Charmy's Big 2026 FUN COIN SHOW Report w/Lots of Pics!

ThePennyLady · January 14, 2026 1:37PM

WOW! What a show! The FUN show folks sure know how to put on a great coin show!

As I'm sure you've all heard that this year's FUN show was more than fantastic, more than busy, and more than a great show - for many of us dealers, it was one of the, if not THE, best shows ever! I heard that Thursday was a record setting attendance at any coin show, and for me it was so busy that I never left my table and wasn't even able to take photos around the floor to show you how busy the crowds were. So you'll see that I "borrowed" a few photos that folks from the FUN show took of the long lines of people waiting to get in and also photos overlooking the bourse floor showing just how many people were shopping for coins!

And ever since I arrived home late Saturday night, I have been trying to dig out from all the paperwork, processing and organizing new inventory, photographing coins, sales and website updates, spreadsheet updates, etc. - not to mention organizing photos for this show report! So even though it took me a few days, I'm finally able to devote some time to preparing this show report!

I left for the show on Tuesday with a big happy face since I always look forward to attending the FUN show!

Take off from OC this time was towards to the mountains (east) instead of over the ocean (west), not sure why but it's usually due to winds

I arrived in Orlando late Tuesday night with no flight issues, thank goodness! This is the view of the convention center from my hotel

I ended up not attending the Dealer Day activities since I had already made my flight reservations when they announced that the Dealer Day would start on Tuesday and opted instead to do my "shopping" Wednesday afternoon on the bourse floor. I ended up finding quite a few nice pieces that day and throughout the show, including a pretty scarce 1856 Flying Eagle in PCGS PF63/CAC which I sold to the first person I showed it to!

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The same thing happened to this gorgeous 1914-D in PCGS MS65 RB/CAC - it went to the first person who looked at it in my case!

I also acquired these amazing better date coins during the show:

And these are the rest of the Pretty Pennies I bought from dealers and customers throughout the show:

I managed to take a couple photos from Dealer set up day

And of course, towards the end of the day, I took a breather and opened one of the bottles of wine I brought - one of my very favorite zinfandels - Rombauer!

Not surprisingly, several dealer friends stopped by for a taste, so it didn't take long for the end of that bottle, so I opened up the other bottle I brought - another one of my favorites, Del Dotto Cave Blend, which I was able to nurse through Thursday!

That night one of my good customers, Lewis, invited me to dinner at the Capitol Grille with his wife Colleen and their friend Steve. The company was wonderful, the food was amazing, and the Joseph Phelps cab was delicous! They even had this very unusual beautiful glass wine decanter that had a point on its base that leaned partly on its side in a hole on the platform, then pivoted/rolled around the dish.

Thursday morning I got in early to see if I could find some more pennies for my inventory. They held the ribbon cutting ceremony just before 10am, and soon it was time for the public to be let in.

These photos were taken by the FUN Show people of the long line and folks gathering in the lobby

I got a couple shots as the public came down the stairs and entered the bourse but my photos don't capture the masses of folks who just kept coming and coming.

Here are a few shots I took looking out from my table early on Thursday

And as I mentioned above, here are some shots taken by the FUN show people of the lines of people waiting to get in as well as what the bourse floor looked like on Thursday.

In one of their photos you can actually see my table in the vast sea of tables!

Here are pics of just a few of the many folks who stopped by my table

Frank/Goldfinger1969

Dan Perkins/Catbert

Larry Jewett/AMOS MEDIA/Coin World Editorial Director

Brantley Ditto (One Dot Dash Collectibles), a fellow Facebook member, saw a recent post I made on one of the Error Coin groups where I posted various doublestruck Indian cent errors from my personal collection, and he had one he wanted to sell, so he brought it to show me at the FUN show - of course I was happy to add this very cool 1904 double struck, off center, with a brockage Indian cent error to my collection!

Thursday was THE VERY BEST DAY of any show I've ever attended. It was so crazy busy that I never left my table the whole day. Business didn't even slow down until after 5pm which is very unusual. Every dealer I spoke with the next day said they were inundated with people buying (and selling) at their table on Thursday, me included. I don't think 5 minutes went by without people looking, buying, and selling coins at my table. Thursday was simply crazy fantastic!! I didn't even get to pour some of my wine until after 5pm - that should tell you something!

That evening I went with my foreign coin friends to dinner - they chose the Capitol Grille and even though I was just there, I didn't mind at all since they have a good variety of delicious meals.

Some of my friends brought wine to share - and every bottle was delicious, including the Grgich Hills Chardonnay

Once again, the food was amazing!

Friday morning, as a prior recipient of the FUN Numismatic Ambassadors Award, I attended this year's inductee breakfast. The Numismatic Ambassador Award honors both unsung heroes at the grassroots level of coin collecting and nationally recognized numismatists who have devoted countless hours of service to local, regional, and national organizations. Sponsored by the Florida United Numismatists (F.U.N.), new ambassadors are announced each January at the annual F.U.N. Convention. It’s the commitment of individuals like these people that helps support ANA’s mission to educate and inspire people to study and collect coins and related items.

Carol Bastable, Len Augsburger, Mike Bean, and Donna Nunex (ANA)

I sat next to my dear friend and fellow former WIN member, Lisa Loos (she and her husband Scott run the Pacific Northwest Numismatic Association and put on shows in Tukwila and Portland - though the Tukwila show recently moved to Portland due to the new sales tax issue).

