Bellman's Dallas ANA Show Report

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by V. Kurt Bellman, Mar 8, 2016.

  1. Cascade

    Cascade CAC Variety Nerd

    You know where I stand on the idea Messy :)

     
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  3. V. Kurt Bellman

    V. Kurt Bellman Yes, I'm blunt! Get over your "feeeeelings".

    I did enjoy it, fully and unreservedly. It's not YET enough to turn me into a Morgan man, but then again, I don't collect Cathedral medals either, but I enjoyed that session, too. If you do it again at Anaheim, you'll probably turn my son into a Vammer. He's looking for a U.S. niche to dive into. So far, he has one of the most impressive collections of Soviet Union coinage I've ever encountered.
     
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  4. Jwt708

    Jwt708 Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the report, I enjoyed it.
     
  5. Dave Waterstraat

    Dave Waterstraat Well-Known Member

    I had the pleasure of attending the VAM Q&A presented by JB, JR, GH and RS. It was nice meeting these VAM guys and actually had the chance meeting of Ray at one of the tables before hand. We were both asking to have a look at the 1883-O's. Funny how things go sometimes.
     
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  6. V. Kurt Bellman

    V. Kurt Bellman Yes, I'm blunt! Get over your "feeeeelings".

    Part 6- Saturday morning

    "What is this place, and what have you done with the ANA show?" There were lines, brief lines, at registration. All they had to do was pick up a wrist band, and they were good to go. I was assigned to the Kid's Zone, basically to take the late great Myrna Lighterman's former post (as if anyone ever could). Rest in peace, dear Myrna, you're missed already. As soon as the Boy Scouts' Coin Collecting merit badge finished, we got DELUGED with rugrats in uniform and their siblings for Treasure Trivia. I had gotten my first taste of that two years ago in Atlanta, where the ANA talked me into full pirate costume, complete with eye patch. No real sword, though.

    This was a tale of two sides of the hall, or rather, the view from the front vs. the view from the back of the hall. If you were at the back, like I was, it looked like a normal busy largeish weekend coin show. If you were up front, it looked like everyone had left for the "Walker Stalker" convention down in Hall B, or the Berkshire Hathaway Realty convention at the hotel end of the Hutchison. Here's what wrong with the coin hobby, okay? Our show was FREE on Saturday, gratis! The Walker Stalker show was $55 a pop, and they had 10-20 times the crowd we did. Food for thought..., and no, that's NOT an "eating brains" pun reference, although it could have been.

    But the first order of business was to document the ANA Board of Governors meeting with a few stills, as if there was any movement that video could have recorded. I grabbed a copy of the budget and the proposals for changing the mediation procedures. Look for that in The Numismatist, ANA members. It is a significant change that adds some behind kicking "toofies" to the process.

    The families were the key to Saturday's business. Kids dragging parents around as much as vice versa. I even found most of my own purchases on Saturday. Here is where the sharp dealers who stayed for Saturday made extra dollar$. Provident and Dillon Gage, as well as some other new company, were there doing "wholesale only" bullion business on Thursday and Friday. By Saturday, about 10 dealers magically had retail silver bullion ounces for sale in their cases - generics, Britannias, Eagles, Maples of two varieties (Monkey privy and plain), even Libertads. Cha-ching! I managed to scarf up three dates of 1oz. Libertads that I needed, and only paid $20 a pop. One of the dates was 2011. Guess how much I saved NOT buying that one new in 2011. Hee, hee, hee.

    I actually stayed until the show was over, over, like the convention center carts were starting to bring pallets out from behind the curtains over. I had my hugs goodbye with Kim Kiick and Rhonda Scurek with promises to meet again in Anaheim.

    Best Bellman one-liner of the show:
    A guy (could have been John Wilson) was snapping a group picture of us back at the Treasure Trivia booth, with several Board members. He said, "I have to get a picture of this august group." I said, "Nah, this is the March group, you can get the August group picture at Anaheim."

    Ba-doomp-chaaa.
     
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  7. Cascade

    Cascade CAC Variety Nerd

    You'll be at Anaheim too huh kurt. Looks like we'll have to play nice :p
     
  8. rrdenarius

    rrdenarius non omnibus dormio Supporter

    Interesting line of thoughts. I agree with you on the subject of needing to improve the drawing power of our hobby. You did not mention that the zombie convention next door outdrew the coin show. You can see my post for coins and pics I brought home from the convention - https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ana-finds.275701/#post-2366092
     
  9. Chuck47

    Chuck47 Member

    Excellent report on the show. I enjoyed it very much and I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures.
     
