Charmy's October 2012 DALLAS ANA SHOW REPORT w/Tons of Pics!!!

Let me first say that Dallas is a beautiful city! And the weather this past week was absolutely perfect!! I really enjoyed my time in Dallas. And even though the show started out rather slowly, overall I had a successful show. FYI, this report will be more picture-intensive than usual because there were just so many amazing things I found to photograph. Keep scrolling, and you’ll see what I mean!

I left Wednesday morning on American Airlines with a completely packed plane, but luckily I was towards the front and the flight was only a couple hours long, non-stop.



I took a taxi into the city and soon saw a beautiful skyline of high rise buildings.





I checked into my room at the Omni hotel which I understand is only about a year old. What a fantastic hotel, very state-of-the-art and stunningly beautiful! This is a picture I took of the hotel later that evening.



And these were taken from my room.



This is the convention center which is attached to the hotel.





After I settled into my room, I went over to the convention center for set up.



I arrived a little early so I was able to chat with several dealer friends before we were let in. I was even able to do a little business while we were waiting to be let in. The doors opened at 2pm and everyone began the familiar process of setting of their booths and plenty of time to shop around.

 

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After set up, Jim Halperin (Co-Chairman of Heritage) held a buffet reception for the dealers and their spouses at his house in Dallas. They charted a couple buses to take everyone there and back.



Me and Neal Ulrich (Rick Snow’s FBI agent friend and booth helper)


Me and Jeff Shevlin, ANA Executive Director


Wow, what a beautiful home Mr. Halperin has, as well as an amazing collection of art and sculptures! With Mr. Halperin’s permission, here are photos from the party.

Jim Halperin






















Bill Bugert


Julian Liebman


Rick Snow and Todd Pollock


Bonnie and Greg


Unknown and Walter Ostromecki, ANA Vice President


Lil ol Me


Some of the delicious cuisine!


And dessert


Outside at the other end of the pool is a pool house filled with Glenn Ford memorabilia, including a pool table once owned by Glenn Ford on which the “Rat Pack” played pool and, as rumor has it, on which Marilyn Monroe once “entertained” a gentleman!











Andy Lustig




Upstairs there is a fantastic “play room” filled with cartoon art and millions of Legos!

 

Thursday: There was a nice crowd at the opening ceremony and who were eagerly waiting for the doors to open!





At 10am people began streaming in and soon the room had the familiar buzz.



Here are some more numismatic faces….

Bonnie and Greg are set up right next to me and I noticed a familiar face (well, part of a face) sitting at her table! (If you couldn’t tell, that’s Mark Feld being camera shy)


Emily Silver, ANA Convention Assistant


Winston/Stone


Mike Stair/StairCoins


Erik/EmerFusterpuck


Unnamed very noticeable Dealer


Scott/Swagge1 (CoinTalk) and Teresa


Mike/Etexmike was so kind and gracious to bring me a wonderful bottle of Texas wine (thank you, thank you!)


The show was busy in the morning but it began slowing down early in the afternoon so I took a few minutes to view the ANA exhibits – WOW! Amazing!




















A customer who knows I love penny errors offered this truly amazing Indian cent error to me, and even though I’m sure it was worth what he was asking, the price was more than what I felt comfortable paying. But boy would I have LOVED to add this piece to my personal collection!



I picked up this bottle of local wine at the hotel gift shop. There wasn’t much selection, but I have always enjoyed Tempranillo wine; however, I am sorry to say this Llano Tempranilla was not quite up to par, though of course we didn’t let any go to waste!



After the show ended on Thursday, when we got outside, the weather was so fantastic and beautiful so we decided to walk around the area a little. I took some photos of the beautiful building skyscape as the sun was setting.













We made a late reservation at the Bob’s Steakhouse at the Omni Hotel but decided to just have dinner at the Sports Bar on the patio since it was such a beautiful night.





After a while, a bunch of folks from NGC joined us at the fire pit – we had a blast!









Me and the NGC slabbing crew - whahoooo!


We also ran into a few ANA folks at the Sports Bar

Neal and Susan McMillan, ANA Education Project Manager



Friday – When the show opened to the public there was a slow trickle of people coming in and I began to worry that Friday would not be very fruitful. However, it ended up being the best day of the show for me. I sold quite a few coins, and noticed that many collectors were looking for key and semi-key date coins like 1914-D, 1955/55 DDO, 1909-S vdb, 1922 No D, etc., as well as higher grade Indian cents. I was also offered some very nice higher end coins, including some very pretty Matte Proof Lincolns which I bought. Here are some of the certified newps I bought at the show…





Several more forum members stopped by – here are a few…

Nick/Nickcap – it was great to meet you!!!


When I was able to get out on the course I snapped a few pictures of some of the usual “suspects”

NGC folks


PCGS folks


Ian Russell/GreatCollections.com


Glenn Holsonbake/PonyExpress and his helper Morgan


Tony at Northern Nevada Coins



After the show on Friday, we decided to go see the place where JFK was shot and killed since it was only a few blocks away from our hotel. There are 2 large white “X’s” on the road where JFK was shot, one closer to the library building, and one closer to the “grassy knoll.” While we were looking around, there was a guy who apparently was an unofficial “tour guide” hanging around selling brochures and booklets all describing the “conspiracy theory” aspect of the shooting. He was obviously very passionate about his views.

