Charmy's 2026 CENTRAL STATES NUMISMATIC SOCIETY'S (CSNS) Show Report w/lots of Pics!
ThePennyLady
Posts: 4,512 ✭✭✭✭✭
So sorry for the delay in posting my report - I've been swamped with paperwork and processing coins, as well as Grandma duties on Tuesdays!
But let me just say, that was one crazy busy wonderful show! Everyone I spoke with said it was their best CSNS show ever, and I have to agree! I feel like this report is almost going to be a duplicate of my FUN Show report since this show was as busy as that show! Thank you so much Cindy and all the CSNS folks who put on one helleva show! Your hard work and attention to details, the public and the dealers shows in how organized this show is and how smoothly this show is run.
Also, I didn't get around the bourse floor during the show as much as I would have liked so this report has mostly photos of people and social events. I do apologize there aren't more photos of coins, or exhibits and displays of numismatic items in this particular report.
So I flew from OC on the same flight to Chicago with my Fallbrook friends who, since they travel all around the world, have passes to the Admiral's Club for American Airlines and we were able to hang out, have some snacks and beverages, and relax before our flight. As with most of my shows, I was very much looking forward to being at another coin show!
It was a beautiful morning, with clear skies and smooth "sailing" all the way to Chicago!
And happily, Chicago had perfect warm weather when we landed!
We grabbed our bags, which were already on the baggage carousal by the time we got to baggage claim, and headed to the Renaissance Hotel. I settled into my room, which had a really nice view, then went to the restaurant bar for a cocktail before dinner.
Of course there were several other dealers and collectors who were there for the show so I enjoyed conversing about the expectations for the show and everyone seemed as enthusiastic as I was to be there!
I ended up at the Rivers Casino on the spur of the moment where I came out $120 ahead! When I got back to the hotel, I went over to the Gather bar (which is the main meeting place at the hotel/convention center). There were several dealer folks enjoying the evening before dealer set up day.
I went up to the bar to grab a glass of wine before I went up to my room and ran into Allen Rowe and his lovely wife Cindy from Northern Nevada Coin. I really enjoyed spending time with these two and happily discovered that they both were very much wine lovers like me!
I initially went for a glass of wine, but Allen ended up buying a bottle for us to share - and you definitely can't go wrong with an Artemis from Stags Leap!
Allen even showed me a photo of his "wine cellar" which blew me away!
Allen then told me about a very reasonably priced wine called Elyse out of Napa that he enjoyed and had brought several bottles with him to the show. He even went up to his room and brought one down so I could try it (the bar very graciously took a blind eye to us sharing the bottle there). And I have to say it was very delicious and I look forward to buying some for my own stock - thank you Allen and Cindy!
Soon it was time to get some sleep so I could get up early for PNG Dealer Day set up in the morning!
As I mentioned, Wednesday was PNG Dealer Day which opened at 9am for dealers who signed up, and 10am for early bird dealers who were walking the show. I personally enjoy dealer day because, since I'm along at my table, it gives me an opportunity to walk around and buy from other dealers and fill want lists before the bourse floor gets busy (the general dealer set up time was 4pm-8pm later that day). Here are a few photos I took during PNG Dealer Day.
The show program guide is always an invaluable resource so I can find my favorite dealers, know what the show hours are, and find meeting rooms!
I really admire this young man with the cowboy hat and big backpack - he is one serious collector, well on his way to being a great dealer. I've seen him at previous shows, watched him at the Portland PNNA show a couple weeks ago, and saw him again at this show wheeling and dealing with dealers throughout the show. What an amazing young man!
I was able to find a large quantity of very nice coins and even filled in a few holes in some of my customers' want lists. These are all the coins I picked up throughout the show, including this very tough 1969-S Doubled Die Obverse in PCGS AU50 - which is the first one I've owned!
I also acquired another scarce piece - this beautiful 1990 No S Lincoln Cent in PCGS PF68 RD DCAM.
