Charmy's June 2012 LONG BEACH SHOW REPORT w/lots of pics!!!

Long Beach is one of my favorite shows and I was happy to learn that set up had been moved up to noon, which gave the dealers extra time to perfect their booths and showcases, as well as to have more time to browse, see the exhibits, and catch up with dealer friends, etc.


I collected my ribbons at the registration booth and saw Taryn’s pretty smiling face waiting there to greet all us dealers!


It was nice to not be so rushed during set up. One thing I noticed was that EVERY table at the show was occupied! After I was set up, I walked around the bourse to hunt for some coins and ran into some familiar faces.

Matt/BillyGoat with Pinnacle


Then I spied another familiar face – Mark Feld


I tried to get a photo of Mark and me together, but he suddenly became camera shy – was it something I said?


And here are a couple of coin people hard at work! (Todd/Blu62Vette and his dad Roger/MustangGT)


Rick Snow/Eagle Eye was already conducting some business with Brian Wagner


Larry Shapiro and Glenn Holsonbake/PonyExpress


Bonnie is one of the nicest people on the planet, so she didn’t even mind having her photo taken with Mark! And notice that Mark actually smiled in this photo!! Bonnie obviously has something I don't!


I caught MrEureka hanging around Todd’s table


Doug Bird was ready for business!


Wei trying to look serious while another dealer (Will) hams it up behind him!


Dennis 88 is always fun to chat with!


This was the show’s innovative interactive coin locator


PCGS seems to be pulling out all the stops in trying to improve and make the Long Beach show a better show. They even had a “Suggestion Box” set up at the Information Booth!


Then I headed over to Fred Weinberg’s table because I knew he had just acquired some very rare and very cool errors.


Below are a few of Fred’s deep die cap penny errors: top left is a 32+ piece 1969-D, top right is a 34+ piece 1979-D, and the bottom center is a 21+ piece 1979-D.


Here’s another photo of the same pieces plus a 1979-D 3 piece die cap


I bought a couple very unusual errors from Fred for my personal collection, including this 2001 penny that was struck 5 times – 4 of which are off center, including the reverse!




I also bought a 25-piece stack of melded planchets from the late 1960’s that got pressed and melded together after they were stacked in the tube that fed the coin press. I forgot to take a photo of it with my cell photo but I gave it to Todd to photograph and will post a photo as soon as I get one.


After set up, I joined my usual group for dinner at Piccolos Italian restaurant. And WHAHOOOO – my wine fast was finally over! We each bring a bottle of wine to taste and we usually end up with a great variety of some wonderful wines! I brought the Selyem Zinfandel (which ended up being my favorite out of all the wines!)


This is Karl Stephens (a long-time foreign coin dealer) and Ron Guth (PCGS)


Here are Karl’s wife, Joanne, and my good friend Jerry Carsman (a dealer from Sacramento area)


Here’s what our table looked like after the wine started flowing!


And I know what you’re thinking – they drank ALL THAT WINE? Well, no, we had lots left over that we just corked and took home (or to the show the next day).

 

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Thursday opened with a bang! The show had RECORD attendance for a Thursday, and every dealer I spoke with said they were busy most of the day, and everyone was very pleased with the turn out and all the business being transacted – including me!




PCGS was also quite busy during the entire show


Now that I own the trademark for The Penny Lady® I had a few hats made that include the little ® after my company name (not sure you can see it in the photo). I tried to get my guy helpers to wear my new company hats, but for some reason they were quite adamant against the idea!

However, my friend Cindy (Logan McKechnie’s daughter of VAMS & More) didn’t mind wearing my hat at all (it didn’t hurt that it also came with a glass of wine!)


I took a few minutes later in the day to check out PCGS’s very interesting exhibits that including the inverted Jenny airplane stamp, some of wonderful Babe Ruth memorabilia, very old cigarette packets, and a couple cancelled dies





















Notice the highly sophisticated coin stand that this rare coin sits on!




This dealer had an interesting display of small jars of gold and silver for sale


And this is the pirate ship where the kids’ gather for the treasure hunt on Saturday


I usually travel home each night after dinner, but since my hubby was in Mexico for the Baja 500 this weekend, I decided to stay in Long Beach at the Hyatt. So when I was checking in, I ran into a couple other notables!

Don Willis and David Hall




The Hyatt Long Beach is certainly a beautiful hotel, and I had an amazing view of the Aquarium and the harbor from my room.




After the show closed on Thursday, I joined a large group of dealers at Naples Rib Company which I understand is a Thursday night tradition at the Long Beach show. WOW, they were the best ribs and brisket I’ve ever had! And the entire room was filled with coin dealers!

There was so much food that I only ate 1/4 of this plate, and had another 1/4 for lunch the next day, and gave the rest away!




Me and another one of my favorite people – Patrick of Grass Valley Coins






A sculpture outside Naple’s Rib


After dinner, a few of us headed over to St. Pepper’s Dueling Piano bar right across from the convention center. Since my belly were still quite full from dinner, I only had one drink – but boy, was it tasty – I sure missed having Guinness!


Even though we didn’t end up staying all that long, it sure was a lot of fun!





Friday started out more slowly but soon picked up and the show was buzzing again. I was soon very busy both buying and selling coins, answering collector questions, offering advice on the coins they would bring me, or giving appraisals on their treasures. I do enjoy this part of being a dealer – chatting with people about pennies. Even with the odd and sometimes unclear questions, I am grateful that I get to be a part of this world!

