2025 Chicagopex, The Weekend That Was.

And another Chicagopex is in the books! I drove up Thursday morning, stopping at a fellow revenue collector's house in Joliet, IL, where I was given a tour of his impressive collection(s), and we did some revenue document horse trading. The weather for the drive was beautiful; in fact the entire weekend was gorgeous: bright and sunny with highs in the 50s-60s... a far cry from some years when it's been snow and ice.

I arrived onsite at about noon, and there were already dealers about, although the bourse room wasn't available for load-in until 2PM. I got my guest dealer badge and spent 2-6PM on the floor greeting and catching up with dealers I hadn't seen in a year. As soon as Denny Peoples got even close to setting up, there was as usual a feeding frenzy. I had just seen him at the Indianapolis MSDA show 2 weeks prior so there wasn't a whole lot new, but I was able to set aside an item that I had passed on at that show but had been regretting (a Scott #RL1 plate number imprint capture on document).

I dropped off a box of reveue-stamped paper (Scott # RNs) that I had brought for Peter Schwartz for him to look through and purhase from. I'd met him last year at Eric Jackson's booth when he was at Chicagopex as an attendee. This was his first year setting up as a dealer, and he has wonderful material and a very artistic eye as to his booth display.

Thursday night I had dinner with, and sold some material to, a revenue collector who had flown in from New Mexico. He comes to the show every 3-4 years and I bring material for his collecting interests. It was great to catch up, and his purchase funded my major show acquisition. Took some of the sting out of things.

I had asked Eric if he had any RL (Customs Fee) documents beyond what he had on his website and if so, could he bring them. He did, some of them exceptionally rare, and he graciously allowed me to take all of them, along with the RL documents already in inventory, up to my hotel room overnight so I could scan them for a forthcoming reference/census page I'm planning. So I scanned while my friend shopped, and it was an enjoyable evening.

During the evening, I went through the unsold lots at Rasdale Stamps on the off chance there might be something revenue-related, and there actually was! I bought an R174a (horizontal pair, imperf between) at a very nice price. I already have one, but this will make nice trade bait. It's a fairly esoteric item, which is presumably why it didn't sell, as there were no issues with it conditionwise.

Friday dawned, and I hit the bourse at 8AM when the doors opened. Within minutes, dealer-to-dealer buying/selling/trading was well underway. My largest purchase of the show was actually my first purchase of the show, from Sterling Stamps: A Scott # R84a with all the right characteristics (color, margins, cancel date, and paper type). I was able to have both Eric Jackson and Richard Friedberg examine the stamp prior to my purchasing it, and both gave it their (informal) stamp of approval, so I jumped. It was at a price I couldn't say no to, and perfectly sound, which is never found in this price range. The manuscript cancel is a little wonky, but overall I'm thrilled. I also picked up a stockbook lot of oddball worldwide non-Scott cinderellas and a large unsold auction lot of Persia.

Rusty Shoaf had a bunch of new Zieher and Semmler (numismatic) postcards. I picked up a few postally used examples, but held off on any major purchase, as I still have not created list of which ones I have and didn't want to purchase dupes... I'll revisit the issue at the January WI/IL Stateline MSDA show. I picked up a nice little battleship documentary improper use cover from Stephen Taylor.

Mark Cwiakala had contacted me after receiving the wantlist letter I sent to all of the dealers prior to the show, saying that he had some 19th century billheads for me. I set a few pieces aside pending his bringing in some additional billheads for me later in the show.

Kevin LaFrance had a revenue cancel collection that he had purchased from another dealer earlier in the day, that even after being flipped, showed some value potential. It included about a half dozen examples of printed card company cancels on the 2-cent Playing Cards (Scott # R2c). He was absolutely firm on his price though, so I decided to hold off and mull it over.

At one point I stopped by Denny's table to see whether he had purchased anything interesting from other dealers. He had, and I picked up a very unusual item that none of us could figure out what it is (separate forum post coming for that one). I spent a few hours at Richard's table, looking through 15 or so sales books of new material he had acquired, and set aside a few nice cancels and an R3b pair. I also bit the bullet and picked up two Silver Tax documents I had been eyeing for the past several shows.

Overall, the show traffic appeared solid, especially during the morning. It appeared to taper off in the afternoon somewhat. The dealer sentiment was pretty positive for day 1... would it hold up?

Several of us went out to dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant about a half hour away from the show venue. It was my first time having Vietnamese cuisine, and dang was it good! Surprisingly affordable (for Chicagoland) as well. Then it was back to my hotel room for some trading and to go over the day's acquisitions.

Saturday morning was a repeat of Friday morning and off I went... I bought a small revenue box lot and several improper use documents from Karl at Michigan Street Antiques. Charles Berg of Stamp King had told me he had revenue material, which is not usually the case, so I spent some time at his table and picked up a few nice items including a gorgeously centered R80c.

I stopped by Volovski Rarities and looked through a revenue collection that had a lot of decent mint material; we just couldn't come to terms on it. I spent the majority of the day sitting across from Michael at A to Z Stamps going through a ton of new revenue material. While I was there, another dealer came up and said they had just caught a show attendee stealing from them and had called security. Michael said that they had caught someone on Friday at their booth (foreshadowing).