Later in the afternoon I opened one of the bottles of wine I had brought, actually one of my most favorite wines - a Rombauer Zinfandel - which I shared with several of my dealer friends.
That night I went to dinner at Chicago Prime Steak with my usual group - Rick Snow and his son Kenny, and Ron Mirr and his sister Karen.
We started off with a nice bottle of Mt. Veeder.
And enjoyed a couple of seafood appetizers - oysters and octopus!
Coincidentally, Ron ordered a bottle of Stags Leap Artemis to have with our dinner!
And everyone really enjoyed their main dishes!
The show opened to the public on Thursday and wow, I was thrilled to see there was a huge line of folks waiting to be let in!
One of my customers stopped by to check out my coins and showed me a photo he had just taken of a car's license plate he happened to be behind - my kind of license plate!
So the show was SOOOO busy on Thursday that I literally NEVER left my table the entire day! I am very pleased to say that my table consistently had people in front of it the entire day, mostly buying but also selling coins. Therefore, I was not able to get around to take photos during the show, but the bourse was crowded with serious buyers until late in the afternoon! Wow, what a day! I don't recall ever having a day like that!
One of my good Chicago friends, Alan Flint, stopped by to say hi and we briefly caught up with each other. His brother Bruce is also a good friend with whom I worked for many years during my long-ago days at Morrison & Foerster as a litigation paralegal. It's always such a pleasure to see and chat with Alan.
Another good friend, Linda Sekulich, stopped by later in the day. Her husband Larry, was the instructor at a Summer Seminar class that I took on how to prepare an exhibit. We ended up competing against each other for Best of Show at a subsequent ANA show when I was exhibiting my "Penny Potpourri" exhibit. Larry ended up beating me by 1 point! But my exhibit took 2nd place, as well as People's Choice. I broke out the Del Dotto Port that I had brought with me for some of my dealer friends who had "requested" it. I even brought tiny little solo shot cups - that port is so very delicious!
That evening after the show the PNG was sponsoring a cocktail event at The Gather for all the dealers. It's turned into an annual event, and has become very popular. I know I look forward to socializing with my fellow dealers after a busy day at the show. By the time I arrived, the place was already packed! Here are photos I took of all the folks who attended. Thank you PNG!!
When I arrived at the show on Friday morning, I was very pleased to see there already was a nice crowd of folks waiting to get into the show.
A dealer friend stopped by my table since he knows I collect penny exonumia and brought me this very cool 1902 Indian cent encased celluloid "spinner" with an original ribbon from 1902. Even though I already have two of this exact piece, I went ahead and bought this one too.
Friday was also very busy, not as much as Thursday, but steady. At 2pm, I was giving a presentation on Collecting and Investing in Quality Cents for the Fly-In Club. So I was fortunate that Ron Mirr's sister Karen was able to watch my table while I was gone - Thank you Karen!
This is my very dear friend and former fellow WIN Board Member Kathy Freeland who collects Red Cross memorabilia gave a presentation on "The American Red Cross in World War II."
My coin dealer "show husband" James Sego (he and I have been to dinner with other couples at various shows and we were usually the ones without our spouses so we often paired up at these dinner events ;-) ) showed me these awesome super low mintage proof gold coins (top pop/near top pop) he had in his case. He always seems to come up with some amazing pieces and I appreciate him showing and educating me on coins other then cents!
Also on Friday as I'm sure many of you heard, there was a little commotion near the Sedwick Shipwreck Auction booth. Noah Lehman/Rarity 7 who had a booth right next to the commotion was able to take some photos and described the arrest as follows:
"Our friend Tony Gryckiewicz was offered a coin that seemed way too cheap. We checked with the folks at Sedwick and turns out it had been recently stolen from their buyer. Police were called, Tony did a heroic job of stalling the two guys shopping the coin and the Schaumburg police cuffed them and took em away. Dan Decker and Nicolas Morabito did a great job preventing the guys from running out a wide open door in the back." Also, per the folks at Sedwick, after they were alerted about the coin and confirmed they had sold it at a recent auction, they called their customer who had bought the coin, and those folks confirmed that the coin was indeed "missing" and not in their possession. The coin was a 1709 Lima Eight Escudos (1715 Fleet McGregor Collection) MS62 Gold Coin valued at approximately $40,000.