This is the X where JFK was initially shot


The 2nd X is down the street about 20 yards ahead of this first X (it’s hard to see in this photo)


This is the 2nd X


This is the “grassy knoll” where the alleged 2nd shooter was supposed to be behind the wall where Rick is standing


This is the library building where Lee Harvey Oswald was




This is a beautiful old church building that is just on the other side of the street where JFK was shot. I thought it was very interesting to look at this old building right next to this ultra-modern high rise building


We then walked back to the hotel and had a wonderful dinner at Bob’s steakhouse where David Lange joined us.

Me and David Lange, NGC Research Director


Rick and Neal


This was a jar of pickled vegetables that made a very pretty centerpiece for the table.


(By the way, sorry but there are no photos of wine at our dinner because everyone opted out and ordered their own beverages)

 

Saturday started off pretty slowly and the bourse never achieved the buzz we have come to expect at shows. Also, as usual, there were several empty tables around the bourse but for the most part I had quite a bit of business and sold a lot of coins. I was once again involved in the kids’ Treasure Trivia hunt so there were a lot of kids stopping by my table each day, but even more on Saturday. Here’s one of many cute little ones who were out hunting….



Here’s the ANA booth along with their hard working helpers!




When I had a chance, I went back to the competitive exhibits and was blown away by an exhibit of Jacques Wiener Cathedral medals. I have a few of them, but I was so pleased to see each one of these 3-D looking medals “in person” along with the history of each one. This exhibit took 2nd place in the overall category. I took pictures of each medal and story but there were so many that I am only posting a few of them here.












And here are a few of the other wonderful and interesting exhibits



















Soon it was time to tear down, pack up, and head out to the airport for my trek back home. Here’s the bourse floor around 3pm on Saturday – about an hour before the show closed…




On my way to the airport, I passed the Heritage building



Once I got to the airport, and through security (with surprisingly no special bag checks!), I settled in at one of my favorite restaurants – TGI Fridays – for a relaxing and tasty preflight beverage.


I also noticed some cool things on the walls around the restaurant, including my favorite “Texan” J.R. Ewing!






When I got to headed to my gate, I ran into my friend Glenn Holsonbake at the gate right next to mine so I sat and “decompressed” with him for a few minutes. We talked about how we felt the show turned out, with both of us doing a fair amount of business, more than either of us had expected.

When his flight was called, I went over to my gate and ran into the PCGS crew – since they are also from Orange County, I am often on the same flight as they are (we were on the same flight going to Dallas as well). They are a great group and I always enjoy their company – though they also looked as tired as I felt.




So now I am once again back at home with my sweet hubby and our feisty princess kitty – even though she’s technically my kitty, she definitely adores my hubby more than she likes me!


After I get caught up with paper work and processing newps, I will be heading out to our beloved little place out in Lake Havasu so I can spend a few days with my hubby before I begin a string of back-to-back shows over the next several weeks!

Next up – the McIntosh show in Sacramento, along with some wine tasting in Shenandoah Valley, nestled in the beautiful Sierra Foothills above Sacramento!

 

Must have been a great time. I was looking forward to meeting you finally, but I had a work emergency that kept me form going. I hope you make it to the New Orleans show next year.

 

]I had a great time at the show as well. That was the first major coin show I have ever been to. I was finally able to complete my Mercury dime collection by snagging a 1936 Proof. Now its time to work on upgrades!

 

I'm in one of those pics! Post #3, picture #3. That guys wearing a red shirt, jeans, a green baseball hat, and carrying around a laptop case. Nice meeting you!

 

Not to offend you, but what camera were you using, btw, love the cat, and post 2 6,and 7 up, rickmp will like

 

Thanks again for the show tour, Charmy.

I am really looking forward to seeing more of your Jacques Wiener cathedral medals photos.

 

Excellent write-up, as always, Charmy. I wonder if Jim will let me live in his pool house?!
Guy

 

Thank you everyone!

Kirk, sorry you couldn't make it to the show - I'll definitely be in New Orleans in the spring, can't wait!

Swagge1, it was very nice meeting you, and looks like you picked up some nice coins.

FE21, I'm sorry but I don't recall meeting you - you'll have to refresh my recollection.

KTO, I love Wiener medals too, they are so amazingly detailed. I have about 5 of them now and would love to have more. Here is one of mine.



Guy, you could live in the pool house - it has a sink, frig full of beer, and a bathroom - what more could you want!

 

Out of curiosity, how much does it cost to get a table there

 

thecoin, I know my photos aren't the best quality but that's because I use my Blackberry phone camera but am contemplating finally getting an iPhone by the end of the year.

Regarding table fees, you can look up bourse applications on the ANA's website to find out their table fees because it completely depends on which show and the level of the table section you choose.

 

Ah, I am not trying to offend you, just curious little me

 

I thought your pics were really pretty good.

I'll vouche for coin, he is young and very enthusiastic when it comes to numismatics. He has been learning proper etiquette when asking questions.