After I was done there, I returned to Kevin's booth. I decided to try and get that cancel collection, but on slightly better terms. After browsing through his revenue inventory again, I offered "I'll pay your asking price on the collection if you will take [HEAVILY REDUCED PRICE] for these other items." After a frown and a ponder, he agreed. So that worked out ok in the end. While this process was going on, there was a kerfuffle at Michael's table. Apparently ANOTHER person had been caught stealing, and apparently a significant enough amount that the police were called and he was led away in handcuffs. People... sheesh.

I stopped by Rasdale to pick up the lot I had purchased Thursday night, thus saving me shipping costs. Making rounds and speaking with dealers at the end of the day Saturday, the general sentiment had grown from positive to in some cases PHENOMENAL! Several mentioned it being their best Chicagopex in 5+ years. Seating at Michael's booth was completely full every time I looked and for the entirety of the 5+ hours I spent there on Saturday.

Saturday evening was just dinner at the hotel (BTW, the Asian cauliflower wings there are WONDERFUL!), some more trading, and then an early night after packing up to prep for an early exit on Sunday.

Sunday morning I packed up the car at 6AM and then went back for breakast. I picked up a few interesting world covers from Jerry Koepp at Stamps N Stuff. I said my goodbyes to the dealers that were on the floor by 9AM, and then made one last trip back to Sterling Stamps and picked up a few oddball world lots before heading out. There was some local shopping I wanted to do and still get home 2.5 hours away while it was still light.

Chicagopex was a great time, as usual. It was nowhere as financially painful as previous years, thanks to the material I brought for sale. I was proud of myself for not dipping into credit cards even once!

Impressive.

I have the idea that you live in a different world were days last for 36 hours!!

Thank you for sharing this.

It was a great show - seemed like business was good all around. I spent most of my time picking through red boxes for some nice cancels, and when things were a little quieter Sunday afternoon, I spent an hour or so chatting with Michael from A to Z about this and that, including the stamp thief. Apparently this wasn't the first time this guy had shown up at shows, and Michael had suspected him in the past, but never caught him in the act until this weekend. Both Michael and his wife remarked that the thief didn't try and run when he was caught and rather just acknowledged straight up what he did, which I found somewhat surprising (although perhaps it helped that security was usually nearby?).

I did have a rather poor experience with D&P Stamps, though - my first real gripe with a dealer. They have a nice selection of used worldwide in separate boxes, which makes things easier for a collector like me who collects used only. Two ladies working their table, and one of them told me when I sat down that the only price written on the cards is full CV, but they'd take 25% off at the register.

A bit steep compared with others at the show (Michigan Street took 75% off!), but still worth it for nice items. I put together a nice pile and paid $50 even for it (the other lady rang me up) but then did the math later and realized the total CV added up to $52, so the 25% discount was never applied.

I wanted to do some more shopping there, so went back the next day to inquire about the discrepancy, only to be told that I'd have to spend about $100 or so for the discount to kick in - something that was never mentioned to me.

Even if it was an honest mistake (and mistakes happen), they had a golden opportunity to make it right (say, giving me $10 in credit the next day) but failed to do so. Left a bad taste in my mouth, and I won't be going back. It's not the $10 or so, but more the principle, especially when there are so many other delightful vendors to shop from.

Sounds like a great trip. Hoping to see the silver tax transfer documents soon.

I am the New Mexico collector who met Dan. This was my third time coming in for Chicagopex and by far the best. It was also the first time it wasn't snowing.

I had a going in plan – really. I knew I would meet with Dan and had guessed at how much I would most likely spend with him to conserve cash for the actual show. Not surprisingly, it didn't work out that way. Every trip Dan has brought boxes of great material. Last time it was 3 bankers boxes of state revenues organized in red boxes. Had to go to Target and buy (another) suitcase for the 6 best red boxes so I could take them home with me. Thank goodness to the nicest stamp dealers on earth, Michael and Cecilia Ball from A to Z Stamps who agreed to transport the other two boxes for me. They spend the night in Albuquerque on their drive back to the Phoenix metroplex, and gave me a call as they were getting into ABQ. I drove over and met them as they arrived. If you have never been to A to Z's wall of a gazillion stamps, make an effort to do so!!

Back to 2025. As usual, Dan had a large quantity of revenue material for me to go through, and there were nice items left and right. He casually mentioned before I started when I was done with the boxes, he did have a lot to show me (key up Jaws music). He worked scanning documents borrowed from a dealer for a research project of his and I dove into the boxes.

After going through the boxes, I was already overspent past what I had budgeted for Dan's material. THEN he handed me a playing card exhibit organized by manufacturer with playing card boxes, corresponding Aces and related materials. Well played Dan, well played. No chance I was letting that one go. Show hasn't even started and I am down a big chunk of my show cash. That said, I picked up numerous nice items and the exhibit has great bones for what I intended to work on in the future. No doubt buying this saved me years of hunting material and is a great start! None of the actual stamps themselves were particularly valuable – the collateral material is the vast bulk of the pages. Overall, well worth Dan's very reasonable asking price.

