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ANA Day 1 and 2 Show Report

Desert MoonDesert Moon Posts: 6,471 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited September 8, 2026 11:24AM in U.S. Coin Forum

Hi Folks,
The beginning. I woke up at 3:30 am MDT on Monday to get ready for leaving on a jet plane. Off to P'burgh for the ANA. So we got to the airport at 5:37 am for my 7 am flight connection to Bush Intercontinental. Off to TSA Pre where my backpack of coins was of course set aside for screening. As usual, I asked the TSA agent to do a private screening. He asked what was in there and I said coins. He asked are you a collector or a dealer and where are you going. I said to a convention mostly a dealer. So he said how is the selling going and I said pretty good as the market has been crazy right now. At that point he opened the backpack looked at the first coin box (I said I had 4), and he said looks like you packed them well so I don't have to look at them (wow, ok then). Then we had a nice conversation about collecting and he talked about the crazy price of the one of a kind Cooper Flagg autographed card just pulled and that the guy that got it wasn't going to sell it despite the millions in value. So this TSA agent was a sports card collector and said nah I don't have to do the open box by box search. You are good to go. That was nice. Normally I end up having a coin show and tell in the private room with the agents that they also truly enjoy but good to meet a collector that just was fine with moving me on.
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So my flights to Bush then P'burgh were on time. Certainly being bumped to first class for both was a plus. In fact, I hadn't had anything edible on a domestic flight for years but the P'burgh flight had lunch, where I selected an excellent grain bowl. The items were placed on real plates with real silverware, just like it used to be in the olden days of luxury flying. Wow. So I was out of the door at exactly on time arrival of 3:55 pm EDT, briskly walked to the taxi stand, in the taxi and off to the David Lawrence Convention Center, knowing the Dealer Registration was shut down at 5 pm. To my surprise, we arrived at DLCC at 4:30 pm, up the escalator I went got to Dealer Reg. Why I was in a hurry to get this done before Tues am was because ANA had a new system using QR codes you uploaded to your phone, go to a kiosk, and print the badge. On Friday previous, I got an email with my QR code but none for the two Booth Personnel, so I needed to see what was going on as it was clear something was amiss. So there I was at Dealer Reg., no kiosks to be found, a couple ANA employees at a table looking not happy. I went up to them, asked about my badge, they went through a pile of printed badges and said we don't have yours. I said hmmm......... They looked on a computer said 'there you are', and printed me a badge on the printer. Then said 'do you want badges for your other two personnel', I said no but thanks. Un beknownst to me, @usararecoins had already been in, got all of our 3 badges, hence none left for me. Now to the back story. Apparently, the whole QR code/kiosk thing had some 'issues'. That morning for PNG Dealer Day, when a few hundred dealers arrived, it was apparently a mess, and all of them having to get their badges from the 2 ANA employees at the table. Apparently took hours and of course the Dealers waiting were very upset with this system dysfunction. I was told that most of the dealers, once they got onto the bourse, were in a very bad mood and lots of complaints directed to the ANA. Luckily for me, arriving late in the day I missed that. I don't know how that went for opening day on Tuesday since I got my badge at just the right time.
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So let's get to the show. On Tuesday I arrived for dealer set up and got going. @usararecoins was there too and we got the table set up with our coins. From the get go there was good, but relaxed activity. We were set up next to Eye Appealing and Northern Nevada Coin on the other side, David Kahn and Paradime across the aisle, Doug Winter a couple tables down, GFRC and Peak Rarities shared the back partition with us. So a great group of like minded dealers clustered in our area, cool. I really expected a wild party to start things off during dealer set up. But, it was 'relaxed', I had time between interactions to actually take sips of water, we were able to have nice chats with the other table holders, etc. This carried on throughout the day even as the Early Birds, and finally the Public was let in. The buisness was G to VG, certainly not the MS70 activity we had on the same days at FUN and CSNS this year. I mentioned this to Phil of Eye Appealing at the end of the day and he reminded me it was a 4 day show so that Dealer Set up day was not like the shorter FUN and CSNS time frames and it should pick up during the week. But I was thinking that it 'seemed' a touch slower than at OKC last year. Okay sure, my sales were pretty darned good, but just did not seem FUN or CSNS nuclear hot.

