Charmy's February 2026 NEW LONG BEACH EXPO SHOW REPORT w/lots of Pics!
ThePennyLady
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Well, it looks like the Long Beach Expo is back with a big bang!
For me, and for many of the dealers I spoke with, this was was one of the BEST Long Beach shows we've had in a long time. When Stack's announced that it had purchased this show and was reviving it, I was thrilled and eager to sign up, but also a little apprehensive how it would turn out given some of the changes, additional table costs, smaller show, no Saturday, etc. But the newly trimmed down, coin-focused show proved to be just what this show needed! I understand there were a lot of hands that helped make this show successful - from David Talk who did an excellent job of coordinating everything, to Kerry Pieropan/Pacific Expos which owns the Buena Park and Anaheim shows assisting with marketing, etc., to all the Stack's staff who helped make the show run smoothly. We dealers are very grateful to everyone who helped make this show as successful as it was - thank you!
Here are shots of the newly configured/slightly smaller bourse floor before the dealers were let in. They shortened the length of the room at the back of the room and the tables were a little more spread out.
There were a few minor glitches, mostly as a result of convention center rules, like dealers not being able to bring our weapons into the convention center even though many of us have CCW permits (I did not know this and had my weapon at the bottom of my purse which was not detected when they checked my purse), not being able to carry glass containers (like bottles of wine - but they never stopped me since my bottles were in a padded bag, thank goodness!), not being able to bring off-site food in (this has always been an issue), having to pay $14 for a simple plain hot dog, poor wifi/cell service on the floor, and a new mandatory required credit card (rather than cash) to pay for parking. Again, these were all convention center rules, not Stack's issues but perhaps some of them can be negotiated for future shows.
In any event, like I said, it really was a great show, super busy on Wednesday and Thursday, and steady on Friday. I found quite a few quality Indian and Lincoln cents to add to my inventory, and sold many coins from my inventory, including a large amount of pieces from my very popular "Treasure Box" as well as 2025 cent rolls! I even picked up 2025 and 2025-D cents both PCGS MS68 RED (top pop)! Also, as I was so busy most of the show, I wasn't able to get away as much as I would have liked to take more photos but I did my best to get some photos.
As was announced, set up this time was on Tuesday starting at noon, so I arrived a little early hoping there would be the usual dealer trading room, but they didn't have one this time so I just socialized with the other dealers in the lobby.
All three grading services (PCGS, NGC, ANACS) were lined up together on the right wall (usually they are on opposite ends of the bourse floor) - I think it was convenient for customers but I'm not sure how the grading services liked it. In any event, it didn't take long for them to begin doing business!
After Rich and I finished setting up my booth, I took the opportunity to run around the bourse looking for inventory and coins on my customer want lists. Here are the coins I acquired throughout the show, including a beautiful tough date 1914-D in PCGS MS64 RB, a very nice 1955/55 DDO in PCGS MS62 BN, and the afore-mentioned Top Pop 2025 Shield cents:
These are a couple pics taken from my booth on set up day
This very nice young man, Connor Price, stopped by my table to introduce himself. He now works at Stack's and is the younger brother of one of my most favorite people in all of numismatics, Steve Price, who is the Director of Numismatic Business Development at Stack's. Steve and I go way back when it was just starting out making his way in the numismatic world. It was a huge pleasure meeting Conner and knowing that he's following in his brother's footsteps!
After I finished running around looking for new coins, it was time to open one of the bottles of wine I brought. I really love Caymus cab but this time I decided to try one of their red Zinfandels. It was delicious!
That evening we went to one of our favorite usual restaurants - King's Fish House - which is just up the street from the convention center. In addition to their delicious sourdough bread and tasty Macadamia nut crusted halibut, they offer free corkage on any bottles of wine you bring into the restaurant. However, they have since changed their rules and only offer free corkage on the first bottle, then $25 on each bottle after that. We were very disappointed as we usually bring around 4 bottles every time we dine there, so we discussed it with the manager that we were unaware of that new policy and she was kind enough to not charge us this time for our wine. I brought a Napa Valley Del Dotto Sangiovese and Joanne brought a delicious bottle of Frank Family Chardonnay (two of the people who were supposed to join us ended up not making it so we ended up with only 2 bottles).