  10. V. Kurt Bellman

    V. Kurt Bellman Yes, I'm blunt! Get over your "feeeeelings".

    Epilogue - Dealy Plaza

    After the show closed at 4PM, I made off on foot toward Dealy Plaza, dragging camera case (screaming yellow Pelican 1450) and wheeled suitcase along with me. As I approached the Old Red Museum, I was stuck by the awesomeness of the sadness I was about to encounter, and frankly, a tear came to my eyes, that far out. I had had plans to be partially funny here. I suddenly had doubts I had the stones to pull that off.

    As I turned to take my first look at Dealy Plaza, I was first struck by how concise and compact an area it is. From the street that runs to the east of Dealy Plaza, to the railroad overpass that the motorcade dashed under after the shooting, was about 1/3 the distance I had ever considered. It is a SMALL place, dudes and dudettes. ANY part of Dealy Plaza, ANY of it, is an easy shot for any trained marksman from the 6th floor. Heck, with the scoped rifle from there, you don't even need to be a trained marksman; any reasonably competent hungover Pennsylvania deer hunter could have EASILY made any shot Lee Harvey Oswald was said to have made there, and HAS made, if they have eaten venison. No problem AT ALL! So much for Conspiracy Theorist argument number one.

    I first walked down the hill in the direction the motorcade took but on the opposite side of the street from Zapruder's position - I would have been in Zapruder's film from there. I stopped at the first X in the street, the site of the non-fatal bullet that hit the President and the Governor, the ill-called "Magic Bullet" hit. Looking up at the sixth floor window, I knew I could make that shot, TODAY, and I have the tremors of a stroke survivor. And I could make it with open sights, no scope.

    Then I walked down about 15-20 car lengths to where the fatal shot hit the President's head. It was also marked in the street by an X. Like some others with more curiosity than sense, I waited for a traffic lull, and walked into the street, stood on the X, and looked up at Oswald's position. A clear open shot, but longer than the first. At this position, the trees are being cleared by shooting OVER them (they are carefully trimmed to be historically accurate). The non-fatal hit was accomplished by shooting UNDER the tree canopy. Between the two positions, there is light branching that must be shot THROUGH. A second shot might well have ricocheted off a branch.

    Rather than pulling a 180 from the fatal shot site, I continued on across the street toward the Abraham Zapruder position, in time to avoid a nasty horn-blowing driver of a white minivan. I looked around at the scene. The so-called "grassy knoll" restored to its original appearance, is really, really TINY, and only about 25 feet from where Zapruder's Bell&Howell was whirring away. Had a rifle shot come from the grassy knoll, Zapruder may have lost hearing in his right ear, he was THAT close. Down goes Conspiracy Theory 2.

    This is the first time I had been to Dealy. I am now more convinced than ever that The Warren Commission and their counsel, Arlen Specter, got the details of that terrible day exactly right. About what led up to those events, and its planning, I cannot speak. Dealy offers nothing about those facts.
     
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  11. V. Kurt Bellman

    V. Kurt Bellman Yes, I'm blunt! Get over your "feeeeelings".

    I didn't make the zombie convention a highlight, but I did mention it this morning in Post #25 labelled Part 6-. Thanks for reinforcing the point.
     
  12. Cascade

    Cascade CAC Variety Nerd

    I wonder if Zombucks were strong sellers?
     
  13. V. Kurt Bellman

    V. Kurt Bellman Yes, I'm blunt! Get over your "feeeeelings".

    Had Provident thought to take flyers down to Hall B, along with our FREE admittance on Saturday, both Provident AND the dealers who had zombucks (silver and copper) in their cases could have sold out in 15 minutes. Jus' sayin'.
     
  14. V. Kurt Bellman

    V. Kurt Bellman Yes, I'm blunt! Get over your "feeeeelings".

    If we can meet up, the first round is on me. And it won't be any Mickey Mouse drink, either.

    (Nothing in this post should be considered an endorsement by the ABC/Disney family of media companies.)
     
  15. Cascade

    Cascade CAC Variety Nerd

    Idiots!
     
  16. Cascade

    Cascade CAC Variety Nerd

    Second round's on me ;)
     
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