Last week I had the pleasure of attending the 69th annual FUN (Florida United Numismatists) Show in Orlando. This year’s show featured over 600 dealers and was heavily attended judging from the foot traffic that I saw while there. We set up a table and offered books and other Fleet Society items for sale. We got many visitors and also I signed up a few new members. As usual, several Fleet Society members stopped by to say hello. Among those were Dan Sedwick, Augi Garcia, Dave Crooks, Steve Hodges, Bill Pearson, and Hawk Levy (along with his son Jonah). Also, there was Tom Uram who is President of the American Numismatic Association.
During the four-day show, I attended several meetings including the Sunken Treasure Literature Club meeting which was hosted by Dave Crooks on Friday afternoon. This is an annual meeting that takes place at the Fun Show every year. Dave also suggested that perhaps next year we could host a Fleet Society meeting in conjunction with the Sunken Treasure Literature Club, making it an all-afternoon event with a catered lunch. That suggestion will be taken under advisement.
Also visiting us at our table were Josh Scott and Heather Boyd representing PCGS. PCGS is one of the major sponsors of our conference this year, along with Daniel Frank Sedwick LLC., Vision Development and Construction of Atlanta, and West Bay Trading Company of Vero Beach.
American Numismatic President Tom Uram hosted a dinner that I attended on Saturday, January 6. Attended by 14 people this presented another opportunity for me to reach out to new potential members of the Fleet Society and what we do was a topic of conversation.
All in all, the FUN Show was very successful. I was also very pleased to see just how important the Society is to collectors and aficionados of the 1715 Fleet.
Ben Costelo
President, 1715 Fleet Society
