May 4-6, 2006: The EAC Convention in Palm Beach, FL

If you like personalized attention, want to focus in-depth on one fascinating and important area of US numismatics, enjoy seeing displays of some of the finest early American copper coins in existence, and think you might want to do all of this in a decadent resort atmosphere, then you most certainly would have enjoyed attending this year’s EAC convention.

There we were at the Marriott in West Palm Beach, FL (which is also the “host” hotel for the twice-annual West Palm Beach Coin Show), copper coins everywhere, having a blast.

The convention started with a bang with a spectacular reception sponsored by Heritage Galleries. We’ve been to a lot of similar coin-related receptions over the years, but never to one where there was so much free food that dealers and collectors couldn’t finish it all (note that we’re talking real food – platters of jumbo shrimp, sushi, and other fabulous fare and a group which is not known for their bird-like appetites).

From a dealer perspective, the EAC typically is not so great from a business standpoint. Even in the middle of surging coin market, our sales were modest, as expected for this event (this is always our weakest show from a buying & selling perspective).

But unlike most coin shows, that really isn’t what this convention all is about.  It IS about renewing old friendships and meeting new people each year who have discovered the well-trodden path to early copper coins. It IS about seminars on grading, detecting counterfeits, collecting by variety and by die state. It IS about a 500 lot auction of colonials, half cents and large cents – mostly in collector grades and price levels.  And it IS about seeing all that cool stuff, including a spread of 1786 Connecticut Coppers that belong in a museum.

And so, we made some new friends, accepted some nice compliments on our revamped website (I’m blushing as I type this, but I refuse to insert the blushing smiley face emoticon here because it looks a little too much like Minnie Mouse), bought a few choice and cool items which will soon grace the “esoteric” area of our website, and got a reminder of what this hobby is supposed to be about.

You can’t beat that, can you?