Charmy's April 2015 SANTA CLARA COIN SHOW Report with lots of Pics!!!

Scott Griffin has been working very hard at building back up the Santa Clara Coin Show. It’s in a great location, right of several major freeways, and the convention floor is very roomy and with easy loading right off the back loading dock.











With the new sports stadium being built right behind the convention center, Scott has had additional more work cut out for him to make sure the coin show dates don’t conflict with the sports arena events. Luckily, even though there was the AMA Motocross event Saturday night and the street in front of the convention center was closed, it didn’t seem to interfere too much with attendance at the coin show since the event had their own parking lot and most of the coin crowd dies down in the afternoon.















The arena at night







Set up was Thursday afternoon, and after the long drive to Santa Clara from Southern California, I enjoyed taking my time alternating between setting up my booth and looking at coins that dealers brought to my table. In addition to new coins I recently acquired from consignments, I purchased several great new pretty pennies, including a beautiful bright red 1908-S PCGS MS65 RED.











After set up, I headed over to the Matrix Casino to play some poker.











While waiting for a seat at the no limit table, I played some Ultimate Texas Hold-um which is one of my favorite table games. I ended up doing quite well there!







Friday was slower than usual, but pretty steady throughout the day.











Steven Schuch stopped by to show me some coins







My gal pal Cindi surprised me with this bottle of Yosemite wine that has a beautiful label – it was a reminder of our girl’s road trip she and I took to Yosemite last year following one of our shows. Yosemite is my favorite National Park, so I don’t know whether I should drink it or just keep it for the artful label!











So when the show died down Friday afternoon, instead of opening the Yosemite wine, I opened one of the bottles I had brought.

 

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I took a little break in the afternoon after things died down to take some photos and to celebrate Ernie’s birthday! Cindi and Logan surprised Ernie with cake, balloons, hats, noisemakers, etc.!











I also found Logan busy checking out some coins.







My birthstone is the opal, and while looking in one of the dealer’s cases, I saw one of the biggest opals I have ever seen!







When I got back to my table, I was pleased to discover I had a few people waiting to see some coins!







Cindi was busy as always working at the ANACS table, but I convinced her to take a minute for some crackers and wine.











After the show closed, a group of us went to the Tusca restaurant in the Hyatt, which is attached to the convention center. We had made reservations for a back room since we had about 10 people. There was a dance competition in one of the convention rooms so the hotel was packed with young ladies and their parents and one of their groups had the back room before we did but were told there was another party who had reserved the room at 7:30 pm. We arrived about 7:15 and the group was still lingering, chatting, etc. and didn’t look like they were in any hurry to vacate the room. I asked the manager if they could remind the group that another party was waiting for that room, but they refused to do that feeling it was too rude. So we waited and waited. Apparently, the party wanted their bill divided into 11 separate bills, and that was taking extra time. We didn’t get into that room until 8pm. Tusca normally has a really good menu, but we found out after we were seated that, due to the large number of young people at the hotel, they had a limited menu, featuring mostly pizza! Wow, we were doubly frustrated and very disappointed, but we made the best of it since we all felt having each other’s company was more important than the food!







Joe Wargo brought this Stryker wine which was delicious!







Saturday turned out to be very busy with lots of crowds for most of the day, and everyone was very pleased to report more sales than usual for a Saturday!















Joe/CrazyHoundDog stopped by to say hi!







Me at my booth!







A group of boy scouts working on their coin collecting merit badge







The show promoter, Scott Griffin, and Logan McKechnie of VAMS & More

 

One of my dealer friends, John, brought a couple of really neat antique slot machines to sell at the show. This was a small table top model that was really neat.







He also had this beautiful 1930’s Mills War Eagle dime slot machine. I had always wanted to own an antique slot machine, and this one was a beauty – not to mention the colors matched my newly decorated living room (red and yellow)! It is fully refurbished with all original parts, and works beautifully and came with a solid oak cabinet with nickel-plated hardware. So after texting my husband photos, we decided to buy it and I am now the proud owner of this beautiful slot machine!















Saturday night Logan and I headed back to the Matrix to play some more poker. We had a nice group at our table and everyone had a good time bantering back and forth about sports, etc. After a while, the group left and another few guys who were together settled in at our table. They, however, were not as pleasant as the first group and quickly set their sights on Logan because he had a very large stack of chips in front of him. It was rather enjoyable when, by the end of the night, Logan had gotten the better of them!



Sunday was not surprisingly very slow, so I planned to leave early to have some time to visit with my dad on my way home. And I was anxious to get my new slot machine home!



Here is the slot machine sitting pretty in my home







Even Penny seems to like the new slot machine!







That’s it for this show. Tomorrow I head to Chicago for the Central States show, followed by the PNNA Tukwila/Seattle show. Then fortunately I’ll have a few weeks to recuperate from all the back-to-back shows!

 

I love the slot machine! I, too, have always wanted one for my "man cave." Someday...

 

How old is big Ernie? haven't seen him in years. Happy Birthday Ernie!

 

Great Show...nice pics...new friends...no worries.

 

I love that slot machine and that little guy standing on top of it!!

Would that thing only accept silver dimes since it was made pre 65? Probably only needs to be the right size. Over thinking it perhaps.

 

Thanks for the report, Charmy! Guess it is nice to have a coin show nearby (well, same state anyway) that you can get to without flying. As for the Yosemite wine, come on - get a second bottle, keep that, and enjoy the other one.

Christian