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Baltimore------crabs and coins and.........coins!!!
keets
Posts: 25,351 ✭✭✭✭✭
I thought I'd relate my short vacation to the ANA Show complete with some deeeeeeep thoughts about the actual show itself!!
Me and my girlfriend rolled out of North Madison, Ohio, at about 7 AM Tuesday and had a rather uneventful drive with the exception of of road construction in Pennsylvania. Much to our amazement Rt. 95 or whatever we were on ended right at the Convention Center. We located some parking and stopped at the Holiday Inn where we talked with kranky for a short time and planned the show strategy for the next day. then off to Upper Marlboro where we stayed till Friday with friends.
The first night was kind of funny because I mentioned that I had never eaten crabs before and was going to attend a dinner with some "coin guys" on Thursday, so I was given a crash course on cracking crabs!! Not what I had expected. Much work with little payoff and quite a mess. Crab eating tip: eat something before dinner and don't wear anything that stains easily!!
Wednesday morning found me eager to get out the door and early at kranky's hotel. We got to the show, registered and I joined up to become a full-fledged ANA member. Next came some quick aution lot viewing and then the opening ceremony where they announced the Fifth Nickel. It was really quite a surprise. Finally we were allowed into the show and since it was my first biggeeee I was thrilled. Kranky announced that he needed to look for sample slabs and that was the last I saw him for a few hours. I had some specific dates I was looking for and it was good to have a short list because there was way too much to just look at and people/dealers to try to find. What I ended up buying on Wednesday was a 2-cent piece.
What's funny about the coin is that I didn't realize I'd bought it from a forum member until after I was home. I ended up going back to his table the next day and introducing myself to talk for a while.
I had taken my counterstamped Cleveland Commem's to the show hoping to get them slabbed by ANACS but they wouldn't do it. Instead, I walked them to NGC and they agreed to holder them, which is a bit of a surprise. One should grade and the other will probably end up in an NCS net holder, still authenticated. I took some submission forms to fill out and planned to return in the morning. I had a good time chatting with the NGC grader who took the coins and had some time to watch him assess a group of mostly cleaned Morgans for an older gentleman. Not a pretty sight.
On Thursday I went to the show without my girlfriend and took a change of clothes for the MDWoods/GSAguy birthday bash. First stop was NGC to drop off the aforementioned Cleveland's and then some looking around at coins/tables I had noted the day before. Having bought the two-center, I focused mainly on a 3-cent Nickel 1866, 5-cent 1867 w/rays and an 1870 half-dime. While there were boatloads of the coins I had a chance to look at, the specific dates/grades I was trying to find were almost non-existent---MS/PR 63. The experience was good, though, since it allowed me to do some comparison that is probably unheard of elsewhere. I took some time from the bourse floor and walked through the exhibits and looked at the Lib Nickels before heading out for lunch. Before I left for the day I picked up a nice half dime and crossed it off the list.
Thursday evening found a peculiar conglommeration of forum members together in a small room swinging wooden hammers, not at each other as might be expected, but at hapless crabs!! It was quite a topper after the show. I sat next to Anaconda and he had the lines of the night, first when he leaned over and said "I can't believe I paid $60 for potato salad and corn" which was a reference to what you really get from a crab, next to nothing. The best, though, was when we went around the tables and introduced ourselves. He stood and stated that he was "Laura Sperber" and the place rolled!!
On Friday I went and stood in the "Presedential preview line" to let DH give an assessment of two Buffalo's I have, specifically, whether he saw the tone as genuine and what his grade estimate would be. He thought they looked a bit like Chicago coins but would holder at MS63/64. With my allotted minute gone, I went to shop!! and grabbed a medal/so-called-dollar in copper that I had seen at a table on Wednesday.
I like Jefferson so I bought it to go into that part of my collection. I then went to see the folks at Capital Plastics and they measured the medals/coins for some custom holders I'm having made. It was about time for the Registry Luncheon by now so we walked over to the Sheraton and had a great meal while DH handed out the awards and gave a short talk that ende with a few questions. The most profound thing he said was quite simple: get focused. Decide what you want to collect and zero in on that area without wasting time, energy and MONEY in other areas. But we all already knew that!!!
