Charmy's CENTRAL STATES COIN SHOW Report w/Tons of Pics!!!

Ever since missing the Baltimore show, I had been having “coin show withdrawals” so I was especially looking forward to this show!

Whenever I leave for a show, I check the weather reports so I know what kind of clothes to bring. I checked the Chicago weather report about 10 days before I would leave and it indicated the weather would be in the 70’s so I was happy not to have to bring heavy clothing. But then another check a few days later showed a drastic change – it would be in the 40’s and 50’s! So I forget about taking the capris and sandals and pack the warmer clothes and jackets!

Set up for the show was Wednesday morning so I left beautiful Orange County on Tuesday.





A few hours later, we were landing in sunny Chicago!





After landing, I took a cab to the hotel and got settled into my room.





I then headed down to The Gather bar at the hotel for a bite to eat where I ran into several other coin dealers who had gotten there that day too. I was introduced to cheese curds which were delicious!



After a few hours of relaxing and chatting with some friends, I went over to the convention center and registered for my badge so I wouldn’t have to do that in the morning and stand in line. Then Rick and I headed over to the casino in Elgin for some poker!


Got up early on Wednesday and headed over to the show for set up. There was quite a line of dealers waiting to register so I was indeed glad I took care of that the day before!



Kevin Foley and Mitch Ernst did a great job manning the Message Center table!

 

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After setting up my table, I headed over to the exhibit area to set up my Penny Potpourri exhibit. Wow, there were over 300 cases of exhibits – I had never seen so many exhibits at one show before!





After setting up my booth and my exhibit, I was exhausted already! Standing and bending over cases for a solid 5 hours made me feel old and creaky! But I was still ready to do some selling and buying, and buying I did. I found some great coins, including more beautifully toned coins than I’ve had in a long time (photos are posted below). I did quite a bit of business during set up day, so I was looking forward to a nice glass of wine!

We decided to have dinner in the city since Rick had a car, but unfortunately, we left during rush hour and hit heavy traffic. My buddies Ron and Matt in the back seat! Matt was dubbed “Map Matt” since he used his phone to guide us through the side streets.



We decided to take surface streets instead. Along the way, we passed this very large cemetery with huge grave markets and crypts.





We also passed by the Radio Flyer factory with a huge Radio Flyer wagon in front but I didn’t get a photo of it before we drove by it.

Ahhhh – Chicago!

 

By the time we got into the city, we were all very hungry so we decided to just stop at the first nice restaurant we could find – and it didn’t take long to find one! We settled on Ristorante Centro (a Rosebud Restaurant) and WOW, we definitely lucked out!







We all agreed that this was one of the best restaurants we’ve been to. The food was amazing, from the bread, to the appetizers, to the main course. We didn’t even have room for dessert but we had no doubt it would have been delicious.

This is their imported burrata with heirloom tomatoes – it’s a soft cheese ball with an even creamier cheese in the middle that they cut open and spread out. It was wonderful!!!



Ron usually picks our wine, and he never disappoints with his choices. We had two bottles of this wonderful LeVolte Italian wine!



Their specialty was spaghetti and meatballs which they touted as “the best spaghetti and meatballs ever.” Matt and Rick decided to try them, and they both agreed they were the best spaghetti and meatballs they ever had!



I had their orecchiette with sausage and rapini – mmmmmmmm! I had more than enough left for two lunches the next day.



Ron had their sea bass piccata which was my second choice



After the long day of set up, and a wonderful meal and fantastic wine, I was ready to go back to the hotel and climb into my comfy bed and call it a night. But when we got outside the restaurant, the boys noticed there was a Howl and the Moon dueling piano bar just two doors down, and even though it’s one of my favorite night spots, they seriously had to talk me into going for “just an hour or so.”



Well, once inside, with the music playing, the beer flowing, and such a fun atmosphere, I was having a great time!





Me and Matt



Rick



Matt and Rick



Ron and the cute waitress



Lefthand beer



These are the little slips you fill out for whatever song you want them to play. This was Matt’s pick



This song is always one of my picks!



I guess we were getting a little silly because they even thought my cellphone cover was really cool!



The mirror ball!



After a couple hours, they finally had to drag me out of there, and I was very glad we didn’t stay even longer because I had an 8am WIN (Women in Numismatics) meeting the next morning and knew it was already going to be hard for this west coast gal to get up that early!

 

As I expected, Thursday morning came way too early! But I made it to my WIN board meeting on time. Right after our board meeting was our WIN general meeting.





Our guest speaker was Allen Mincho, Director of Currency Auctions at Heritage Auctions who gave a very interesting talk on National Bank Notes.





After the meeting, I headed over to the show. I was happy to see there was a nice crowd waiting to get in.



Soon after I arrived, a dealer who knows how much I love toned coins, offered me 4 coins – all of which were the most beautifully toned, stunning coins I have had the pleasure of seeing, especially the 1872 and the 1877 PCGS MS65 BN Indian cents. I quickly snatched them up, and was very proud to show them off to other toned copper lovers. Well, it didn’t take long before one of those other toned copper lovers wanted to snatch them up from me. So the 1877 and 1872 PCGS MS65 Indian cents quickly found a new home! I was happy with the deal, and the new owner was very happy as well.

