Hey all. Just a few reminders, and you can add your own to this thread. There was indeed a robbery at the summer FUN show in Orlando. A vest-pocket dealer's car was broken into while he ate at Denny's near the convention center. He lost many thousands of dollars in Morgans. Police believe he was followed from the show and then his car was broken into (in broad daylight), after he went into the restaurant. 1. Never leave your coins in your car, and please use the room safe at your hotel, if there is one. 2. Try to stay and park as close to the convention center as possible. 3. Never pull out your cash at the show and count it in front of everyone at a table, just to see how much you have left. (I've seen this happen a lot, and it paints a target on you). 4. Walk quickly to the convention center with your fist clinched, and with peers whenever possible. (That sounds funny, but colleges and universities recommend this to students as a personal safety measure. Thieves will try to avoid a potential fight/flight scenario).
These are good points, but hotel safes are rarely large enough to hold any significant amount of numismatic material. If I am staying overnight at a show I ask one of the dealers I know if I can leave my items at their table instead of bringing them to the room. Thieves have been known to follow their marks quite a distance from the show by car. If you have to eat on the way home, use a drive-through or do not leave the vehicle unattended.
Yet after over 60 years of reports of such robbery reports, dealers STILL leave their vehicles unattended while they go into restaurants to eat.
Lots of dealers that get ripped off while eating say they thought they were OK because they parked where they could see the car while eating. But it only takes seconds to smash a window grab a case of coins and escape. The dealers can't notice what is being done and get there before the thieves are gone. Al they did was provide themselves with a front row seat to watch themselves being robbed. Don't leave the car/coins unattended.
The dealer took a major risk considering that there have been numerous reports of coin dealers being surreptitiously followed by thieves. I have even warned a local dealer about that. Leaving all of those coins in the car to eat at Denny's is not very smart. Even had he not been followed, people steal cars all the time.
