COINage August 2019

My first American Numismatic Association convention was in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1977, and it was both exhilarating and overwhelming because of the sheer size of the bourse compared to the many local shows I had previously attended around hometown Chicago. There also were a tremendous number of club meetings, seminars and other events available for visitors. The 2019 ANA summer convention, now known as the World’s Fair of Money® (www.WorldsFairofMoney. com), will be held in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois, August 13-17. Attend it and you, too, will discover it is both exhilarating and overwhelming, but certainly also enjoyable and educational. Many collectors attend a show with a “want list” or “wish list” of coins, bank notes, tokens and/or medals they are seeking to purchase for their collections. Others…

When gold prices rise as rapidly as they did in May 2019, we tend to see ads offering to buy your gold for “top dollar” placed in newspapers, with “offices” set up in hotel rooms or other temporary quarters. Such operations often offer grossly lower prices than market values for both bullion and rare coins. About a decade ago, a managing editor of a Beaumont, Texas, newspaper spent eight months testing a variety of these price offerings from traveling gold buyers. He borrowed a beautiful rare coin worth $13,000 from me and was told it was worth $250. Another rare coin valued fairly at $10,000 garnered an offer of only $60. The traveling gold buyers play on customer ignorance, and this particular investigation led to criminal and civil charges against…

Coin collecting is a hobby that many people enjoy on their own time in between life’s more hectic moments. It’s a quiet recreational vocation often enjoyed by hobbyists in solitude while rummaging through coins spread randomly under the warm light of a desk lamp, perhaps in a home office, a study room, or a den. In many respects, numismatics is a pastime well suited to introverts who enjoy researching, studying, and evaluating coins and their histories on their own time, in their own space, at their own pace. Yet numismatics has a major social element, too. There’s a side of the hobby where coin collectors can come together to meet others of like mind, share knowledge, trade coins, have a good time with one another, and make lasting memories and…

With so many things to see, do, and buy at coin shows, you’re probably already flipping through the show schedule in the pages near the end of this magazine to see when and where the next expo is being held. But before you head to the next coin show, there are a few things you’ll want to know to help make the most of your experience at a show. • You’re going to be doing a lot of walking; so be sure to wear supportive, comfortable shoes. Sneakers and flats will be your best friends. Heels and flip-flops? They’ll leave your dogs barking! • Planning to buy or sell a lot of coins? Bring along a rolling tote case. You’ll see a lot of these at the next coin show,…

Like all modern institutions, coin clubs and coin shows grew slowly until they reached their peak from the 1960s through the 1990s. Unfortunately, in 2019, coin clubs and coin shows are no longer at their peak. The decline in show attendance through the 2000s is mirrored by an equal fall in attendance at local coin clubs. Many clubs are still doing reasonably well, but some of the smaller clubs have fallen by the wayside. Numismatics, however, has always been a cyclical hobby, and the 2020s may well see an exciting resurgence of interest; only time will tell. It all began in a small way in the late 1850s when the American Numismatic Society was organized in New York City by a group of dedicated collectors. At about the same time…

Today in 2019, when a Hollywood star is going to be present at a local celebration, many people will be in attendance just to see that person. In coin shows of the past years there was also a trend in this direction when certain well-known names were to expected to be in attendance. The show that invariably attracted the most attention in this respect was that of the American Numismatic Association (ANA). Perhaps the most famous of the people who drew attention to themselves was Walter Breen. From the late 1950s until his death in 1993, he was the instant star of any coin gathering. His hippie-style clothing was almost a draw in itself and his unkempt beard was instantly recognizable. Walter was well known for his encyclopedic knowledge of…