This is Vulcanize who stopped by my table on Friday to say hi - it was really nice to put a face with the user name!

Ben Franklin even made a brief stop to say hi!

So even though Friday wasn't nearly as busy as Thursday, business was still steady and strong, and all the dealers I spoke with said they were very pleased with the traffic on Friday.

That night we went to Vito's Chop House for dinner, one of my favorite steakhouses! I went with my usual buds, Ron Mirr and his sister Karen, and Rick Snow and his son Kenny.

We started with an appetizer of stone crabs and oysters (though I'm not a fan of oysters). We also had a bottle of Mt. Veeder cab which was absolutely delicious - so much so that we ended up having two more bottles of that same wine throughout dinner.

The food was amazing, as were the desserts!

On Saturday morning, I came in early before the public was let in and took some time to take pictures around the bourse.

Here are the hard working folks at PCGS

Equally hard working folks at NGC

I also was able to view the collector exhibits - here are a few that caught my eye!

As many of you know, I also collect penny exonumia, including penny pocket mirrors. I have an extensive penny pocket mirror collection with over 120 pieces, so it's gotten much harder to find one I don't already have. So, a dealer friend who knows I collect penny pocket mirrors, found this new piece for me and brought it to the FUN show. This bright red 1902 Indian cent pocket mirror from a dentist in Boston who manufactured "hand-carved teeth" is quite pristine and I was very happy to have it in my collection!

Also, a customer stopped by to look at some coins and who also knows I collect penny pocket mirrors happened to mention that another dealer in the back of the room had an oval shaped mirror for sale and showed me a picture of that piece, which I looked up in my database and discovered it was one I didn't have. So I rushed over there only to be told it was just sold to a collector who was still sitting at their table! I tried to buy it from him, however, he really wanted to keep it (didn't blame him) but said if he ever sold it, he would sell it to me.

Another collector who knows about my penny pocket mirror passion stopped by and gave me this beautiful 2004 pocket mirror from the Encased Collectors International organization.

This is my good gal pal Billie Blattel from the GreySheet. She too was so busy at the show that we didn't have much time to catch up so I grabbed her when she walked by my table just to say hi and take a quick photo!

I stopped by my good friend James Sego's table because I knew he had a set of the scarce Omega cents so I took photos of his set!

James also had these gorgeous very rare gold pieces from 1855, 1877, and 1879, all CAC'd. The 1855 is a 2-year type with a mintage of only 12. The 1877 is the finest known with a mintage of only 20. And the Stella has a mintage of only 425.

Another dealer friend has this beautiful very scarce 1969-S Doubled Die Obv for sale - it's a coin I have yet to own!

Soon it was time to pack up and head to the airport. I am very thankful for the FUN show people who work so hard to put on such a fantastic show, making sure everything runs smoothly, and bringing in a record number of collectors. Even though this was an amazing show, I was exhausted and very much looking forward to getting home. Luckily I had no flight issues and had smooth flying all the way. Bye Orlando until next year....

I was very happy to see my hubby and of course my own Pretty Penny!

Next up: The San Diego Coinarama (1/24-1/25) and the new Stack's-owned Long Beach show where I have my same table No. 615 (2/18-2/20).

Mark · January 14, 2026 1:49PM

Amazing...as always!

RedRocket · January 14, 2026 2:00PM

Fabulous!

WaterSport · January 14, 2026 2:04PM

I stopped by to say hi but knew you were busy so I kept walking (crawling) to get through the show. You captured a picture of the eBay Live auction trailer which I am not sure if anyone else mentioned that they were indeed auctioning off coins. And that line to get in was real! I just did what I normally do, walked to the registration table, filled out a card and got in line to get my badge and walked right in not realizing that line was folks just trying to get registered. Oh whoopsies!

WS

Goldbully · January 14, 2026 2:21PM

Great show report, Charmy.

You have to be the best ambassador for the big coin shows ever!

golden · January 14, 2026 4:21PM

Great report! This year's FUN show was incredible!

coinhack · January 14, 2026 4:43PM

Thank you for sharing another wonderful report.

Walkerfan · January 14, 2026 5:10PM

Thank you for your observations of and testament to this epic, record setting show. It’s always a pleasure to read your reports.

mr1931S · January 14, 2026 5:46PM

I really like your 1904 penny even with the mistake. And that 1914-D is splendid! It's a five figure coin, right? Could probably buy several high grade SVDBs for what the scarcely ever seen that nice '14-D went for. I like '14-D much more than '09SVDB. My '14-D is PCGS VF 30 CAC, nicest one I've ever owned. Not a five figure coin but easily worth what I paid (half a grand). THE PCGS MS 65RB CAC you sold is a greeeeaaaat looking piece! I can see the new owner with a big smile on his face every time he gets that baby out to look at it.

johnny9434 · January 14, 2026 5:51PM

Love it

Inlander · January 14, 2026 6:31PM

Awesome report Charmy! Thanks for posting!

Dave99B · January 14, 2026 6:32PM

Wonderful report Charmy, as usual. I’ve been dying to get to a FUN. Looks like I missed a monster!

Dave

BLUEJAYWAY · January 15, 2026 1:12AM

Enjoyed your report. Will most likely be difficult to top this show. Specifically, I like seeing the exhibit photos. The Gold Cat and How The Cent Was Spent were informative.