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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;The Penny Lady®, post: 1365981, member: 16948&quot;]For those of you who haven’t been to the Long Beach Convention Center, I took a few photos of the outside and surrounding area.&nbsp; It really is a beautiful building, with lots of great restaurants and activity right across the street.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120204-01523.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120204-01525.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120204-01524.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120204-01522.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120204-01528.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120204-01529.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Set up was Wednesday afternoon and went very smoothly.&nbsp; After my booth was organized and ready for business, we relaxed for a minute with, of course, a nice bottle of Italian wine.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120203-01519.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>My dealer friends, Rich and Frank</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01493.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Rick</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01488.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Then I walked around to see if I could find some coins I may need, say hi to friends, harass Todd and his dad, etc.&nbsp; Then it was off to dinner.&nbsp; We went to our usual Wednesday night Italian restaurant, Piccolo’s.&nbsp; There were six of us and we each brought a bottle of wine so we could have our customary wine tasting.&nbsp; Yes, I know, six bottles is quite a lot of wine, even for me and my group, so we did have quite a bit left over that we took with us.&nbsp; Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of our table filled with all the wine bottles, but you can imagine the stares we received from the surrounding tables!</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>On Thursday, the show opened with quite a few people streaming in.&nbsp; We were very busy most of the day, and I did a lot of buying.&nbsp; I was offered some amazing and top quality coins that I couldn’t pass up!&nbsp; I think I spent more at this show than I have at any one show in the past!&nbsp; I kept feeding Todd little bunches of coins to photograph throughout the show – I can’t wait to get them up on my website!</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01479.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01480.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Here are some of the forum members who stopped by</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>John/Claychaser</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01478.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Mike/Illini</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01494.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Seth/Sgrenald</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01492.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>KennyMac</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120203-01517.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Bob/WaterSport</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120203-01516.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Matt/BillyGoats</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120203-01521.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Sandy/PCGS – she is always extremely helpful and cheerful!</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01495.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>When I was taking Sandy’s picture, my good buddy Larry walked by so he was more than happy to pose with Sandy!</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01496.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Cindy of VAMS &amp; More brought me these two bottles of wine.&nbsp; She said the chocolate wine actually tastes like chocolate and kaluha but is made from wine.&nbsp; She said the Pride wine is one of her favorites – I can’t wait to try them both!</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01489.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Later in the day I was able to walk around, see the exhibits on display and some interesting booths</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>This is Mike/Illini’s exhibit that won first place in its category</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01481.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Another exhibit</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01482.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>This booth was just down the aisle from mine – it had very interesting African artifacts on display/for sale!</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01484.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01485.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01486.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I just thought this very old Cola tray was really cool!</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01483.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Thursday night after the show, a couple of my booth helpers, along with my hubby and son, went out to dinner at our favorite local Mexican restaurant – SuperMex!&nbsp; They make the best salsa and Cadillac margaritas!!</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Friday, as is typical, was slower than Thursday so there was a little more “goofing off” time.&nbsp; A friend of mine who collects very interesting and often rare and unusual coin-related items stopped by my table and showed me some of his purchases….</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>He had the authentic bronze plaque of Lincoln that was designed by Victor Brenner in 1907 – two years before the Lincoln penny was created!&nbsp; It’s very similar to the one discussed in a recent Coin World article.</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01500.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>This is a very usual Hobo nickel – look at his nose!</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01515.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>This is a rare South American counter-stamped store card – it says “Business House of F Pinto – Manager”</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01498.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01499.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>This one has something to do with a baby’s potty training!</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01508.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01509.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Mike/Illini was at the table when my friend was showing us these coins, and Mike pulled out this neat counterstamp</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01505.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Rich, my table helper, brought these two bottles of wine, which we consumed with a lot of help from customers and other dealers who “just happened by”!&nbsp; They were both delicious!</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120203-01520.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>On Friday night we went to PF Changs for dinner, then it was off to the Commerce casino for some poker.&nbsp; I was happy to end up about $60 ahead!</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Saturday started out slow, but soon picked up.&nbsp; There were lots of kids for the pirate treasure hunt, and lots of families helping kids find the coins they were looking for.&nbsp; I didn’t think we were going to do much business, but I was pleasantly surprised when I sold several larger, more expensive coins later on Saturday, including an 1856 Flying Eagle in PCGS PF63 and an 1877 Indian cent in PCGS MS63 RB, so that really helped make my show – not to mention that it will help pay for all the coins I bought at the show!!</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>By the way, I heard that after next year, Collectors Universe will do away with the February Long Beach show.&nbsp; I was very surprised to hear this, and hope they will reconsider, but we will see.&nbsp; All in all, this has always been a good show for me, but I understand some changes need to be made in order to bring back the overall success of this show – and I do hope that more effort is put into doing just that.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>So my next show(s) will be the PCGS Las Vegas show which overlaps with the Las Vegas Coin Club Show at the Palace Station in early March, so it will be easy to do two shows in one report! </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img src="http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/thepennylady/LongBeach-Lakewood-20120202-01491.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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