Okay then did not know what to expect on Wednesday. Got to the booth at 8 am, Early Birds were there, and about the same level of activity at the onset. But when the Public was let in, the bourse really filled up and there was a good buzz. We were all busy with people walking up to the table and the buzz on the floor lasted all day. But sales again were G to VG. In talking to the customers I found most of them to be more 'careful' about how they were spending for their collections and/or resales. There did not seem to be the no hesitation just lay down the cash 'whatever' just gimmee that coin let's do it activity we had at FUN or CSNS this year. Sure I made sales, but many times, I really had to discuss the price, hesitation, coming down a bit more, and finally, maybe with a touch of reluctance, a deal was done. I got the feeling that many of the folks are being very careful about their spending at this show vs. the 2 previous noted. Again, I did well for sales, my total for the first 2 days matches all of last years OKC ANA show, but, not, feeling, the same vibe as at FUN and CSNS. Are we at a turning point for the coin market? I guess we are going to see..............

I can say it is great to have @usararecoins and @kliao behing the table. @usararecoins brought about 16 stunning high end coins to sell (or to show ;-)) with him and that brought alot of folks to our table just to see one of a kind eye candy. He did do some sales of these gems, and he did some trades and brought back even more eye candy. He got a couple gold coins on the floor with eye appeal that was at the most amazing level I have ever seen. Dude has an eye for coins for sure. @kliao has his own special skill set he brought to the table. He has been vest pocketing for quite a few years, and he knows how to work the floor. He has his own coins to sell, and he had 5 of mine to walk the floor with. I gave him a protocol for what price to sell them at, with 'net prices' on stickers on the slabs, and codes on how far he could go down if there were counter offers. Off he went with his box and my 5 coins. By the end of the day, he had sold 3 of mine at prices I was happy with, and his box was half empty. I wouldn't have a clue on how to do this vest pocket thing with dealers and get the good prices, there is alot of nuance to this and @kliao has learned it. Today he has plans on where to go to empty his box and sell my last 2. I might add a couple more slow movers to the group for him to go out there in the wild with.

So I just don't know what the activity will be like today. I have had a few tire kickers looking at different coins each with a few trips back to review, will they finally pull the trigger today? We will see a new group of folks coming into buy? My ANA experience is that Thursday is as good as Wednesday at ANA, but you know, there is that caution in the wind I talked about above, so I just don't know. I will report it here though so stay tuned.

One bourse story I want to relate before closing. I have a customer (we will calll him S) who has bought quite a few great pieces from me over the years for his early bust collection. S has put together perfectly matched sets in VF-XF mostly of all of the early series mostly CACed coins, and when he shows them to me at the shows, it is simply amazing to view these. For his capped bust half set, he was missing the 1815/2 which don't grow on trees. At CSNS another collector was showing me his 1815/2 in CACG 45 and I did everything to try to convince him to part with it. He did not. This collector, E, was at my table on Tuesday but was not selling and the one coin he liked on my table we did not end up making a deal with. But mid-day on Wednesday he was back and he pulled some coins out to see if I wanted to buy. And there was the 1815/2. I said you are parting with it? He said 'tonite' I will have one in AU55 so yes. The Bust Half Nutters told me after that there was a 55 in the Sheridan Downey auction closing last nite, and E seemed very confident it was going to be his. So he was ready to sell it, we started going back and forth with price, and were stuck at $300 apart. Then @usararecoins said 'hey DM, I used to own that coin' and brought up his images . Now @usararecoins only buys uber uber uber pq coins, so that convinced me to move up $300 and close the deal. Then 5 minutes after than, here was S sitting down at my table. I pointed to the 1815/2 in my case, and boy did his eyes open up. He had came with his 'posse' of collector friends he goes to shows with. He said DM, I love it but I already spent my budget for the show (side note, he bought a pricey bust dollar from me on Tues and I am sure bought from other dealers). One of his posse said S if you don't buy it I am going to, and then another member said, S if the other guy doesn't buy it, he will. The point was that we all could see that S had finally found his coin to complete his capped bust half date set and we were all trying to find a way to make it work for him. So in the end with all of us there figuring this out, S gave me a deposit on the 1815/2, he will pay it off over the next year, and I will give it to CAC at the show for reholder (slab needed replacing), and they will send it to him next week. So S get his coin and all of us are very happy. I have no problems doing it that way and letting S send me money when he gets it, the key was to reach a happy ending for everyone. This is one reason why numismatics is fun, you can build these relationships of trust and get great outcomes. I can also point out that I am able to do things like this because I don't to this for a living but for fun in retirement. Sure I am doing quite well, but waiting for payment on S's timescale but getting him the coin now, has no affect on my ability to pay bills. So I can do this and no worries, just a great outcome for a good friend. Trust..............

And a very special thank you for all of the PCGS board members who have come by our table so far, was able to meet folks I had not seen before, and renew acquaintances. Thanks!

Okay more to come over the next few days!

Best, DM

My online coin store - https://desertmoonnm.com/

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