Favorite Moments from the ANA

Everyone here at ECC is settled back in after an exciting week in Pittsburgh. Other than a very delayed flight home (fun times!) the show went well. We got to catch up with old friends and make some new ones. We also want to thank everyone who stopped by our booth, even if it was just to say hi. We always love seeing friendly faces…

…and famous ones! Here’s Diane with none other than George Washington and Ben Franklin.

Some of you may know that we have a Roman centurion helmet that we bring to shows. I wanted someone to put it on and challenge Washington to a duel, but unfortunately it didn’t happen. Maybe next time! It probably wouldn’t have gone very well anyways…we don’t have any other armor, and Washington has a sword.

David had a birthday, which we celebrated at an AMAZING restaurant in Pittsburg. I never knew brussel sprouts could be so delicious. Although, to be fair, all of the restaurants in Pittsburg that we went to were amazing.

But of course, our actual favorite moments are talking to our fellow numismatists. Fellow dealers, everyday collectors, experts and newbies, you name it. I learned quite a bit about Byzantine-Arab issues from one fellow, and got to talk about Greece in the sixth century BCE with another. Sometimes people come up to us knowing exactly what they want, and sometimes they don’t know where to start when they get to our booth. It’s honestly quite fun to guide new people into the amazing world of coin collecting, to watch them find their niche and grow. One little boy came up to our booth, carefully picked out a shiny Finland 5 pennia and gave me five singles for it. He was quiet and shy the whole time, but the way his eyes lit up when he was picking out his coin was something else. I look forward to seeing him, and others like him, at future ANA shows.