Coins We Love: We're Having a FUN Time!

I’m not going to lie, the FUN Show is a lot of things! It starts off exciting, fantastic, welcoming, and rejuvenating. After 3 days it becomes tiring and long. After 5 days it's exhausting. And on day 7, when some of us finally return home, it is relieving. Though honestly, the FUN Show always gets us a little excited, as we’re kicking off a new year and we get the opportunity to meet, network, and visit with many friends that we haven’t seen in quite some time.

There have been a lot of “inefficiencies” this week as it seems that many dealers didn’t price their coins or review what they wanted to do business-wise before the show began. So, the early pre-show activity took quite a bit longer than we planned, causing our game plans to go awry very quickly. The days have generally been from 8 am to 9 pm (And, one 1 am morning...). On Wednesday, my day started with a board meeting at 7:30 and didn’t end until 9:50 with a PNG NexGen dinner for young aspiring coin dealers. While most of the show is buying, selling, and networking, we do value the service opportunities - that’s why I personally commit many hours to the PNG and their dealer mentoring program. I may be a little too involved serving as the once-NCBA Chair, the PNG Vice President, and an ANA Board Member, but outside of missing a few hours on the bourse, the long-term benefits and support of the hobby are certainly worth the effort for me. Giving back is important and I believe in supporting the other dealers that do, though limited the numbers may be.

If you are wondering what’s been going on, here’s a daily summary so far:

Saturday: Wes and I arrived to review 2 deals and get situated for the long week. It was certainly worthwhile as we scored some early pick-ups for the week.

Sunday: The only Sunday that I actually work during the year. We visited a local dealer friend where we quickly spent nearly $100k. Then we proceeded to the show area and found 2 more deals that we couldn’t go home without. So, the spending spree had started. JC and Jack arrived this evening, ready for a long Monday.

Monday: We divided and conquered throughout the day, sometimes having 4 transactions going at one time. For buying, this was an amazing day, interrupted by only a single lunch and dinner way into the night. While the night seemed over at 10 pm, we got a call that we could get the first shot on another deal at 11 pm if we were able to stay up. So, JC and I did it…until 1 am!

Tuesday: I slept in until 9:30, though JC couldn’t help himself and set us up for another viewing at 10 am. He and Jack tackled that while Wes and I set up at the first-ever pre-show trading room. This ended up being the right way to handle things as we were working at peak efficiency They bought a full box of coins while Wes and I scored another 2 boxes of product. The day moved by slowly (and inefficiently) afterward, but overall it was an outstanding day. My evening was capped off at a PNG Board Meeting.

Wednesday: The day started at 7:30 am with a National Coin and Bullion Association Board Meeting. And as the meetings cleared out, we were looking at coins by 9 am. We also started showing coins briefly and business had finally become two-way. We operated a bit on the run for the rest of the day before the bourse opened at 2 pm (the opening was anything but calm). Insanity ensued and we worked nonstop until we shut down around 7 pm. I then had the NexGen dinner to attend which concluded way too late for this tired body.

Thursday: The bourse floor officially opens today! An early 8 am start will keep us going, but hopefully, we can pace ourselves through the last 3 days of the show. We’ll report more on our return next week, but we hope that you enjoyed this quick synopsis!

As for now, we’ll stop and present a few new Coins We Love! We hope you enjoy the selections below and we hope to see some of you at the FUN Show. Stop by Table 519 and see us!

Numismatically Yours,

John Brush and the DLRC Show Team

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