Headed back to my hotel (I am loyal to another brand for the points) and worked to absorb some of the items where I could. I had previously purchased 4 new binders and dust covers from Dan and he had them waiting for me. As a result, space was limited for my return flight, so I only brought my playing card collection with me for this Chicagopex. I usually bring a few different binders but simply didn't have space this trip. I was pretty set on not buying yet another piece of luggage for the return trip!

As part of my brilliant master plan (already torpedoed before the show even started), I was after specific items. When the show opened Friday at 1000, I headed straight to Denny Peoples table. As soon as he saw me he dipped his head and apologized. Although he had a pile of playing card related material for me, he appeared to have left two envelopes of material at his house – mine and one other persons. Sigh. That said, Denny always has nice material and I was able to make a great deal with him on several state revenues to include Delaware beers and liquors, and a very nice stock page of Indiana Real Estate Tax stamps, to include dupes. These are not easy to find and my set is now complete!:

REF4 canx; I managed to find 4 different; MDC, HB, a perfin, and an unknown handstamp

Customs canx; Dan had a slew of them for me; he also texted me a few times during the show with pics and dealer names as he found some – I brought every one home with me – thanks Dan! I found an unlisted city – Galveston – sweet!




1862 canx; Picked up four 1862 checks from Dan and numerous 1862 canx as I went through dealer's materials, to include a few Oct, 1862 canx

State revs to include set of Indiana real estate stamps plus several dupes and a few multiples



Playing cards to include an exhibit; Completed the bureau precanx picking up a copy of RF27 PC195 (SPC), the last one I needed

Liquor strips and related items; picked up 4 districts I didn't previously have. There are 63 total districts with several never reported

Puerto Rico (US Admin revs) A beautiful complete set of R7 – R15 specimens



In previous years, I was torn about flying into attend the show, getting a rental car and paying for a hotel room. In rough numbers, that is $1,000 I could have spend on stamps. That said, I will probably go again next year as this year was fantastic. There is something to be said about buying in person and speaking with the dealers. I also met with collectors to include one who is working to redo catalog listings.

Some suggestions to think about:

Cash management is a thing. I really didn't want to use my credit card, but was prepared to do so if I found something exceptional. I found a decent RF9k at the second table I was at on day 1, and it was a great price, but with my already bruised budget I didn't want to spend out on day 1 of the show. Have a general plan on how much you are willing to spend. Do you buy one big item or two medium items? I was looking for a bunch of $1 items and so wasn't too worried about piling those up.

Chicagopex is the 3rd largest US show. I think there were more than 70 dealers, and they don't all fit in one room. It can almost be overwhelming. I made it to maybe 10 – 12 dealers at most, but many dealers have no revenues so I am used to that part. Have a plan! What are you looking for in what order?

Chicagopex appears to be the last show of the year for many dealers, and they are in a mood to move material. At all but three of my purchases, prices were deeply discounted. I went back at the end of day 2 and picked up the RF9k for less than 50% cat, which is a great deal. One dealer already provided me a "normal" discount, and the second and third rarely discount their better material and I was prepared for this going in. This show may be one where you look for a better stamp and a deep discount rather than two medium stamps. If you can get the scarcer stamp at discount, it is probably better to do that than go home with two "lesser" stamps? Personal choice! As an example, by the end of day 2, Denny's booth was wiped out. Most of the various boxes and binders and such he started the show with were sold and just not there. It was odd to see all of the open space when Friday morning it was stacks of boxes everywhere.

Great show and it was great catching up with dealers and collectors I met there.

Can't wait for next year!

Nice on the PR group. I missed the fact that they were a specimen set when you showed it to me. Next time I'll look further in the B.O.B. section.

I love reading these show tales. You guys should have your own column in Linn's.

I will have to check my customs cancels for that one.

I agree with Rogdcam. Great reading. And it sounds like this should be a destination show for me at least when the weather is good. Thanks guys for the tales.

Rogdcam,

That is a great idea!

We would need a patron (and a crowd funding site) to send us around the country to major shows so you all can live vicariously through our stamp show tales of philatelic conquest.

Not to be too pushy, but I would suggest we would also need a stipend per show to assist with our purchases. Sadly, I am not independently wealthy and there is no way I could sustain Chicagopex level spending over any period of time without some extortion, embezzlement, stealing from work, and/or the occasional bank robbery to maintain my collecting addiction.

We also need a ridiculous name. Having dedicated literally seconds of deep thought, something like "Meandering Bards Philatelics", or "Bourse Bards Philatelics", or "Philatelic Bards Philatelics" or some other equally OTT name.

You, our adoring fans, would send us want lists we would search far and wide to help fulfil, sending texts and pics for your approval to help find those pesky missing stamps.

You, Sir, are a genius!

When the bankroll comes in, I am totally willing to be a part of the team.

@revenuecollector

I do not collect revenue stamps but I really like reading about your
journeys to various stamps shows.
Thank you. Actually all the posts on this thread are entertaining.
Looks like all you guys had a great time at Chicagopex.