jlueke Posted May 15, 2007 Report Share Posted May 15, 2007 I took my family along this year to visit the CSNS convention held in Saint Louis. But unlike the CICF last month this trip was less about buying coins and more about exhibiting. This was my first exhibit and I definitely enjoyed the process. The focus required to have a good display certainly helps in keeping my collection goals in check. My title was The Last Fifty Years of Alexandrian Bronze Coinage. I like this period especially because of the interplay between Roman, Persian, and Arab cultures in the pivotal 7th century. My scores were 88, 83, and 85 with some very helpful comments from the judges. This was enough for third place in the category and a nice 1/10th oz gold piece as a reward along with two 1 oz silver pieces. Even though there were only four exhibits in the category I was pleased with my initial effort. There is not too much I can do about the material except upgrade as better items become available the presentation can certainly be enhanced for the ANA show in Milwaukee. Aside from the exhibit my son Erich, almost five now, had a real good time with the treasure hunt. He didn’t really know any of the answers yet but at least he now has enough stamina to make it to all twenty-one tables. His younger brother isn’t there yet. Overall there was a quite a few kids participating on Saturday. We also went to the awards breakfast earlier that day which was nice, especially the award to Eric Newman. It was also a pleasure to meet Fran Lockwood, the exhibit chairperson. Erich especially took a real liking to her. She and her husband along with the judges really do a wonderful job in getting the exhibits organized. This is one aspect I like about the CSNS and the ANA shows over the other commercial shows. Without the educational aspect the show would be a slab trading floor, something I don’t find overly appealing. John Wilson was at the show as well, he was also in Chicago and was constantly pushing the ANA in his quite enthusiastic style; A stark contrast to the sitting president who was quite glum when I saw him. I was also hoping to find a few pieces of exonumia at this show but in that effort I was disappointed. There was a lot more paper money for sale than I remember at past shows and a decent contingent of ancient dealers, but very little in the way of exonumia and nothing in the area I was searching. That wasn’t too bad since my finances had taken a hit at the show the previous month and I needed to entertain the family in Saint Louis as well. The city was decent as a convention site. Downtown was not crowded at all except during the Cardinals game. Driving there was easy and parking was cheap. But the downtown seemed somewhat of an empty shell. There were some nice neighborhoods within a couple of miles of the city and of course the arch. We stayed at the renovated Union Station which was pretty cool as well though the Hyatt is not my favorite hotel claiming to be a four star. The Ramada Limited in Springfield was superior in several ways. I’m not sure if I’ll make it to Chicago next year, it depends on how closely this show overlaps with the CICF. I suppose if they are on consecutive weekends I can just spend a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Orc Posted May 15, 2007 Report Share Posted May 15, 2007 Sounds like you had a great time and it is allways good to hear about youngones been caterd for in our hobby, Thanks for the report and Congrats on your 1st ever exhibit & I am sure a well deserved Third Prize Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottishmoney Posted May 15, 2007 Report Share Posted May 15, 2007 Kind of funny when you go to shows they have everything you are not looking for and nothing you are looking for. When I went to the MSNS I found just one piece of paper money that I was looking for, there not being many dealers in that field, but quite a few USA coins of course and fewer foreign. So of course I bought little. Coin shows are the best when you combine them with the extra perks of a trip, my best was in Toronto at the Torex, where we did quite a bit of shopping, dining and front row centre seating at "Phantom of the Opera" - a surprise for my wife and gift for putting up with my coin nonsense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TreasureGirl Posted May 15, 2007 Report Share Posted May 15, 2007 Congratulations! But, still essentially a coin newbie, I don't know what CSNS or CICF stand for. Also, where can I find a list of MO coin shows/conventions/exhibitions (anything, I've never been to any)? Thanks and GO CARDINALS! EDIT: You don't happen to have any pics of your exhibit? I'm very interested in seeing your display. