March 19, 2015 – The Central States Numismatic Society will hold its 76th Anniversary Convention April 21-25 at the Schaumburg Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center, located at 1551 North Thoreau Drive in the northwest Chicago suburb. The event site is roughly ten miles from O’Hare Airport and sits next to the I-90 freeway across from the Woodfield Mall.
The 300 booth bourse will take place over four days, first opening from 1PM-6PM on Wednesday, April 22, the day after the Heritage auction lot viewing gets underway. Wednesday will be the Professional Preview / Early Bird Day, with advance access to the bourse prior to the public hours on Thursday, Friday and Saturday available for a $100 registration fee. The complimentary public hours will be from 10AM-7PM Thursday, 10AM-6PM Friday and 10AM-5PM Saturday. There will be no Sunday bourse hours.
Educational programs will start at 8AM Wednesday, when Kathy McFadden, Executive Director of the Industry Council for Tangible Assets will give a program on Legislative and Regulatory Issues – An Overview and Update. From 2PM-4PM that day the American Numismatic Association’s Chief Judge, Colonel Joseph Boling, will present the first of two identical classroom sessions for the Exhibit Judges Familiarization and Certification Program. In order to accommodate the schedules of as many convention attendees as possible, a second session will take place from 9AM-11AM Thursday. In addition to the classroom activities, seminar participants will review and judge the actual exhibits in the educational exhibit area and compare their scores with those of the official judges. Those who successfully complete the course will become ANA certified exhibit judges. While pre-registration is not necessary, potential seminar attendees may elect to contact Colonel Boling for additional details via email.
Programs will continue at 9AM Thursday with a membership meeting of Women in Numismatics. From 10AM-1PM that day Robert Higgins, CEO of The Argent Group will lead a Numismatics and Hard Assets Investment Symposium.
Friday will see the Fellowship of Christian Numismatists meet at 7:30AM. The first installment of the multi-session Civil War Educational Forum will start at 10AM, with Abraham Lincoln interpreter Dennis Boggs speaking on Meet Mr. Lincoln. He will be followed at 11:30AM by Robert I. Girardi on Illinois in the Civil War. The forum will continue at 1PM with Ted Karamanski, Ph. D. giving his presentation, Chicago in the Civil War. Friday will also hear The Battlefield Balladeers performing music and songs from the Civil War era at 2:30PM. The final session of the day will hear Lawrence Schuffman on Confederate Commerce Raiders and the Post War Geneva Awards.
Accountant Gary Knaus will start off the Saturday educational presentations at 8AM with Operation Choke Point and the Top Ten Reasons to Have an Anti-Money Laundering Program. The Civil War Educational Forum will reconvene at 10AM to hear Daniel Weinberg, proprietor of the Abraham Lincoln Book Store on Current Lincoln Literature. Weinberg be followed at 11:30AM by Robert I. Girardi on The Murder of General “Bull” Nelson. The forum will conclude at 1PM with Dennis Boggs on 1865 – Peace at Last.
Other programs on Saturday will include, at 12noon, CSNS Legal Counsel Steven Bieda, who serves as a Michigan State Senator. His presentation will be My Other Life: Being a Michigan State Senator – Challenges and Satisfactions. There will also be a membership meeting of the Chicago Coin Club held at 1PM, as well as a Boy Scout Merit Badge Clinic from 12noon-3PM.
In addition to the various educational programs, the CSNS convention includes an extensive educational exhibit area. Jack Huggins, long time CSNS Chief Judge, expands his responsibilities this year to also become Educational Exhibit Chairman. Those interested in presenting an educational exhibit at the convention should contact Huggins via email. Huggins said of the CSNS exhibit area. “This really is a centerpiece of our extensive educational efforts. I’m excited and looking forward to beginning my expanded service to CSNS as Educational Exhibit Chairman and especially to working with our loyal cadre of exhibitors.”
Centerpiece of the convention will be a 300 booth bourse area. Patricia Foley will continue in her capacity as Bourse Chairman and can be contacted by prospective booth holders via email. She said, “Last year our bourse was sold out in mid-February and after adding an additional 18 booths we are now down to our last six, so I urge anyone who wants to be a bourse dealer at our convention to e-mail me for an application right away. I know that there is always the assumption that at a big convention it is possible to get a booth at the last minute. That just isn’t the case at the CSNS convention anymore. Sometimes the cost of not doing something can be in excess of the cost of actually doing it. That is definitely the case in waiting until our bourse is sold out to try to sign up.”
Rooms for the convention are available at a special rate of $153 at the Schaumburg Renaissance headquarters hotel. Guests should call (847) 303-4100 and mention rate code “CENCENA”. If difficulties are encountered in booking, contact Convention Chairman Kevin Foley at (414) 807-0116 or via email.
Full details about the convention are available on this website, including the current schedule of Heritage auction sessions. Additional information about the Heritage auctions can be accessed at the auction company website.