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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Fish, post: 574365, member: 6034&quot;]My wife Wendy and I took our son, David, to his first EAC last week.&nbsp; He&#039;s ten and a half months old, so perhaps a bit young, but we really wanted to go.&nbsp; We haven&#039;t been since 2007, and that was an amazing trip.&nbsp; So we set out at David&#039;s bedtime on Wednesday and got to Kentucky at about 12:30 A.M.&nbsp; This was the beginning of Dave&#039;s trouble sleeping which continued until we got home (and then some).&nbsp; But that&#039;s a topic for another message board.</p><p><br /></p><p>Bright and early Thursday we were up and at the restaurant next to the convention room having breakfast.&nbsp; The Drawbridge where the convention was held is a confusing labyrinth of a place, but they put together a fine little breakfast.&nbsp; After a pleasant time warming up we swung back by the registration table and I signed in then left Wen and Dave to their own devices while I went to the Grading and Counterfeit Detection seminar.&nbsp; Very educational, very helpful, and very humbling.</p><p><br /></p><p>After that it was a trip with the family to the local aquarium where David enjoyed himself thoroughly and had his picture taken repeatedly.&nbsp; We headed back to the hotel, got Dave to bed, and I hit the Reception.&nbsp; Dave&#039;s nap was cut short so my family joined me at the reception.&nbsp; We had a very nice dinner with some old friends and new ones, chatted at length, and put Dave to bed.</p><p><br /></p><p>After that, the Half Cent Happening.&nbsp; Amazing copper.&nbsp; The 1832s were stunning.&nbsp; The 1849s, beautiful, especially the proofs.&nbsp; I saw half the known population of 1797 C3c (the Gripped Edge).&nbsp; Chatted with more experienced half cent specialists about my collection and showed off pictures of a few of my more unusual pieces.&nbsp; When they kicked us out of the room I headed back to the reception room, hit the cranberry juice hard, and saw some recent cherries.&nbsp; Don&#039;t think there&#039;s nothing good on eBay, I saw in the neighborhood of 30k worth of coins that came off there for low BINs and minimal bids (three coins).</p><p><br /></p><p>Friday the show proper began.&nbsp; Before the day was half over I&#039;d already spent or allocated half my budget.&nbsp; By the end, 80%.&nbsp; I also spent some quality time with my favorite numismatic literature dealer, John Burns.&nbsp; He did some serious damage to my pocketbook as well, but it could have been worse - he sold one of the books I was looking for between when I stopped by to say &quot;hi&quot; first thing in the morning and when I hit his table later on for some downtime.&nbsp; Saved me $200.&nbsp; Lunch with the family, then brought a burger back for John, then back on the bourse.&nbsp; More browsing, more amazing pieces, and some amazing deals on fantastic pieces that I had to pass on.&nbsp; I also ran into a gentleman I had a previous arrangement with and picked up 5 bank boxes full of periodicals and catalogs which I&#039;d need to mail to myself back home.</p><p><br /></p><p>Dinner at the Chinese restaurant across the street (which was excellent, and I have very high standards) with the family, John Burns, and Pierre Fricke, then putting Dave to bed, then off to the Reception.&nbsp; On the way there I ran into a fellow half cent collector, one with a much more advanced collection than mine, who asked if I needed a very rare variety of 1795, which I did.&nbsp; After some negotiations we sealed the deal shortly before the presentations.</p><p><br /></p><p>If you&#039;ve ever thought about joining EAC and coming to the convention but passed, you made the wrong choice.&nbsp; The presentation was amazing.&nbsp; Beth Deisher spoke at length about the Chinese counterfeits - some very alarming information is coming down the line in the near future.&nbsp; Watch Coin World for it.&nbsp; The president of EAC is a gentleman named Dan Holmes.&nbsp; Dan was diagnosed last year with ALS and is selling his collection this year with the Goldbergs courtesy of McCawley &amp; Grellman.&nbsp; He won&#039;t likely make it to the end of his term.&nbsp; The stories he had to tell were amazing and poignant and ended with a standing ovation for Dan.&nbsp; A nice, quiet end to the evening was copper chat in the hotel restaurant.</p><p><br /></p><p>Saturday was a busy, busy day.&nbsp; We had to pack up, mail those five boxes back home, load the car, check out, and hit lunch.&nbsp; We found a Skyline Chili down the street.&nbsp; My first time at one of those, and I see what Wendy likes about them.&nbsp; It&#039;s pretty good food, and filling, and very different from what we have back home.&nbsp; Plus they cover everything in cheese.&nbsp; We got some for John since he has a hard time getting away from his table for very long, dropped it off, and I cruised around the bourse for a few last passes.&nbsp; It turns out that Gene Braig (a well-known collector of 1804 C6 die states) had some coins on consignment with a dealer there.&nbsp; I tried, desperately, to find one that fit my collection, but I couldn&#039;t do it so I pulled the trigger on one last coin I&#039;d been eyeing all weekend.&nbsp; That brought my total up to 6.</p><p><br /></p><p>There&#039;s so much more I could share.&nbsp; Many tiny stories, but excellent stuff.&nbsp; However, it&#039;s late, and I&#039;m sure I&#039;d duff up some details or overlook something so I&#039;ll just post some pics.&nbsp; If I have the time I&#039;ll try to come back with a few more tidbits tomorrow.</p><p><br /></p><p>1794 C4a (R3)</p><p><img src="http://www.jameyprice.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/dsc_0056.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /><img src="http://www.jameyprice.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/dsc_0057.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>1794 C5a (R4+)</p><p><img src="http://www.jameyprice.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/dsc_0058.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /><img src="http://www.jameyprice.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/dsc_0059.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>1794 C8 (R5)</p><p><img src="http://www.jameyprice.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/dsc_0060.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><img src="http://www.jameyprice.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/dsc_0061.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>1795 C3 (R5+)</p><p><img src="http://www.jameyprice.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/dsc_0062.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /><img src="http://www.jameyprice.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/dsc_0063.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>1795 C6b (R6)</p><p><img src="http://www.jameyprice.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/dsc_0064.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /><img src="http://www.jameyprice.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/dsc_0065.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>1797 C2 (R3)</p><p><img src="http://www.jameyprice.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/dsc_0066.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /><img src="http://www.jameyprice.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/dsc_0067.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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