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedeadpoint Posted May 15, 2007 Report Share Posted May 15, 2007 Man, I thought I went a long way for a coin show! I'd love to see the exhibit too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlueke Posted May 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2007 Congratulations! But, still essentially a coin newbie, I don't know what CSNS or CICF stand for. Also, where can I find a list of MO coin shows/conventions/exhibitions (anything, I've never been to any)? Thanks and GO CARDINALS! EDIT: You don't happen to have any pics of your exhibit? I'm very interested in seeing your display. I will put the exhibit up online when I get a chance. Right now I am back in India for four days so it'll have to wait a little bit. CSNS = Central States Numismatic Society see CSNS They are kind of like the ANA in that they put on a nice big show every year with educational components. They also have a magazine. But that's where the overhead stops. CICF = Chicago International Coin Fair. This is an annual April show focusing on ancients and world coins. The second biggest in the US after the January New York Show. If you are in Missouri there's also a numismatic society. They were at this show and mentioned they put on a show, I think it was in July. See Missouri Numismatic Society St. Louis, MO - July 27-29 Missouri Numismatic Society's 47th Annual Coin Festival Saint Charles Convention Center, 1 Convention Center Plaza, Saint Charles, MO 63303 Contact: Dave Frank, 314-602-4228 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostDutchman Posted May 15, 2007 Report Share Posted May 15, 2007 I heard from some dealers at the show that it was slow slow slow... the public count on saturday was only something like 2-300 for the entire day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlueke Posted May 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2007 I heard from some dealers at the show that it was slow slow slow... the public count on saturday was only something like 2-300 for the entire day And most of those brought kids I don't know what kind of advertisement they did but downtown Saint Louis is slow, slow, slow compared to places like Minneapolis or Portland that are similar in size. It seems like people have to make a special effort to get downtown and few do tghat currently (hence the $1 per hour parking). Of course next year they are in Rosemount so I don't know how that will work out either. I did suggest they come back to the Twin Cities, I think it would quite well here like it did in 1999. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlueke Posted May 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2007 Man, I thought I went a long way for a coin show! I'd love to see the exhibit too. My wife just likes to travel, she's not that particular about where we go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostDutchman Posted May 16, 2007 Report Share Posted May 16, 2007 im glad i decided to stay home then..... From what one of the local dealers told me... one of the large colleges in downtown st louis was having their graduation on Saturday and they are close to the convention center...something like 35,000 people had to park in the same area as the center. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TreasureGirl Posted May 16, 2007 Report Share Posted May 16, 2007 Thanks for the info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlueke Posted May 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2007 im glad i decided to stay home then..... From what one of the local dealers told me... one of the large colleges in downtown st louis was having their graduation on Saturday and they are close to the convention center...something like 35,000 people had to park in the same area as the center. Yes, we got there at 7:30 AM and still got some space. But by 8:30 the close ramp was full and cars had a lot of issues getting around to the other ramp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabone Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 I heard from some dealers at the show that it was slow slow slow... the public count on saturday was only something like 2-300 for the entire day I don't know, I was there on Wednesday for PNG day, Thursday before the bourse opened up and stayed till about 4pm that day, Friday I was there at 10am with the bourse opening till way after lunch, and I had a hard time getting to some of the dealers I wanted to see. Now I was not there on Saturday, so I have no idea about its attendance, but the two public days I was there it was good, or so seemed to me. I talked with a couple of script dealers, and they were telling me that the script auction started at 6pm and was going to 11pm. And prices were higher than expected for some of the issues. Loved the $3.50 bottle of water, the $6.00 draw of beer, the $5.00 pretzel they sold inside the bourse area. Funny thing was you could walk outside the bourse and 20 feet away was a vending machine with $2.00 bottle water. Must be that sports mentality, we have you inside and we know you are too lazy to walk a few more steps, so we will gouge you for an additional $1.50. Oh well. I think next year the show is in Chicago. Chicago would be fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 Congrats on the exhibit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.