precedent/how things are handled. At least in Baltimore, apparently Whitman got a carve out in the MD sales tax law on coins that it applies everywhere in the state except at the Baltimore Convention Center. Beyond the tax existing, some of the concerns lie in what's still unknown, such as paperwork that dealers may need to have (do they register with the state if they aren't based in WA, what about hobbyist sellers that set up but aren't a "business" the way a full-time dealer is) and what records the state will require (take dealers at their word, start recording tax IDs for any sales to someone else with a reseller certificate, etc.). The hope is that it'll be figured out or otherwise a nonissue, and to that end, they're going forward with the April show because it's been reserved and as a test case; what they aren't doing is preemptively canceling the show without knowing the effects of the change. I think that's a sound approach.
We'll have to take a wait and see on the tax situation. Some dealers pointed out that now that there is no Long Beach show, the PNNA show is the biggest on the West Coast...
Pacific Northwest Numismatic Association
then it's an ~80 minute flight to Portland, and then ground transportation, so... that's less convenient. Long story short, they don't know what's going to happen yet.
Uh Seattle to Portland on I5, not that big of deal……….. Just sayin’ and I can’t count how many times I did that back in the day………..
Seattle to Portland on I5 is usually pretty darn easy.
If the sales tax ultimately deters buyers/collectors from attending Washington shows all the Portland area shows will thrive
I've done it, too many times, and doubt I will do it if that change happens.
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
It's a good 4-hour drive from Seattle metro to Portland. You're looking at needing to stay overnight for the show, as opposed to Tukwila which (for me at least) is just a half hour drive
Ah times have changed since I5 had less traffic (I confess it was the 80s when I did this....). I can see what the move to PDX would be problematic for Seattle people. But to turn it around, now it is problematic for Oregonians?
Best, DM
It’s going to come down to dollars ultimately, are the collectors willing to pay 9% more for the coins/bullion they want? Or are they willing to drive out of state?
If you are spending 5 or 10 K the drive might be worth while
Yeah but I'm WACoinGuy, not ORCoinGuy.
But seriously, while it may not be as much of an impact for serious collectors, Seattle has a larger population than Portland so I'd suspect more likely to get more casual attendees in Tukwila.
Even looking at me - while I've started getting more active collecting lately (and thus more likely to make a Portland weekend of it), over the past decade I've still made it to the PNNA show at least a few times. It would bring in more casual Oregonians but at the expense of losing the casual Seattle crowd
Catch 22. On the + side there are some great brew pubs in PDX…………...
On the - side, WA State Patrol knows this and they have some crack DWI units...
ANA 50+ year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
Author: 3rd Edition of the SampleSlabs book, https://sampleslabs.info/
I know it's doable, but you're talking to someone who usually drops into PNNA for 2-4 hours, and for whom it's a 10-15 minute drive. Once it becomes a long day or an overnight and I have to start thinking about time off from work, hotel, someone to watch my dogs... at that point I might just find a national show near friends or family and go to that instead. I never went to the Portland PNNA, and in my 16+ years in Seattle, the only time I've actually been in Portland was on a flight where I rented a car for a few hours (I've flown in and never left the airport many times). Next closest was when I bought my car and had to pick it up in Vancouver. Suffice it to say, driving outside my local bubble is not on my list of activities I like to do.
There were police outside the building.
Proud follower of Christ!
How many, non-dealers, come up for the show from OR?
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment