Show Report: ANA World's Fair of Money, August 2025

If Winter FUN is Opening Day and Long Beach is (was!) our home stadium, the annual ANA’s World’s Fair of Money is the Super Bowl of Coins: The longest, biggest, most everything-est show on the calendar. Unlike the typical Tue–Fri sprint, ANA is a full-on marathon: fly in Sunday, out Saturday.

This year’s venue? Oklahoma City - a brand-new city for the ANA rotation that sparked plenty of dealer grumbling about flight connections and attendance unknowns. Verdict after six days on the ground: OKC delivered, in a big way. Great venue, excellent hotel, engaged collectors, serious coins.

We came prepared. In the run-up we announced our (re)discovery of the unique Schultz $5 struck over an 1847 Mexico 8 Reales and planned a special exhibit around it. If you missed the story, you can read it here:

Rarity7 (Re)Discovers Unique 1851 $5 Schultz on 1847 Mexico 8R

We also used this ANA as a line-in-the-sand for R7 operations. I’m notoriously interrupt-driven (“ooo! shiny!”), so we rebuilt our daily playbook to...actually have a playbook: map the floor, know who we can buy from, and respect everyone’s time. Our new mantra: buy or don’t buy...quickly. And when the public’s in the room, be at the booth.

Sunday, August 17 - Arrival & Hotel Trading

SFO → DEN → OKC, and straight to the Omni Oklahoma City, which turned out to be a gem: airy lobby, friendly staff, dangerously comfy beds.

Then straight into coin dealer mode: late-night room trading with our friend Max Brand, one of our favorite traders and a bottomless well of material.

Monday, August 18 - Dealer Setup Day, Schultz Buzz, and BBQ

ANA is one of the increasing number of show producers who offer a (paid) all-day setup/dealer-day option, and it's worth every penny: low stress, full access, and time to actually think. Most shows cram dealer setup into a 3-4 hour pre-public sprint and that inevitably ends up with one of us (me) pulled in 16 different directions - setup, buy, sell, trade, hunt, submit to PCGS, repeat. It's kinda chaotic. A full-day dealer day gives the whole team the breathing room to handle one thing at a time. And of course it gives us a chance to sit down with some of our other favorite wholesalers and - quickly but thoroughly - go through their boxes.

Our R7 hats finally landed and immediately disappeared. We even got our neighbor, John Marburger of Silicon Valley Coins, properly outfitted.

The Schultz exhibit went up and immediately became a magnet. Old-school dealers drifted over with stories. One gentleman remembered it from the ’74 ANA sale. And Don Kagin (as in, author-of-THE-book Don Kagin) showed me his to-do list for the week. On the third line: “Talk to Noah about Schultz.”

We sold a bunch to dealers, bought a fun early copper group, and got the booth dialed.

Dinner was a smoky, glorious local BBQ with Revick and Kellen from West Coast Coins. It was the kind of meal that convinces you OKC was the right choice.

Back at the hotel: reconcile, prep, sleep (sort of).

Tuesday, August 19

We wrapped setup and welcomed the first wave of retail collectors. The room did not disappoint.

Brian Hendelson’s displays were a master class: his legendary 1839 Proof $10 (one of three known) and an exhibit of presidential mint appointment documents.

Then came the single funniest thing I saw all week. Behold:

I hoped it was a teaching aid: “Here’s MS64, here’s what MS67 would cost.” But no dear readers, the sticker was the actual price. I had to clarify with the dealer to make sure I wasn't having a seizure. His explanation:

“Them grading companies are crooks. That coin ain’t MS64, it’s MS67 all day, and I've priced it as such.”

We’ve been doing it wrong! Turns out if you disagree with the grade, simply declare your own and charge accordingly.

Back at our table a collector produced a complete raw 1876 Proof Set. Yes please?

We celebrated the first official dinner out at the original Cattlemen’s Steakhouse. Old-school and perfect.

Wednesday, August 20 - Mile 13...

The day started off with a bang. We bought one of the nicest coins we’ve ever handled: a heavenly 1796 Draped Bust Quarter, PCGS F15 CAC. Pure, original, delicious.