Big kudos and great teamwork to all involved, and chalk one up for the good guys!
That afternoon I opened the bottle of Del Dotto cab I had brought - it's another favorite of mine - and of most folks who try it! If you ever get to Napa, be sure to do a cave barrel wine tasting at one of their wineries! Their wine is top notch!!
After the show on Friday, my dear friends Karl and Joanne Stephens (foreign coin dealers from Fallbrook) went to Chicago Prime Italian for dinner. It's one of my favorite restaurants in Schaumburg (by the way, Schaumburg doesn't allow you to bring your own bottles of wine to a restaurant). We had a lovely Rombauer Chardonnay to start with, followed by a delicious Duckhorn Merlot with dinner.
We were seated right next to a large group of other coin dealers who were having a great time, especially when they ordered this fantastic glazing dessert!
I arrived at the show a little early Saturday morning so I could walk around, take some photos, and check out more dealers' inventories.
My very good friend Dino Koromvokis/Ace Coins
Tyler Jorgenson/Great American Coin Show Rep
NGC 
CAC 
PCGS
CSNS
Sam and Emily Ernst (Mitch Ernst's kiddos)
Robert Julian and his amazing coin art
North Bay Coins/Greg Krill's Pellet Estate Wines
Although I had a few decent sales, Saturday was very slow with several tables already vacated (as is typical for a Saturday). Soon it was time to pack up and head for the airport. Luckily, the day was beautiful and there were no weather issues like we've had in the past. It was again smooth sailing to the airport and all the way home....
Good-bye Chicago til September (the GACS)!
Hello my pretty Penny who loves laying all over my table (or in the boxes) whenever I'm working on coins!
Next up, the Buena Park Show in June, the San Diego Coinarama in July and the Pittsburgh ANA in August!
Comments
Thanks for the excellent show report and all the pictures.
Great report! Love the arrests, too!
P.S. That license plate is EPIC!!!
Dave
Thanks for the show report!
Great show report. Nice to see real coins and fun among peers and friends.
On a side note, my grandmother didn't look anything like you! Congratulations.
You should bottle whatever your secret is to the fountain of youth.
Excellent report Charmy! Thank you for posting
Nice 🙂
Thanks for the awesome report!
Always a pleasure to read. Thanks Charmy.
That 1895 PR68 DCAM $2.50 is breathtaking
Amazing report! I love that DCAM gold and all of the food pics. Glad that the bad guy got caught... win for the hobby!
Proud follower of Christ! I love the USA! Land of the Bright and Beautiful! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Thank you for the report, Charmy! Great as always!
CAC | PCGS | NGC
Thank you for another awesome report! Loved all the details and photos—you really made the show come alive for those of us who couldn’t attend.
Appreciate your time spent on these reports. Neat looking spinner.
Another great show report Charmy!
Thanks for sharing.
Wayne
Kennedys are my quest...
Wish I could have been there!
WS
Yet another amazing, entertaining, and informative show thread with tons of pics.
Loved seeing these criminals getting nabbed.
Shout out to the folks who helped get these guys in police custody.....great team work indeed!
Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do?
Charmy, your write-up is wonderful. Thank you for taking the time to share it with us. Glad those thieves were caught too.
Sometimes ya get what ya ask for to like this (s**ks to be you...)
Thank you, Charmy for a great post, as always.
Thank you Charmy for your consistent great reports.
Excellent show report as always!
My YouTube Channel
Thanks Charmy! I wasn’t hungry (or thirsty) until I read your post.
Noah always seems to be in the center of the action. Need to hang out with him more often.
I think the “amazing young man” in hat is Bryce. He was at a local show in the Bay Area on Sunday (the same weekend at CS) with his dad and sold me a gold CAC commemorative. He is so engaging!
Tim