Charmy's 2015 ANA PORTLAND Coin Show w/lots of Pics!!!

I love coin shows that are in the same time zone as I am. I was able to leave OC the same day as the coin show and still arrive in time for set up. I got to the John Wayne airport with plenty of time to spare. Unlike my flight home from Dallas last week, getting through security even with the usual bag check was quick and painless. I even had time to grab some breakfast and a nice Baily's and coffee.







I am fortunate and grateful to live in an area that has gorgeous weather most of the time and Wednesday morning in Orange County was gorgeous!



















My flight was also smooth and easy. I loved looking out the window as we flew over the Cascade Mountain Range and Mt. Shasta.







Then shortly after that, we were flying into beautiful sunny Portland!











I checked in to my hotel room which was very comfortable and had an equally beautiful view.



















After unpacking, I headed over to the convention center for the 3pm set up.











Of course I ran into many usual suspects! Tony and Alan from Northern Nevada Coin







Todd Pollock/BluCCPhotos and Tony











And another familiar face – Emily (who used to be the ANA’s coin show coordinator)

 

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I took a peak at the bourse floor before they let everyone in. It was set up in sort of an “L” shape and looked very pristine!











Soon all the dealers were let on the floor to set up our booths.






After I was set up, I walked around the bourse to do some shopping. I noticed a booth that had quite an eye-catching neon sign.











I found a couple more beautiful and scarce Conder tokens for my collection!











I also had Todd photograph a few more Conder tokens I recently bought.











I had brought a couple bottles of wine with me, and it was really nice to relax after set up and share them with several of my dealer friends!







After set up, we took the train into downtown for dinner

 

We ended up at Deshutes Brewery which was recommended to us by a young lady we met on the train.















They had quite the selection of beer!











Rick and I both decided to try one of their specialties, the Nitro Obsidian Stout and it was one of the tastiest beers I’ve ever had!















After dinner, we decided ran into one of the bicycle carts and decided to take a ride to another pub.















We wen to another pub recommended by the bicyclist - they had a musician who was playing some great music.







Then it was time to get back to the hotel to rest up for what hopefully would be a very busy show!



Thursday morning I ran into my pretty gal pals, Cindi and Amanda!

 

Then I had a chance to view the ANA’s amazing Money Museum















































I was also able to pick up some great newps for my inventory, including this amazing stunning deep PURPLE 1936 proof Lincoln cent! This piece is probably the most vibrant penny I have ever owned, and it didn’t last long in my inventory. I think I had it for about an hour before it went to someone else who appreciates vibrantly toned copper as much as I do.



















After the show, a group of us headed back to downtown Portland for dinner.

 

We had reservations at what was the most favorite restaurant of the dealers at the show – Jake’s Crawfish!















We waited in the bar while the rest of our party arrived. The pretty young lady next to Rick was our very nice waitress who joined us for this photo!











Cindi, me and of course Nina!







Rick and John (ANACS)







This is the same restaurant I went to last October when I was in Portland for the PNNA show. And I even had the exact same dish – almond crusted sole which was just as yummy the second time!!







We enjoyed a wonderful bottle of Washington cab







Back at my room, the view outside my window was really pretty at night















On Friday, Todd had received a couple of the famous Voodoo donuts we’d been hearing about. Apparently, they come with a variety of unusual toppings, like Captain Crunch and Fruitloops, and even bacon. I had this chocolate voodoo doll shaped donut (if you look closely, you’ll see that it has a strategically place pretzel stick!). It was jelly filled and delicious!











DennisH enjoyed the Captain Crunch donut







So until this day, I had never met Drunner. Some of you may remember him teasing me about when the day that we would finally meet, he would bring a bottle of wine and Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven would be playing, and that’s how I would know it was him. Well, I was walking around the show and came upon a case not far from my table that had a couple nice copper pieces, so I asked to look inside but the dealer behind the table said the owner of that case was not there yet. So I hung out while talking to another dealer until the owner came back.



When he came back to the table, I asked to see the coins. But before he pulled out the coins, he looked at me and said that this wasn’t exactly how he hoped our meeting would go. I looked up at him curiously, not understanding what he meant or who he was. Then he explained about the wine and Stairway to Heaven reference, and finally introduced himself - what a huge surprise and honor it was for me to finally meet Jeff/Drunner!!!







He told me he would be going to the Las Vegas show in a couple weeks, and would bring a special bottle of wine from his wine cellar. I promised to play Stairway to Heaven so we could enjoy the wine and music together!







Doug/Watersport happened to be in Portland and stopped by my table to say hi







Oded Paz is a fellow Repousse/Pop-Out coin collector and is also running for one of the ANA board positions.

 

This lovely couple, Natasha and Kyle, are customers of mine and came to the show to specifically buy this gorgeous 1909-S Lincoln cent, and brought me a wonderful bottle of Washington wine for us to share!

















Later on Friday, I was approached by this film crew who said they were doing a film on the history of the penny. Well, I’ve been approached by other coin people to talk about pennies, being a woman in the coin industry, etc., so I assumed it was something along those lines. However, when I asked them where the interview would appear, they said they were hoping it would be aired at the SUNDANCE Film Festival. What?!?! After a few more questions, I discovered they were from New York and weren’t even numismatists but were putting a documentary together on the history of the penny and was hoping their film would eventually appear in theaters. OMG!