Then a wild swap: we traded our 1795 $1 F15 CAC for a 1795 $1 F12 plus cash. Only later did we realize the “trade-in” had been bought ten minutes earlier from our next-door neighbor (I thought the coin looked familiar?!). The collector bought it, then saw our F15 CAC, had instant regret, and proposed the deal.

We also saw a freshly-graded, nearly-unique 1878‑S Morgan in SP65+ (one of the fabled San Francisco special strikes) courtesy of an owner who “forgot about” some proof sets he had in his safe (may we all be so lucky as to have that problem one day) and upon inspection, flipped over the dollar to find a curiously-placed S. No photo by request of the owner, but trust me: million-dollar coin dopamine.

And then another memorable moment of the week: I offered a coin to a dealer buddy using the shorthand: “Bid is nineteen-two, I’ll sell to you for eighteen,” (translation: Greysheet bid/wholesale is $19,200, and I'll sell it to you for $18,000 so you can have some room to make a profit). He quickly agreed, I wrote up the invoice, and he had a heart attack:

"Oh my goodness Noah I thought you meant $1,800, not $18,000. I'm so sorry." He looked like he saw a ghost when the invoice hit the table. We laughed, recalibrated, and added a story to tease him with for the next thirty years :)

The pace shifted today: dramatically busier, and our time-management refresh was both working and definitely no longer optional. We ordered room service and ran a late-night strategy huddle to plan the next day.

Thursday, August 21 - The Experiment

We decided to try an experiment today: Instead of just buying "R7-quality" coins and politely passing on those that didn't fit, we decided to quote a price to every collector who offered us a coin, no matter what it was. The experiment worked. We bought broadly - including a VG Details 1893‑S Morgan we wouldn’t usually touch - and in the process built a terrific relationship with a small-town shop owner who’s been hungry for a reliable outlet for better material. Sometimes the coin is just the conduit.

I also spent part of the day walking coins around to sell. It’s part of the business, but not my favorite sport: lots of waiting, lots of no’s. Still useful - and humbling - to do.

Best parts of the day: meeting collectors. Owen and I planted ourselves at the booth for as long as we possibly could and did what we love most: talking coins, helping folks, and buying and selling directly into the collections where coins would live for decades.

We also put our sealed bids into Bob Campbell’s annual dealer auction. It's always got super fresh and super high quality material and always manages to command sky-high prices (kudos to Bob for doing right by his consignors and finding the right folks to bid!). There was a spectacular group of patterns in this year's sale but alas, those patterns had fans and those fans were willing to pay way more than us. Such is life.

A local cop/collector steered us to Ranch Steakhouse, where Dan from Peak Rarities and I had an excellent working dinner. Pro tip: always ask the locals.

Friday, August 22

By Friday we were feeling it (in the best way). The booth looked like this most of the day:

Owen knocked two balls straight out of the park (which is kinda what he does):

• He called out a bad 1893‑S dollar and nailed the exact VAM on an 1893‑P obverse with an added mintmark.
• He gently broke the news to a collector that his AG3 business strike 1880 Shield Nickel was actually a proof despite the typical die markers being nearly invisible. 1880 is one of those rare dates where proofs are less valuable than business strikes on Shield nickels, so everyone is trying to cherrypick the not-proofs. Identifying subtle diagnostics when the coin is so worn ANY details are barely visible is black-belt stuff. Owen’s got the belt.

Saturday, August 23 - The home stretch

Last day: a steady stream of public. We bought a lot of bread‑and‑butter coins (raw Morgans and 90% silver), plus a charming little run of raw type notes (Educationals, Chiefs, and a few friends.)`

I found ten minutes to hustle to the Stack’s Bowers booth and peek at highlights from the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection, including the only CAC-approved 1804 Dollar. Holding a $10M+ coin in your hand is a visceral experience.

They also had a real gold (though wounded) version of our beloved Schultz $5:

And then it was time. Cases down, banners rolled, one last photo, and a grateful exhale.

Final Thoughts

OKC did what great host cities do: it got out of the way and let the coins and the community shine. Our ops revamp paid dividends. The “buy or don’t buy quickly” mantra kept us honest. Spending public hours glued to the booth reminded us why we do this: to help collectors find the right coin at the right moment.

To everyone who stopped by to say hello - thank you! See you at the next stop on the circuit :)