By the way, a weird thing happened when we were waiting for the rest of our party. When me and Rich walked into the restaurant, a kind of messy looking man (I'm guessing he was a street person) was standing next to the wall very close to the doorway, so when I opened the door with Rich behind me, the door must have "touched" the man but I was unaware of that. A little while later I was told one of my friends who was meeting us may be outside waiting for us so when I went to go get him, the manager who was near the front door stopped me from going outside. The manager told me the man outside the door said he was "going to stab me." I was confused and said "stab someone?" He said "no, YOU." I literally dropped my jaw in shock. He told me that the man said I "hit" him with the door so he was going to stab me. I asked him if he called the police? The manager told me they had already called the security patrol who patrols Pine Avenue to remove the man, but that I needed to stay inside the restaurant until he was gone. I don't know what they ended up doing with that man but he wasn't around when it was time for us to leave. Rich later told me that the guy said something derogatory about me after I had walked into the restaurant but he didn't think anything of it nor did he tell me at the time. Again, I was quite shocked but glad the restaurant was on top of it and handled it quickly.
The convention center and surrounding area at night is nicely lit up and very pretty!
The next day we arrived just after 9am and there was a line of folks waiting to get into the convention center at the front door (the dealers entered at a different door).
There weren't many people in line at registration when I arrived, but at 10am I understand there was a very long line of folks waiting to register and/or enter the bourse but I didn't get a chance to take a photo. I heard from several customers that they had to wait in a long line if they hadn't pre-registered. From the beginning when the public began entering the bourse floor, there was a buzz and it just kept growing. The bourse floor soon became packed! And the line at the PCGS table didn't take long to extend all the way to the front of the bourse floor! As I mentioned, I wasn't able to take a lot of photos on Wednesday since my table was steadily busy, but here are a couple pics I took around the floor a little later.
My good buddy Ron Guth stopped by to say hi
I don't think the bourse died down until around 3-4pm which is unusual, so we weren't able to relax and enjoy a glass of wine until after 4pm - which is a very good thing! But when we did, I opened this delicious bottle of Napa V. Sattui Bacci which is a red blend that is delicious, slightly fruity, and easy to drink.
Here's my great booth helper Rich and I enjoying our wine!
That night we went to dinner at 555 Steakhouse which is also just up the hill on Pine.
Ron Guth and my friend John Cox also joined me and Rich and our usual dinner companions Karl and Joanne Stephens.
The table right next to us was also full of coin dealers!
We brought a nice selection of wines to enjoy with our dinner - I brought one of my very favorite wines, Rombauer Zinfandel!
And here are some of the dishes we had - I really enjoyed the trip of filet medallions with different sauces!
Thursday was another very busy day. I kept selling quite a bit of miscellaneous numismatic items out of my "Treasure Box" which included off center Lincoln cents, packs of the 2009 P/D cents, uncirculated 1943 cents in 2x2 flips, packs of various lower grade Lincoln cents and Indian cents, odd medals and tokens, casino chips, as well as several rolls of 2025 cents. I also bought a large group of low grade/common date Indian cents from a customer who had inherited them from my father (which I will separate and also put into packs for my Treasure Box).
Again, it was a very busy day so I didn't get around the bourse floor to take many photos on Thursday. However, an old customer of mine who no longer collects Indian cents, brought me the album he had put together of XF/AU Indian cents (it was missing the key dates but still had some scarce dates) which I ended up buying. Some of the coins he had broken out of certified holders but saved the labels and taped them to the pages of this book.
A kind customer who knows I collect various penny exonumia pieces stopped by and gave me this neat "hobo penny" for my collection.
Bob/Watersport and his son Aaron/Gunfunko stopped by to say hi
I saw three of my favorite PCGS folks!
