Coins We Love: Las Vegas Fun!

As mentioned last week, the PCGS Members Only Show was a rousing success last week. The bourse floor was bustling and the trading activity was outstanding. We didn’t expect it to be as active as it was, but we returned with 3-4 boxes of fresh, new inventory, including some pieces straight from the grading room.

While these shows are quite small when compared to the standard commercial event, the trading activity is well above average when people make the trip. My favorite part of these smaller-scale events is the camaraderie between collectors and dealers. We end up building true friendships with a number of consistent attendees!

I’ve spoken enough about the buying and selling, but I have to take a moment to mention that it was the most active coin show we’ve been to when it comes to evening activities. The shows aren’t as taxing as the larger events due to their laid-back nature, so why not go out to a fun dinner or event, right? Well, because I had a travel buddy this time (Thanks to Southwest's Rapid Rewards Companion Flies Free!), I wanted to show my 14-year-old, Wesley, a few of the more family-friendly things that occur in Las Vegas. (If you don’t care about our evening activities, please skip to the last paragraph! I'm not intending to brag, but it was notable to me, so I figured I’d keep typing)

I think our favorite event was one that we didn’t expect whatsoever. Monday night we happened upon a college football reception for the Southeastern Conference, where we ran into several notable coaches and some legends of the game! We had the opportunity to meet a few legends of SEC football, like Phil Fulmer, Steve Spurrier, Al Wilson, Eric Berry, Tim Tebow, and quite a few others. Wes was a little star-struck, but it pushed us on to a Tuesday night event where we joined the College Football Hall of Fame induction reception and dinner. That was quite a ceremony and a great time! Wes even got to meet Peyton Manning at the reception, which made his day (Dad liked that as well).

On Wednesday night, we joined a group of coin dealers and collectors for a special dinner overlooking the Vegas Strip in the Stratosphere. It was my first time up there and, while the food was fantastic, the view was truly special. Seeing the “Sphere” was pretty amazing from that vantage point. Unfortunately, the U2 tickets were priced well outside of our budget, so we didn’t get to check that out. However, we were regaled by numismatic stories from John Dannreuther about the founding of PCGS, buying coins from a western Tennessee bank robbery, and going to a Beatles concert in Memphis. We all have our fun coin stories, but JD’s were truly special and a lot of fun!

Thursday, our final night, was supposed to be for Holiday shopping, but it ended up being for the NBA In-Season Tournament Semifinal where the Lakers were playing the Pelicans. I’m not a big NBA fan, but I have always wanted to see Lebron James in person, so that opportunity couldn’t be missed. He only played 2 ½ quarters in the blowout but scored 30 points in the limited time. While I’ve often wondered if his talent is truly as special as they say, I think he won me over. It was a fantastic event and a real blast. A large part of the fun was sitting amongst several collectors and hearing their thoughts on the game, while we also discussed coins during halftime. Disappointingly, we didn’t get much Christmas shopping done (don’t tell my wife), but it was truly a fantastic week and a VERY productive one.

Thankfully, that concluded my traveling for the year and being gone 8 out of the last 9 weeks. I think I’m ready to spend some time at home and gear up for the holidays. Shortly, we have the face the behemoth of the FUN Show, which comes a few days earlier in the calendar as we travel to Orlando on the first day of 2024. Before that comes, we’ve got some work ahead of us to get ready for the big event!

As for now, we’ll close this message with a Happy Holidays and we hope that you enjoy some of this week’s highlights in our Coins We Love!

Numismatically Yours,

John Brush

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