As always, I really enjoy attending the Long beach Expo since I don’t have to fly or stay in hotels and get to go home each evening, not to mention I usually have quite a few regular customers who stop by my table to check out my Pretty Pennies! The Expo folks do a great job of putting this show together, making sure the dealers have what they need in a timely manner, and even allowed the dealers to set up early this year!
Although there was a terrible theft of a huge Gold Rush era gold nugget (which I’ll post about later in this thread), the Expo security guards were easily visible (as well as under cover) all throughout the bourse area, from the front of the room to the back of the room. No matter how much security any coin show throughout the country (not just California) may have, there are very sophisticated, determined and unscrupulous thieves usually working in conjunction with others to distract dealers so their cohorts can work their magic and slight of hand tricks to conduct their nefarious and disgusting deeds.
Despite that, this show ended up being a successful show for me – it was very well attended, with Thursday being especially crowded and very busy, and I found a large amount of beautiful coins to add to my inventory. I also had just won a wonderful group of error cents for my personal collection that I picked up from Stacks at the show and had them on display. Here are those amazing errors, including this very cool and very scarce 1857 Flying Eagle Broken Planchet After Strike Mater pair!
On Wednesday after my booth was set up, I did my usual running around to find coins on customer want lists and to fill in holes in my inventory. I was quite successful in finding some beautiful coins during my hunt, as well as throughout the show when “vest pocket” dealers and others would stop by my table to sell me coins.
In particular, I found a group of PCGS MS67/CAC 1943’s to fill customer want lists, including a scarce 1943/2-S with prooflike surfaces (and typical die polishing lines in the field)!
I also found a neat set of the popular 1943’s in PCGS MS67 in the old green holders
After things wound down that afternoon, it was time to relax a bit and open the wine I brought for our table – a delicious Rombauer Zinfandel.
After the show on Wednesday, we tried a new Italian restaurant on Broadway, La Parolaccia, not far from the convention center. The food was absolutely delicious with homemade pasta and very tasty sauces! The restaurant was crowded for a Wednesday night which was also a good sign, and the only criticism was that the acoustics were very loud in the particular room we were in (though we understand some of the back rooms would have been quieter so we will try that next time).
Even though we knew we wouldn’t drink four bottles of wine, we each like to bring a bottle to share for tasting purposes. I had just returned from Napa and picked up quite a few wonderful bottles of wine, including one from my most favorite winery of all – Del Dotto Vineyards. This Del Dotto cab was simply amazing and went wonderful with the brazed beef pasta I had!
On Thursday morning when we arrived there was already a long line of folks waiting to get in. By the time 10am came around, there was a long line down the hall in one direction, and another line down a different hall!
I ran into a group of young Expo staff members at the entrance
As soon as the show opened to the public, many folks headed straight for the PCGS table where a long line began to form.
Curt Mease was there at the PCGS table waiting to offer assistance and answer questions
Not long after the show opened, the legendary error expert Fred Weinberg (retired) stopped by my table to say hi – I hadn’t seen him in several years and it gave me great pleasure to show him the new errors I had just acquired from Stacks!
My awesome webmaster, Ryan Delane, also stopped by to say hi. In case any of you need help with your website or website maintenance, I highly recommend Ryan (he used to work in tech at PCGS before he started his own company several years ago). Ryan is so knowledgeable, friendly and reasonable! His company is Interfanatic Digital Marketing with Web Site Maintenance & Design – Interfanatic.com
Heritage and Stacks had some amazing upcoming auction collections on display – including a set of some of the finest known Lincoln cents (several MS68 Red), a super scarce 1955/55 DDO in PCGS MS65 RED (Old Green Holder), and the famous rare 1943 copper and 1944 steel cents!
That afternoon after things slowed down we enjoyed sharing and finishing off the Rombauer Zin and the Del Dotto cab from the night before!
After the show on Thursday we went just up the hill to Le Opera for dinner. They also have wonderful Italian food (my favorite type of food) and a great selection of wine.
Me, Rick Snow, Matt Chapman, and my boothmate Rich Wogoman
We ordered a bottle of Beringer Knights Valley cab which was delicious!
The food was delicious and the desserts amazing!
Friday was slower than Thursday as is typical, so I took some time to take photos around the bourse
PCGS
ANACS
My booth neighbors MK Management
Tom Reynolds and his boothmate
Noah and his team at Rarity7
Steve Feltner/PCGS helping folks at the “Meet the Expert” table
The PSA booth
That afternoon we all heard about the horrible theft of the huge Gold Rush nugget from Bob Campbell’s table. Apparently the lick on the case it was in was defective so Bob had a clamp on one end of the case. He had briefly left the table but had two helpers taking care of his booth. We believe the thief had accomplishes who distracted the helpers as well as the other dealer who shared the two “L” shaped booths. The thief was seen on video “casing” Bob’s table earlier. When everyone was distracted, he had a few seconds and was able to pry the corner of the case up just enough to remove the nugget. Bob had video as did Noah/Rarity7 who was kitty corner behind Bob’s booth so they got clear pictures of the thief. Bob is offering a $10,000 reward but it is unfortunate and very sad since most assume this disgusting thief most likely had the nugget melted right away.
As mentioned above, it seems like coin show thefts are on the rise, though thievery of course is not new, even at coin shows around the country. What seems new is that coin show thefts seem to be more sophisticated and better thought out and include multiple accomplishes. We dealers can do everything right yet are still vulnerable and more susceptible to thieves just based on the type of expensive inventory we carry. Its very frustrating for all of us, but all we can do is try our best to keep everything secure and be as diligent as possible.
On Friday nights we headed off to King’s Fish House – our usually Friday night dinner destination. We like to do our wine tasting dinner there since they are one of the few restaurants that doesn’t charge corkage fees.
We brought these three wines to go with our dinner.
Our waiter uncorking our wine
I had my usual absolutely delicious macadamia nut crusted halibut!
Saturday was crowded and busier than usual for a Saturday show day. Here are photos from around the show
My beautiful booth neighbor Heather
It was also Treasure Hunt day for all the kiddos – and we were one of the stops on the trail!
These are some of the adorable kids who came by to get their coin question and guess the answer
We had about 70 kids stop by for their question and “prize” – we gave out red 1967 pennies from an original roll.
Soon it was time to pack up and head home. I had a great time seeing all my customers and friends, hunting for coins, and talking to new collectors – which I had quite a few of (the grading services are good at referring new collectors to certain dealers (like me) to evaluate obvious non-valuable coins such as “pocket change” type coins before the customer pays to submit them for certification). As I mentioned, it was a good show, a little slow selling-wise but great buying-wise. As always, I look forward to the next show in September!
And here’s our pretty Penny squeezing her chubby little self into the lid of one of my coin boxes!
Next up is the Buena Park show this weekend, then the Las Vegas show next month!