Rick Snow had driven with his family to Long Beach and were staying in an AirBNB with their pup. So he brought Yuki along with him and Kenny to the show on Thursday. Yuki was very well behaved and stayed quietly behind their table, but was happy to go out on a stroll now and then - he is a very pretty sweet dog!
Thursday night was set aside for a cocktail/buffet reception that Stack's put together at L'Opera for the dealers. It didn't start until 7:30pm so we first went over to Cafe Seville (right across the street) for some appetizers and cocktails.
At the reception, in addition to cocktails they were serving all kinds of delicious wines!
I wandered into the bar area where I ran into Greg Roberts, CEO of Stack's Bowers. He generously offered me a glass of the wine he was drinking - it was an estate bottled 2015 Dominus Napa Valley fred wine signed by Christian Moueix (valued at $300-$350) - and it was absolutely delicious! I felt honored that he shared a glass of that wonderful wine with me.
Here are some of the other folks who attended the reception:
Friday started off a little quiet but soon built up and the bourse became pretty busy for several hours.
This adorable young man stopped by my table with his grandparents. It was great to see him as he has been coming to see me for several years as he completely his Lincoln cent album.
My box of raw coins are also popular and ever since the FUN show they have been picked through and needed some attention. So another dealer brought by a box full of lower end pieces and I was happy to add to a nice new group of Indian and Lincoln cents to my raw inventory!
Soon it was time to pack up and head home. We were concerned about having to deal with Friday night traffic on our SoCal freeways which can be a bumper-to-bumper nightmare, so we tried to get on the road a little early. That helped as well as taking the carpool lane, and we arrived home in a little over an hour. As usual, my hubby and of course Penny were there waiting for me (she's not to crazy about this stuffed Penny replica)!
So that's about it! The next Long Beach show has been scheduled for September 9-11, 2026, and I hope to see some more of you there! And next up for me is the Buena Park show (March 7-8) followed by the McIntosh Sacramento show (March 13-14).
Comments
I wasn't able to attend but did they move the venue back to the old hall? From the photos it looks like it....not sure though.
Thanks for the report!
jom
It's in the same hall as it's been in the last several years.
The Penny Lady®
Charmy, I’m shocked about the situation you experienced in the restaurant. I’m so glad you avoided that nut. Very, very scary. Wow…
Thank you as usual for the wonderful reports, and pics. Take good care!
Dave
Awesome report Charmy! Good to hear that Stack's did such a great job with the show!
Sorry you had to deal with an unstable person outside the restaurant.
CAC | PCGS | NGC
Nice
Apologies for focusing on the wine, but Dominus is good stuff. I drink it when I get tired of Chateau Petrus. 🤣
I liked the 1955 DDO as well!
Great report!
I really like the 14 D!
I’m glad the transient didn’t hurt you. Gotta be extra careful these days.
Everything else sounds like lots of fun!
The wine and the food looks and sounds amazing.
Thanks for sharing!
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
That was a nice read. Thank you for taking the time to share. Always love your reports.
Your recaps are appreciated.
Thanks as always for your show report @ThePennyLady! Glad you had a great experience from the dealer side of things.
Is that an old photo or are they still using the "Heritage" banner ?
If so, that would seem odd since it is now a Stacks/Bowers show.
Also, the banner indicates Saturday open to the public. Or was there no Saturday this time ?
.
Nice write up, and glad to see Long Beach as a show is "back."
I used an old photo since I didn’t take one from this show.
The Penny Lady®
Great report as always! @ANACSPAUL took us to 555 when I worked Long Beach in 2023. It was great!
Thanks for the great report Charmy and the show, albeit smaller, was a 100% better than past shows as far as dealer representation.
WS
That's a terrific looking 1914-D penny! Was there a line for those wanting to sink their teeth into a $14 hot dog?
"Great spirits have always been met with violent opposition by mediocre minds."
Albert Einstein
I would think it not a good look for security what with you being able to enter with your armament. But then again with your potential issue at the restaurant it benefits you to be safe in that regard.
Wonderful report as always, Charmy.
Such a welcome treat.