Today was the opening of the Long Beach Coin Show, held three times a year at the Long Beach Convention Center.  We were promised rain which I must admit is much more acceptable than the blizzards being experienced on the East Coast.  The show runs three days, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  It used to go through Sunday, but so many dealers left early, that going Sunday was like going to a rock concert the day after the performance.  It is always a great show.  This one had a Brasher Doubloon on display along with CH XF and better historic New York Coppers from 1786 and 1787.  The show has been expanded to include Sports Memorabilia, Stamps and a few other miscellaneous items.  If I had a million dollars to spend, I still would not have had enough to get what I would want.  There was a Baldric penny for my Anglo-Saxon collection, an Aelia Flacilla gold solidus for my Byzantine Gold,  A gorgeous Alexander II Balas tetradrachm from Syria.   And on and on.  CNG had trays of ultra high quality ancients, both silver and gold.  My favorite dealer, Glenn Schinke, had loads of great ancient and medieval material.  There are dealers from all over the US and from abroad.  A few got caught in the snow and were not able to make it, but some came out a few days early, knowing bad weather was on the way.

I had originally gone only to drop off the last of my Roman Republic denarii and some US Type coins for slabbing, not to buy anything.  But like all good intentions - blah, blah, blah.  There was this absolutely perfect Athenian Tetradrachm just calling my name.  I could not resist.  Then I dropped it off to be graded and slabbed.  I have high hopes for the eventual grading.

For the US collector or Modern Foreign Collector there are loads of dealers with material ranging from fifty cent boxes to five-figure US, European, Asian and Latin American gold rarities, supply and book dealers, the US Mint and displays.  If you can make one of these shows, it is well worth the effort.  Each time I go, I realize just how lucky I am to be close to this unbelievable show.