And that was it for me. Try as I might I couldn't convince my girlfriend to hang around a bit longer. We headed up to Gettysburg for two days, took in the battlefield and the town. What a way to end the week. If you've never been to an ANA Show, make plans NOW for next year. and if you've never been to Gettysburg, figure out a way to get there, also.
Al H.
Me and my girlfriend rolled out of North Madison, Ohio, at about 7 AM Tuesday and had a rather uneventful drive with the exception of of road construction in Pennsylvania. Much to our amazement Rt. 95 or whatever we were on ended right at the Convention Center. We located some parking and stopped at the Holiday Inn where we talked with kranky for a short time and planned the show strategy for the next day. then off to Upper Marlboro where we stayed till Friday with friends.
The first night was kind of funny because I mentioned that I had never eaten crabs before and was going to attend a dinner with some "coin guys" on Thursday, so I was given a crash course on cracking crabs!! Not what I had expected. Much work with little payoff and quite a mess. Crab eating tip: eat something before dinner and don't wear anything that stains easily!!
Wednesday morning found me eager to get out the door and early at kranky's hotel. We got to the show, registered and I joined up to become a full-fledged ANA member. Next came some quick aution lot viewing and then the opening ceremony where they announced the Fifth Nickel. It was really quite a surprise. Finally we were allowed into the show and since it was my first biggeeee I was thrilled. Kranky announced that he needed to look for sample slabs and that was the last I saw him for a few hours. I had some specific dates I was looking for and it was good to have a short list because there was way too much to just look at and people/dealers to try to find. What I ended up buying on Wednesday was a 2-cent piece.
What's funny about the coin is that I didn't realize I'd bought it from a forum member until after I was home. I ended up going back to his table the next day and introducing myself to talk for a while.
I had taken my counterstamped Cleveland Commem's to the show hoping to get them slabbed by ANACS but they wouldn't do it. Instead, I walked them to NGC and they agreed to holder them, which is a bit of a surprise. One should grade and the other will probably end up in an NCS net holder, still authenticated. I took some submission forms to fill out and planned to return in the morning. I had a good time chatting with the NGC grader who took the coins and had some time to watch him assess a group of mostly cleaned Morgans for an older gentleman. Not a pretty sight.
On Thursday I went to the show without my girlfriend and took a change of clothes for the MDWoods/GSAguy birthday bash. First stop was NGC to drop off the aforementioned Cleveland's and then some looking around at coins/tables I had noted the day before. Having bought the two-center, I focused mainly on a 3-cent Nickel 1866, 5-cent 1867 w/rays and an 1870 half-dime. While there were boatloads of the coins I had a chance to look at, the specific dates/grades I was trying to find were almost non-existent---MS/PR 63. The experience was good, though, since it allowed me to do some comparison that is probably unheard of elsewhere. I took some time from the bourse floor and walked through the exhibits and looked at the Lib Nickels before heading out for lunch. Before I left for the day I picked up a nice half dime and crossed it off the list.
Thursday evening found a peculiar conglommeration of forum members together in a small room swinging wooden hammers, not at each other as might be expected, but at hapless crabs!! It was quite a topper after the show. I sat next to Anaconda and he had the lines of the night, first when he leaned over and said "I can't believe I paid $60 for potato salad and corn" which was a reference to what you really get from a crab, next to nothing. The best, though, was when we went around the tables and introduced ourselves. He stood and stated that he was "Laura Sperber" and the place rolled!!
On Friday I went and stood in the "Presedential preview line" to let DH give an assessment of two Buffalo's I have, specifically, whether he saw the tone as genuine and what his grade estimate would be. He thought they looked a bit like Chicago coins but would holder at MS63/64. With my allotted minute gone, I went to shop!! and grabbed a medal/so-called-dollar in copper that I had seen at a table on Wednesday.
I like Jefferson so I bought it to go into that part of my collection. I then went to see the folks at Capital Plastics and they measured the medals/coins for some custom holders I'm having made. It was about time for the Registry Luncheon by now so we walked over to the Sheraton and had a great meal while DH handed out the awards and gave a short talk that ende with a few questions. The most profound thing he said was quite simple: get focused. Decide what you want to collect and zero in on that area without wasting time, energy and MONEY in other areas. But we all already knew that!!!
