The Central States Numismatic Society will hold its 74th Anniversary Convention during the last week in April at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center, located at 1551 North Thoreau Drive in a northwest suburban Chicago venue located just across the I-90 freeway from the Woodfield Mall, ten miles from O’Hare Airport.
A security room will open for early arrivals on Monday, April 22, with auction lot viewing for the two separate Heritage Signature Sales getting underway the same day. The Heritage auction sessions will be held beginning on Wednesday, with the final sessions concluding on Friday.
The 270 booth bourse is sold out. Bourse activities start from 9AM-12noon on Wednesday, April 24, with the traditional Early Bird period scheduled from 12noon-6PM that day. There is a $75 registration fee during this advance admission period. The regular public hours will be from 10AM-7PM Thursday, 10AM-6PM Friday and 10AM-5PM Saturday. There will be no public bourse hours. Admission will be free on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Kevin Foley, a Past President of CSNS and Convention Chairman since 1998, said of this year’s event, “We have an embarrassment of riches for our attendees this year. Our 270+ booth bourse was sold out in mid-February. Our headquarters hotel, the Renaissance Schaumburg, was sold out at roughly the same time. Our official auction company, Heritage, will be offering the Walton example of the 1913 Liberty Head nickel as part of its always exciting Platinum Night coin auction session, as well as a $1,000 1890 and a $1,000 1891 Treasury Note in their currency Platinum Night session, the former note known popularly as the “Grand Watermelon” note. The size and scope of our bourse area, coupled with the significance of the Heritage auction presentations, will make our convention simply a “must attend” for players in the numismatic trade.”
Foley continued, “I’m also really excited about the second edition of our Civil War Educational Forum. On Saturday and Sunday at our convention we’ll have a total of nine presentations about the Civil War, some focusing on numismatic related topics and others dealing more with the general historical and political context of that era. Last year’s forum attracted crowds of anywhere from 40 to 70 people at each session. Here’s our lineup for 2013. On Friday, April 26 Abraham Lincoln interpreter Dennis Boggs will lead off at 10:30AM with A Close Up Look at My Cabinet. He’ll be followed at noon by Pierre Fricke speaking on The History of Collecting Confederate Paper Money. Dr. Harry Hutchins, Jr. will be next at 1:30PM with Slave Badges and the Slave Hire System in Charleston, South Carolina. Perter Huntoon will be with us at 3PM. His topic will be Civil War Money and Confederate National Bank Notes. Frederick Douglas interpreter Bill Grimmetta will join Dennis Boggs for Friday’s final presentation at 4:30PM, A Discussion Between Friends.”
Foley continued with the Saturday forum sessions, saying, “Bill Grimmette will again appear as Frederick Douglas, leading off at 10:30AM with Bondage and Freedom: My Evolving Views on the Constitution. Wendell Wolka will speak at noon on Civil War Era Banks and Banknotes in the Northern States. Chicago attorney Tom Campbell will talk on Fighting Slavery in Chicago at 1:30PM. The forum will conclude at 3:15PM with Purdue University faculty member Dr. Robert May on Beyond Kansas: Lincoln’s 1860 Election, Southern Ambitions for a Tropical Slave Empire and the Coming of the Civil War.”
CSNS President Jim Moores joined Foley and added, “Our objective is to bring a well rounded event to the numismatic community, with quite literally something for everyone. Whether our attendees want to focus on the commercial aspects of numismatics by participating in our world class bourse area or our fabulous Heritage auctions; whether they want to join us to learn more by attending our Civil War Educational Forum or by viewing our educational exhibits or whether they will simply be in Schaumburg to meet up with old fiends or make some new ones, they’ll find what they want at the 74th Anniversary Convention of the Central States Numismatic Society”.
CSNS Secretary Jerry Lebo serves as Bourse Chairman. Dealers who’d like to have their names placed on the waiting list for space at the sold out bourse should contact him via e-mail at [email protected]. Additional information about the convention and CSNS can be found on the organization’s website: www.centralstates.info. Details about the Heritage auction can be accessed at www.ha.com.