 

I also bought this gorgeous proof from a collector who also loves toned copper



And this very vibrant 1886 Type 1 Indian cent



And this very pretty Lincoln error is for my personal collection



When I had a chance, I went over to see my friend and fellow Summer Seminar classmate Mitch Ernst’s “The Sower” exhibit. It was an extraordinary exhibit, and so well done. Mitch won first in his class and Best New Exhibitor for this amazing exhibit!















That afternoon, one of my favorite Chicago friends and forum member known as Mike Noodle, brought me a much appreciated great bottle of wine!







Another good friend, Taryn, the Long Beach show coordinator, also stopped by to say hi.



Forum member Chris/Fishteeth stopped by to say hi



This is Ryan Moretti of Stacks Bowers



Thursday evening we held our first WIN social mixer at The Gather and had a great turn out, including several men!



Me and our WIN VP Amanda!

 

On Friday morning, I also attended another breakfast meeting at 8am, this one was for various club representatives. Our WIN publicity board member, Kathy Freeland, was presented with the ANA’s “Points of Numismatic Light” award for her passion and dedicated service to numismatics



I also got a chance to view more exhibits. I really liked this one on old savings coin banks.









David Lange at the NGC table



Mandy at the ANACS table



Dealers Lou Rasera and Doug Bird



PCGS folks!

 

And here are many of the coins I purchased during this show!



Jim McNalley (friend of forum member Crisman)



Fly-In Club members Rick, me, Doug Noble, and Scott Kryzenski



The Stacks booth was just up the aisle from me, and I noticed at the end of the day they were taking down their big huge sign





After the show, I took some photos around the Renaissance Hotel



The hallway from the hotel to the convention center



The most fragrant orchids I’ve ever smelled!



The front of the convention center







Then I headed over to the exhibitor’s dinner at Maggiano’s Restaurant sponsored by CSNS. It was a fantastic dinner!







Rick and Fran Lockwood, the exhibit chair



ANA President Walter Ostromecki and me



Mitch Ernst and his family



Emily (Mitch’s daughter) and Abe Lincoln



After dinner, I stopped by The Gather at the hotel and ran into these folks – Mike (Noodle), Matt (Lost Dutchman), Evan, and Brian

 

Saturday morning I again had to get up early for another event – this time is was 7:30am for the exhibitor awards breakfast.



Here are Ray Lockwood, Mitch Ernst, and another CSNS board member presiding over the event







The awards









Mitch receiving his first in class award for his The Sower exhibit



I guess my lucky streak ran out because one of the class judges who judged my exhibit didn’t like it and gave me a very low score, so I didn’t win an award at this show. I had been used to getting scores in the 90’s and was quite disheartened by this one judge’s score which also knocked me out of contention for the best in show award, but – oh well, you just can’t please everyone….

The show was relatively slow on Saturday but I had one big sale that, in addition to the toned coins deal, made my show. A collector had stopped by my table on Friday with a very nice high end partial Indian cent set. He asked me if I thought he should sell it or complete it. I told him that he had chosen very nice quality pieces, that I’d be happy to buy them from him, but if it were my set, honestly I’d complete it because he had already made such a great start and obviously had good taste – but it all depended on whether he still had an interest and desire in doing so. He said he would go home and think about it.

So Saturday early afternoon he shows up at my table and said he had decided to complete the set and wanted me to help him. Of course, I was thrilled to help him and asked him where he wanted to start. He wanted to complete the first page of copper nickel cents, so I showed him several pieces that I thought would fit in with the ones he already had, and he ended up buying all of them! Then he said he also wanted to buy a nice 1877. I happened to have one in PCGS MS63 BN that he really liked, and he bought that one too!

So after that, it was time to pack up and head home. When I got to the airport, I grabbed a bit to eat and a nice pre-flight margarita at a bar right across from my gate. I knew Nina and Ian Russell were on my same flight and they soon showed up and joined me. He’s me and Nina hamming it up!



Getting ready for take off



And here’s me cozy in my seat and so happy to be heading home!



Bye-bye Chicago



Hello Orange County!

 

Overall it was a very busy show for me, with lots of business buying and selling, as well as all my WIN club and exhibit meetings. Even though Schaumburg and Rosemont are on the outskirts of Chicago, it is definitely worth it to go into the city and experience what Chicago has to offer. I never felt unsafe, didn’t see or hear about any thievery at or around the show, had some amazing food and wine, and met and hung out with some great people. I definitely will look forward to coming back to Chicago in August!

 

Wonderful Report! On behalf of those who could not attend, I thank you for coverage of the event!

 

Great rundown as always Charmy . Those toners you picked up were super sweet .

 

I agree! Charmy's reports are the next best thing to being there.

 

Great report!
I am now craving Cheese Curds.

 

What happened to Matt's Picture? I was expecting a good laugh from that one.

 

Great presentation Charmy, as always and nice toners too. But bone yards and coin shows don't seem like a good mix.

 

Not sure what you mean - Matt's in the photo in the lounge after the exhibitor dinner.

 

Maybe that was it, but it was not quite what I expected. I all I know is this post

 

That was it. I heard from a little birdie the next day that Matt had a "good" time that night!

 

wow nice eye candy (coin pics). thanks.

 

wow...

I didn't know you were also a Time Warp nut.