And that was it for me. Try as I might I couldn't convince my girlfriend to hang around a bit longer. We headed up to Gettysburg for two days, took in the battlefield and the town. What a way to end the week. If you've never been to an ANA Show, make plans NOW for next year. and if you've never been to Gettysburg, figure out a way to get there, also.
Al H.
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Comments
Congrats,
Steve
Wish I coulda been there. Nice travelogue.
I'll be in Orlando come January, though.
Edited to add a thumbs-up on your purchases, too:
Great post
Reports like yours have me kicking myself for not finding a way to get there.
JUST SAY NO TO WANNABES! They lurk and prey on unwitting collectors in chatrooms!
that whole lunch was sweeeeeet except that it ended real quick. i never had a chance to speak with you or Merz to set something up for Gettysburg. i talked with beartracks and excused myself to ask BJ a question and when i came back most everyone was gone. i did call Don's home Friday evening and got no answer, figured he must have been at "The Show" so me and Casey went on as best we could, strangers in the wilderness!!
al h.
.......hey laura, it was one of those "had to be there" moments!! i'm kind of small potato's compared to that assembled room, and i was sort of in the corner with Adrian to my right and TBT's Brian across from me. there was good talk till the food appeared and the free-for-all ensued.
I got a little envious that everyone but me got to go to the registry set luncheon, so I'm going to start one using coins I already have.
And thanks for the ride back to the hotel after the crab dinner!
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
I spent four years in college in Maryland and must say fell in love with the area and the cuisine. Some of my best memories from college revolve around our favorite Annapolis crab shack called Mike's for dollar crabs, dollar beer night.
To get full on crabs all you need is time. I was just last night eating out with an Academy/flight school roommate at the Monterey fish house here on the peninsula. He ordered crab cakes and we both commented that the only way that it would be better was if the cakes were made from Maryland blue crabs instead of California Dungeness.
And here you and Anaconda were in crab heaven and didnt even know it!!!!
Will have to educate you and anaconda if we are ever out there in the future. Give me a beer, blue crabs, some Old Bay and a nice proof gold piece and I'm in heaven!!
j
siliconvalleycoins.com
May see you and kranky at one of the Cleveland shows later this year.
didn't measure up to the coin experience, but coins is what you came here for.
roadrunner
at the creatures internal organs and digestive tract. I guess thats why its always
served with a lot of beer or other alcoholic beverage as a nausea suppressent.
Soft shell crabs are more then I ever want to know about crustacean biology.
Camelot
I suppose the funniest line I heard at the show was when I was going through double row boxes of slabs at a dealers table and he commented "Yeah, they call these rare coins" and then pointed to the hundreds of dealers around him.
Over all a fantastic trip and something I will remember for ever. (and that is just meeting so many people that I "know" for the first time.)
Well, I will just hang out here on a stop on the Lewis & Clark journey, and wait for keets to show up.
(Keets, how far is Pittsburgh from Gettysburgh? Next years ANA is in the steel city, may have to make it out east again)
the crab thing wasn't as bad as i made it out to be. as noted, persistence is the greatest need. crab just tastes so good that it's hard to wait and even harder to eat those small chunks.
but i guess persistence is needed to build a nice collection, also. this was my first Major Show and i learned volumes and gained respect for what dealers have to do. i can't tell you how many times i made the rounds of the tables, passing what was crowded. with the two-center, i just wondered a few aisles over and came back 20 minutes later to an empty table that had previously been jammed, with one guy looking at the exact group of coins i wanted to view. the dealer explained that he was a variety collector. fortunately for me, he passed on everything.
with the half-dime, i looked at the coin i bought after almost two days of seeing weakly struck coins or the date i wanted in a grade of MS64-66 but no MS63's. i really wanted a PR63 but gave that search up early Wednesday and started to look at MS63. two tables before i hit paydirt, i looked at an 1870 in an NGC MS 63-64 holder that had about one-quarter of the reverse denticles not even struck up and the top left wheat flat.
oh yeah, i had a really sweet 1940 Jefferson in an old PCGS PR66 holder as a backup!!! i might PM the member dealer and see if he still has it, but if a Jefferson guy went through after me it's probably gone.
al h.
