Over 40 years of attending Long Beach shows, adds up to a lot of coins passing through my hands.  Labor Day will precede this year's 3rd and final Long Beach, but as always I'll be at my TABLE 934.  There'll be some interesting coins in my showcases, both U.S. and World so be sure to stop by.  This show will also mark the launching of a new website for the National Silver Dollar Roundtable (NSDR), for which I serve as treasurer.  It promises to be an exciting and viable website for everyone, dealers and collectors alike.  Be sure to check it out:  www.NSDR.net   Please be sure to stop by!

      The home of America's first mint served as backdrop for this year's American Numismatic Association's "Worlds Fair of Money."  By all accounts it was a successful show with an incredible array of rarities on the floor and passing over the auction block.  The finest of 5 known 1913 Liberty nickels sold for $4,560,000.  I had the privilege of shepherding a seven-figure collection through grading, consigning and ultimately sold at the show.  A highlight was an 1811/0 Large Cent which last sold for just over $40,000.  At least two eager bidders drove the price to $102,000, surprising nearly everyone in the room and pleasing my consignor! 
      This show provided a fair amount of emotion for me as well.  The Charles O. Browne Memorial Scholarship continues to gather steam and the exhibit at my table attracted more generous donations which will send one young person each year to ANA's Summer Seminar for the next 13 years, representing the time Charlie taught the "Advanced Grading and Problem Coins" class.  I had the great joy and privilege of sharing that task with Charlie over the last 7 seven years.  All who knew him continue to miss his great smile and endless enthusiasm for the field of numismatics.  He was posthumously awarded the Abe Kosoff Founder's Award by the PNG which I accepted in his name and is pictured below, right.  

     The Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force (ACTF), a subdivision of ICTA has made some fabulous inroads since its inception just last year.  The result of the passing of another very close old friend, Alan Kreuzer, ACTF began with a generous contribution from his daughter Chandra.   This year the Al Kreuzer Memorial award went to 3 persons, all of whom were participants in the breakup and arrests of a $48 million counterfeiting scheme involving coins and bullion items.  Rich Weaver of Delaware Valley Rare Coins deserves special praise for his efforts which began when a series of counterfeit silver dollars came into his store.  After months of investigation involving Homeland Security and other agencies, these crooks were stopped in their tracks.  Our industry faces critical challenges in the future and ACTF couldn't have come into existence at a more opportune time! 

        Above are the three award winners, from left to right:  Nicholas Tranchitella, Homeland Security Agent, Rich Weaver, proprietor Delaware Valley Rare Coins, and Doug Davis of Numismatic Crime Information Center (NCIC). 

     The Summer months have surprisingly been quite busy, well beyond expectations for most.  I have been involved in two active Expert Witness cases with one waiting in the wings and am managing a substantial coin collection containing both U.S. and World coins.  On Sunday, I will arrive in Philadelphia for the American Numismatic Association (ANA) convention which is one of the nation's largest and most important coin shows.  Monday will be PNG Day (Professional Numismatists Guild) wherein attendance is by invitation from PNG member-dealers.  I will be at TABLE 912 and if you're in town and didn't get an invitation, call or text me and I'll be glad to bring an invitation to the opening of the show at 11 AM on Monday in Hall D of the Pennsylvania Convention Center.  PNG Day will end at 5 PM giving you 6 hours to get first jump on some of the choicest items available in the numismatic marketplace.
     The ANA Convention itself will open at 1 PM Tuesday, August 14 and continue until 4 PM Saturday.  Stop by TABLE 955 during the show and if time permits, I will be glad to offer FREE APPRAISALS for a small group of coins on the spot OR arrange for a comprehensive appraisal at a substantial discount.   However, YOU MUST MENTION THAT YOU SAW THIS OFFER ON THE WEBSITE!!  This convention promises to one of the biggest and best in recent years, so I hope to see you there!