The Great American Coin & Collectibles Show comes to the Chicago area for the first time, Thursday to Saturday, September 25-27, 2025. The show will be in Hall F of the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, 5555 N. River Rd., in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois.
Numismatic artworks will be given away to the first 100 visitors each day.
The show is sponsored by Shepherd Expos Management and Amos Media, publisher of Coin World and Linn’s Stamp News. There will be hundreds of dealers in the bourse; a featured display of California Gold Rush recovered sunken treasure artifacts; PCGS on-site grading and authentication; and auction lot viewing by Heritage Auctions.
“This will be a golden event for visitors with a display of retrieved treasures and an important educational program about buying and selling gold,” stated Larry Shepherd, president of Shepherd Expos Management.
Special attractions include artifacts from the fabled Ship of Gold, the S.S. Central America that sank in 1857, and an educational seminar about gold conducted by award-winning author and consumer advocate Scott A. Travers.
Bob Evans, the chief scientist on Central America recovery missions, will meet with visitors at the show.
On Thursday and Friday mornings, September 26 and 27, Evans will be discussing the Ship of Gold with Greg Darnstaedt, an Illinois collector who is displaying recovered gold coins and miners’ gold dust treasures from the legendary ship. The display will also include fascinating ship and passengers’ Gold Rush-era artifacts that were retrieved from more than 7,000 feet under the Atlantic Ocean.
“The artifacts Greg has assembled tell much more of the story of S.S. Central America than what can be understood by just looking at the wonderful gold coins and ingots. The value here goes beyond the mere monetary,” said Evans.
“There are fascinating items of clothing and a hairbrush from surviving passengers, possessions that were lost to the dark depths for 133 years, even though their owners were saved. Now these things speak to how the passengers on the Ship of Gold lived. And there are pieces of equipment from the steamship, an oil lamp, a broken washbasin cracked during the sinking, and a piece of the rope the sailors used to climb up into the rigging,” Evans explained.
Also, on Friday at 11 am, Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation Executive Director Beth Deisher will present the organization’s prestigious Alan Kreuzer Memorial Award to the 2025 recipient. The award recognizes the anti-counterfeiting efforts of collectors, dealers, law enforcement agents, or others who are diligently trying to protect the numismatic marketplace.
Visitors to the public ceremony can also watch the live recording of the popular The Coin Show podcast with hosts Matt Dinger and Mike Nottelmann.
At noon on Friday, award-winning author, consumer advocate, and former American Numismatic Association Vice President Scott A. Travers will conduct a consumer/investor seminar, “Gold, Gold Bullion, and the State of the Coin Market.”
The first 100 attendees each day will receive a complimentary 8×10 fine art print of coins from the PentaMint Collection. A series of five original coin illustrations was created by numismatic artist Robert Julian specifically for this event. The prints on archival paper, to be randomly handed out, depict one of these rarities: the 1837-42 Bechtler $5 gold coin, the 1853-O Arrows and Rays Liberty Seated Half Dollar, the 1854-D $3 Indian Princess, the 1909-O $5 Indian, and the 1870-CC Liberty Head Double Eagle.
Heritage Auctions, the official auction company of the Great American Coin & Collectibles Show, will have a lot of viewings in the convention center before and during the show. In addition to Heritage, co-sponsors of the show include Legend Numismatics and Professional Coin Grading Service.
The Great American Coin & Collectibles Show will be open to the public on Thursday and Friday, September 25 and 26, 2025, from 10 am to 5:30 pm, and on Saturday, September 27, from 9 am to 3 pm. Admission is $10 for a three-day pass, and children 10 and under will be admitted free.
For additional Information and to pre-register online, visit www.GACC.show or contact event manager Larry Shepherd by phone at 719-464-8801 or by email at [email protected].
Always enjoy looking at artifacts from shipwrecks. I can just imagine the rush these divers get when they get to explore one