On Friday after the show, we went over to one of my very favorite chain restaurants, PF Changs, which is just across the street from the convention center. On my way over, I took some pictures of the convention center and the area around it. The Long Beach Convention Center is one of the most beautiful convention centers I’ve been to and is surrounded by an equally beautiful harbor.

















And I couldn’t resist having a tasty Mai Tai at PF Changs!


After dinner, a few of us drove over to Hawaiian Gardens Casino to play some poker. I happened to take this picture of the sign outside the casino and one of the security guards came up to me and told me I wasn’t allowed to take pictures at the casino. I was a little confused and told him I was outside the casino, not inside, but he said we couldn’t take photos anywhere on the casino premises. I had to chuckle because to me, I thought that would be pretty hard to enforce but I guess they have their rules!



Saturday started out very quietly but gradually picked up speed and the room was once more a buzz. I had a very pleasant surprise on Saturday – Bill Tate, an old attorney friend from my 17 years as a paralegal at Morrison & Foerster (MoFo), stopped by my table with his adorable son, Will. I didn’t even know Bill was a collector all the years I worked at MoFo, but then a couple years ago he came to the Long Beach show to fill some holes in his penny collection. We were both “closet coin nerds” and didn’t even know it!


One thing I noticed at this show - other than dealer forum members, I didn’t see many other forum members. MJ didn’t even stop by my table so I could take his picture for my report – dang, I seriously must be losing my charm! I’ll have to work on that!!

Mike/Illini did stop by my table a couple times and it’s always a pleasure chatting with him. And then on Saturday he came by with a new little treasure. He had just one PCGS’s grading contest and his prize was this $20 gold piece!





Soon, once again, it was time to wind down, pack up everything, load the car and travel back home. I was very glad I didn’t have far to go but it does seem like this show in particular always ends too quickly. I thoroughly enjoy the Long Beach show and am very glad to know that Taryn and PCGS are working very hard to keep it alive and to make it even better. In my opinion, they are to be greatly commended as they did an excellent job with this show! Thank you to Taryn and all of the PCGS staff!

 

Great report. Love Fred's awesome errors. They look like huge chunks of gold to me.

Congrats to Mike for winning that beauty!

 

cool to see faces to go along with the names. Nice win Mike! Thank you for the report!

 

Everytime I see a photo of Todd and his father it reminds me of the Dan Lebatard show on ESPN. Love your show updates Charmy, how did you do at poker? BTW, that security guard is an idiot. The no photo rule is specifically for the casino floor.

 

Thank you very much Charmy

I too love your show updates Charmy.

 

Great report Charmy, you have such good times at a show. I love the photo of the 1873-CC No Arrows! But that was a pretty Mai Tai too.

Best Regards,

George

 

As always, I enjoy your show reports. Thank you .

 

Great thread as always Charmy :thumb:

 

Great report charmy, love hearing and seeing of them.

 

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM....those ribs sho smell good...

 

I ended up going thursday, my small writeup on the PCGS boards.

Great photos and write up as always Charmy. I could care less about baseball and I am just barely getting into stamps again but I really enjoyed the Babe Ruth exhibit and seeing the famous inverted stamp.

Usually Long Beach show is a downer for me since I am a budget collector but this one turned out decent for me.

 

Great report. I didn't get to make it out until Saturday due to my work schedule, and of course, some dealers had already left. For the first time through, I had enough time to walk the entire bourse floor. I saw lots of familiar dealers from the pages of the Numistmatist and other trade magazines, and I spoke with Rick Snow briefly about new small cent patterns. I even stopped by your table, Charmy, (I asked if you have a local store front) and signed up for mailing list.
Sadly, this coin show I walked away empty handed. I was on a very tight budget, and didn't see what I was looking for, at the price I wanted, and I the condition I wanted. Maybe I'll fare better in Buena Park, Ontario, or LA before the next LB show in September.

 

Hi Charmy, it was a pleasure meeting you at the show. I got to do a little trade and some $ and came away with two 1/2 cents for my type set. Thank you. They look great in their new home. Also sang the beginning of "Red Red Wine"(although I think a different song may have been in order "Spill wine, dig that girl" lol) Got my very own Penny Lady Token. It will take its proud place in my token collection. and now another song "I'll be seeing you in all the old familiar places..."
Thanks again, you made it a great show experience for me.

 

As always a great thread.

 

I always enjoy reading your post.

 

It was great meeting you too! Yes I forgot to mention about the wine bottle getting knocked over and breaking and spilling all over the floor! My friend had brought that wine and it was still 3/4 full. I understand it cost about $75, so that was a big "ouch" losing that particular bottle.

Stang, it was very nice meeting you too. Look for my latest newsletter/updated inventory later this week!

 

Darn, I got to get out to more shows with you...they just look so fun.

 

Great report! Of course you all now know that I had a great time at the show

I bought several coins, sold a few too. Met quite a few forum members, but not as many as usual it seemed. Also got to see some really neat displays including the Battle Born Carson City collection... just awesome. And of course I still can't believe I won that gem $20 gold in the grading contest!!! Here's a close up pic:

 

I should've said "Hi" cuz I was there on Thursday and Friday. but, I was too shy.

thanks for the article and photos. great job!