60 Years of the Long Beach Expo

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With a TV camera recording the moment for eBay, Adam Crum of Monaco Rare Coin (left) watched as television and movie personalities Paul F. Tompkins and Andy Richter intently examined gold bars from the famous S.S. Central America treasure.

TV, Movie Personalities Visit May – June’07 Long Beach Expo

(Long Beach, California) – Television and movie actors, Andy Richter and Paul F. Tompkins, visited the recent Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo for more than six hours on opening day to record video segments that will be shown on eBay. Total attendance of collectors and dealers was 5,760 for the three-day show conducted at the Long Beach, California Convention Center, May 31 – June 2, 2007.
Richter is well known for his seven-year role as sidekick to late night TV host, Conan O’Brien, as well as dozens of other television and movie roles. Tompkins also has appeared in many TV programs and movies, including the 2004 comedy film, “Anchorman.”
“The Long Beach Expo was selected by a production company for recording interview segments for a series of short videos that will be shown on eBay. Richter and Tompkins were very funny as they looked at various coins and gold ingots, and interviewed Adam Crum of Monaco Rare Coin, Paul Simonetti of Superior Galleries, Steve Contursi of Rare Coin Wholesalers and me about collecting,” said Ronald J. Gillio, Expo General Chairman.
“They even awarded one of the daily gold coin door prizes to a surprised, lucky winner.”
In two separate incidents security officers at the show apprehended two suspected coin thieves on Saturday, June 2.
“Our experienced security team is composed of current and former Long Beach police officers who closely work with the dealers as well as provide safety for the general public at each Long Beach Expo. Undercover security team members observed separate incidents of suspected theft, and they apprehended two suspects and quickly recovered stolen coins. One of the suspects tried to run away when he was approached by officers, but the security team easily captured him and removed him from the bourse floor,” explained Gillio.
“However, one of the dealers has refused to press charges against the suspect who was caught stealing from him. I simply can’t understand that. Because the dealer would not file charges this thief had to be released, although we took a photo of the suspect and he will not be admitted to any future shows.”
Featured exhibits at the May-June show were “Looking for Secrets and Mistakes on Currency” by Stack’s of New York City and Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, and a multi-million dollar exhibit of Gold Rush era items by Monaco Rare Coin of Newport Beach, California that included the John Glover Kellogg specimen 1852/1 $20 gold piece.
More than $11.6 million in winning bids were recorded during the show by the official auctioneer of the Long Beach Expo, Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas, Texas (www.HA.com), during Heritage’s major sales of U.S. and world coins and bank notes.
The next Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo will be conducted September 27 – 29, 2007. For additional information call (805) 962-9939 or visit online www.LongBeachShow.com.
Long Beach Expo is a division of Collectors Universe, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLCT).