With the summer in full swing that means it’s time for the Summer F.U.N. (Florida United Numismatists) Coin Show. Once again (thankfully for me) it was back at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando Florida.

You do need to pay for parking at the convention center, however there is a bit of a discount if you mention you are attending the coin show. There is no admission cost to attend the coin show, however you do need to fill out a little form with your name, address and contact info. Then take it to the check-in booths to receive your name tag, a souvenir tote bag and if you ask real nicely a special coin for the show, but we will talk about that a little later on.

Inside there were over 300 vendors, countless coin clubs, the U.S. Mint and the educational exhibits that are always great to check out.

It’s always amazing to see what’s available at this show. It can definitely be a bit overwhelming when you first walk in. I usually just start at one end and slowly make my walk through each aisle. Many of the vendors are very friendly and always looking to chat. Most of them have certain niches of the hobby that they specialize in, while others have quite a selection with a little bit of everything.

I did mention earlier that the U.S. Mint has a large area that is always very popular with collectors. They had a nice display with all the new 2024 proof sets. There are quite a few new coin designs this year which is nice to see. They also sell these sets as well as other limited edition coins so you can take them home with you immediately.

I’ve mentioned in previous posts about this event that even thought it’s labeled as a coin show, there is so much more available here. Lots of paper notes, sports cards, jewelry, comic books and I even saw a few Pokémon cards. Unfortunately not many elongated coins.

The educational exhibits are always fun to check out. The amount of work that members put into to these is incredible. In case you didn’t know I actually submitted an exhibit back in 2023 that you can read all about here.

This years event actually didn’t have a very large selection of exhibits and some of them looked familiar from previous years, and only one had some elongated coins.

It was an exhibit about the Central Florida Coin Club: A Journey Through Our Years. There were some very interesting documents and other items from the club’s history on display.

Then right at the top of one of the exhibit cases I saw a nice row of elongated coins that were commemorating the club’s 40th Anniversary in 1995. Not just that, but the coins were also rolled by Mr. Elongated Ray Dillard.

Now let me take some time to go over the coins I was able to collect during my visit. First was that coin show medallion I mentioned at the beginning. In years past they would just include one of these in the gifted tote bag, but I was informed that due to limited quantities they were only given them out upon request. You may notice in the pictures above that the January (winter) coin show dates are listed as this was originally created for that show and they then offer the left overs during the summer show.

While I was at the check-in booth, after I was given the show medallion the kind lady asked if I was interested in an elongated coin. My eyes immediately perked up and I nodded yes that would be wonderful. Above is a photo of the pressed penny that was designed and rolled by former TEC President Cindy Calhoun. Similar to the medallion this was created for the Winter show back in January which I was unable to attend this year. This was a wonderful surprise that I was able to acquire one for my collection.

The event adveterised there was over 300 vendors and I can honestly say I visited with almost all of them. I inquired whenever I could if anyone had any elongated coins for sale, or if they knew of anyone that had any for sale but no one seemed to have any. Except for one small table I came across about halfway through the show. There were two elongated coins sitting in a case among mostly some baseball cards. You can see the picture earlier in this post. I inquired about the coins for purchase and was given a little bit of a discount. They were both listed as $3.00 each but was able to get them for $4 total. The first one was of New York Yankees first baseman Don Mattingly.

The second coin was of Nolan Ryan celebrating his 7th No Hitter that happened on May 1st 1991. These both look to be part of a series. I’ve still been trying to find more information on these coins, who designed them and if there are any others as I’d love to work on collecting them all if they are part of a larger set. If any of you recognize these or has more details please leave me a comment below.

As always the show was great and I really enjoyed just taking my time walking around the entire show floor multiple times just seeing all that was available. Most of it was not what I’m into collecting, but that doesn’t mean they are any less important. Sometimes I see the dates listed on the coins and am just blown away realizing the history that has taken place during that coins life. These are small tokens that can definitely tell a story and is an amazing way to actually hold history in the palm of your hand.

Keep on Collecting!

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