Having roamed about the Midwest for more than 70 years, this year’s 85th anniversary convention of the Central States Numismatic Association (CSNA) was hosted in suburban Schaumburg, Ill., where the organization has been setting up shop since 2012. The founding CSNS convention was held in Chicago on April 22-23, 1939, at the Congress Hotel. Two of the first four conventions were hosted in Burlington and Des Moines, Iowa, while the other assembly was held in Milwaukee, Wis. After convention gatherings over 1943-1946 had been precluded by World War II, nearly a third of those held over the 66 years from 1947 through 2011 were Lake Michigan-centric: 11 in Milwaukee and eight in Chicago.
That’s enough historical background for this outing. I’ll turn to the experiences racked up, which were both quite varied and most enjoyable.
My 85th anniversary convention experiences commenced with a Wednesday morning, May 1, drive to Schaumburg. Backing out of the garage at home at 7 a.m., it was about a half-hour later when I