<< <i>Soft shell crabs are more then I ever want to know about crustacean biology. >>
When I was allowed to eat crabs (doctor's rule), the one thing I HATED was softshell crab sandwiches. I don't like eating sandwiches that have legs sticking out the side.
My 1866 Philly Mint Set
I know your frustration with cracking crabs. Next time, try crab cakes instead. You get a lot more substance in a lot less time.
Thanks also to Andy Skrabalak of Angel Dees for inviting me out to another dinner on Saturday night. A perfect way to end the trip to Baltimore. Our party had dinner overlooking the Inner Harbor. Fantastic food and vino. Also, a very special treat was our waiter Seamus who makes having Irish Coffee and experience to remember. If you get a chance, go to the Pisces for dinner. Make sure you make reservations way ahead of time and ask for Seamus and Irish Coffee. I guarantee you will enjoy the evening.
This show was a great experience for me. The weather was mild until the last day of the show. There were tons of coins to view in the auctions and on the bourse. There was also a multitude of friendly faces. I wish I could remember 1/2 the names of people I met. And I picked up some great coins.
We'll use our hands and hearts and if we must we'll use our heads.
<< <i>I don't like eating sandwiches that have legs sticking out the side. >>
LOL! That's my favorite part! It keeps everyone from wanting to share my sandwich!
Great report Keets!
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
<< <i> Thanks again to Mitch for setting the dinner up. I had a blast and got to meet some great folks. >>
Did I say that? I should have. The forum is a different place when you put faces on so many of the names. Wish I had the seasoned crab tips at my end. We had Adrian!
I also had an interesting dinner Saturday with 3 dealers from the show. Nothing like hearing about 6 figure coin deals being made.
09/07/2006
I may make the next show in Orlando! Have to wait till the 4 month old is easier to handle!! Could stay in Deland with my sister and family, send them to Disney or Daytona Beach while I enjoy the show! Not much in the Panhandle of Fla.
NEVER LET HIPPO MOUTH OVERLOAD HUMMINGBIRD BUTT!!!
WORK HARDER!!!!
Millions on WELFARE depend on you!
Crabs and coins are a great combination, as long as one washes up after the crabs and before touching any coins!
Al
(Speaking of Laura, Laura could go by just "Laura". She is, in so many ways, like some of the other one named people like Madonna and Cher. Hard to ignore... among other things. Of course, if you're a coin dealer, getting ignored is almost the last thing you want. "Dead", of course, is worse.)
Anyway, yeah, dinner with the gang was good. I wish we could have had more people there. It would have been good to not have to expend so much effort to eat. Most of my crab induced injuries have finally healed. That's the first time i've ever had crabs. Good for me, eh? My suspicions are that the locals don't eat crab. Probably like rattlesnake is to Texans.
adrian
Sure the crab legs take a "little" effort to get them suckers opened up.......but on the larger legs and claws an easy ounce of meat per main part of leg or claw! And SWEEEEEEEET.............rarely need the butter! Sure they fight back once in awhile........i have have my battle scars.......but then who got the better of who in the end!!!!
Oh......forgot to mention......$8.99 Sunday-Thurs., and $9.99 Fri. and Sat. Bet i eat $35 in legs alone!!!! Compare that to those pricey Baltimore entres!
Once again resides with Legend, the original purchaser "raw" at live Eliasberg auction. Laura and i "love" the same lady!
Spider? Crab? What's the difference? I'd just as soon eat one as the other. (OK, so maybe the spider's poisonous. All the better. Maybe the venom would paralyze my gag reflex.)
They serve the whole lobsters here, steamed and split open down their backs, with all their green guts in there and all. Yummy. Lobster tail's one thing, but green lobster guts? Eeew!
And I gotta say, the first person to eat a raw oyster must have been REALLY hungry.
Oops. OT.
Mmmmm....