Beaming from ear to ear, “of course” I say, “sure, what would you like to know!” Yes, I was very happy to talk about pennies and answer all their questions. So they begin asking me about how I became a dealer of just pennies, how I felt about doing away with the penny, their value, the most popular or rare penny, toned pennies, etc.







I showed them my grape 1936 proof, which intrigued them greatly. I also showed them some of my other colorful Indian proofs, and talked about my personal collection of toned pennies. They seemed very excited that I was so enthusiastic about my pennies, and our interview lasted about an hour.



Then they came back on Saturday and said they really liked the interview with me and wanted to ask me more questions, and go over some more material! I was really thrilled to help them with their project. Amanda’s booth was right across from mine, and she was kind enough to take this photo of our interview on Saturday.







In case any of you are interested, their website is http://dearpennyfilm.com/



After the show ended, a large group of us headed back to downtown Portland for dinner. I took some photos as we crossed the beautiful river.











We decided to go back to Deshutes Brewery for dinner.







As we were taking pictures at the brewery, we noticed Rick and I were dressed alike so we had to take a photo!







And of course, here’s Nina looking adorable as always!







Paul and Cindi from ANACS and me







Steve Feltner, Glenn Holsonbake/PonyExpress, Winston Zach/Stone, and Steve Schuch.











One of the appetizers!







Since I loved their Obsidian Stout, I decided to try their Obsidian Stout Mac & Cheese with fennel sausage – it was amazing!







A couple of others had their stuffed fish (can’t remember what kind) – they said it was delicious!







One of their burgers







The rib-eye – I had this the first night I was there

 

The entire group!







Outside the brewery







Then it was time for the old folks to head back to the hotel, while the young ones partied on! I was in the first camp, but had one last nightcap at the hotel bar – which was a popular meeting place for many dealers!









Saturday morning I took an opportunity to look at all the competitive exhibits. There were some great exhibits but my favorite was the Short Snorter exhibit.







When I was looking at one of the notes, I noticed there was one with John Wayne’s signature (I LOVE John Wayne). What really caught my eye was the signature that was under his – it was a woman named Vikki Montan, an accordion player who was apparently on tour with John Wayne. I just happened to have a short snorter also signed by John Wayne and Vikki Montan and found an article putting them together in Australia in December 1942!!







Exhibit John Wayne and Vikki Montan Short Snorter





My Short Snorter











Here are more photos of the exhibit























This encased postage stamp exhibit was also interesting







Back at my table, I got inundated with little treasure trivia hunters! This cute little guy is Spencer and his dad Michael







Even though some of the dealers had already left, the bourse floor was quite active throughout Saturday.

 

Just before I was about to pack up, an elderly gentleman stopped by my table and offered me his Lincoln cent collection that he had put together over many years housed in the usual small blue coin folders. I often get offered collections like this and they are usually low grade coins pulled mostly out of pocket change often containing cleaned and damaged pennies. However, when I opened these albums, I was quite pleasantly surprised to see that this album contained mostly XF/AU untampered original problem-free pretty pennies! So of course, I couldn’t pass it up.















Soon it was time for me to head to the Portland airport for my flight home. This beautiful wood carving is located right inside the terminal.















Outside it was an absolutely gorgeous day – a great day for flying!!!







Bye-bye beautiful Portland….















Me so happy to be going home!!







If you look closely, you can see a famous landmark!!!







(That’s Half Dome in Yosemite)



And welcome back to Orange County – it’s rare for me to be flying home when it’s still light out!







These are the two blimp hangars at the former U.S. Navy and Marine Corps air station in Tustin, California. The hangars were built early in World War II to house manned blimps. One is to be torn down and the other will be used as a WWII museum.







Just about to land at the John Wayne Airport…







For me, this was a great show. I was busy almost the entire time, found some nice coins for inventory, made a lot of sales, got to be interviewed for a possible "movie," hung out with my wonderful friends, and met some new friends - all the while getting to visit a beautiful bright and sunny city!!



Next up: My local Buena park show this weekend (March 14-15), then the Las Vegas show at the Riveria next weekend (March 19-22), followed of course by the Baltimore show (March 26-28)!

 

Wow, nice write up!

 

I am hungry now looking at all the food!!!! Great report! See you in Long Beach in June old Oxnard/Port Hueneme alumni!

 

Another awesome picture tour of your adventures! When do you have time to "man" your booth???

 

Nice report, but really, no pics of Mount Hood from the city? Absolutely one of my favorite views when visiting Portland.



Also, anyone get pics of the March of Dimes set with the dimes?

 

I always read these posts. Not so much to see the shows or CT members, but to look at the delicious food you always find. It looks like Portland treated you better than most cities in that regard!

 

Ah hah! You read her posts just for the food huh?

 

great report. thanks for sharing.

 

Super report as always. That 1936 Lincoln (PR65) is awesome. Wish it was mine...

 

Looked like tons of fun.

 

Charmy
Nice write up for sure looking forward to seeing you in Baltimore . I haven't forgotten I promised you cookies.
Also there's a winery in St. Michaels MD that makes a wonderful chocolate port wine. Google st.Micheals winery st. Michaels Maryland . Looking forward to the Baltimore show. Paddy

 

Great report.

 

You know your an exonumia collector when you take photos of voodoo donuts. Thank you once again Charmy.