When COVID can't prevent coin shows any more.... 1 1

[Rollo Tomassi]

What's it gonna be like?   Full on cluster fudge?   Tables full of stale coins?  Collectors racing around the floor in hopes of finding SOMETHING that isn't on eBay?

Uncertainty if masks will be mandated?

Gonna be interesting for sure....         

[GoldFinger1969]

VERY interesting, absolutely. 

I am looking forward to seeing what attendance is like.....did increased on-line bidding and registrations increase the number of serious coin collectors willing to go to a local 1-day show.....larger regional shows like Whitman Baltimore....or maybe one of the huge national shows like FUN ?

I'll be checking out the local Garden State Parsippany Show in early-May (assuming it's back on).  Ditto another local, the Mt. Kisco (NY) Show which is relatively new but seemed to be eclipsing the older Westchester Coin & Stamp Show before Covid hit (I went right in February 2020 before the pandemic got out of control).....more dealers, nicer venue......finally, want to hit Whitman Baltimore for the 1st time and of course, $$$-permitting, FUN 2022. 

Edited April 11, 2021 by GoldFinger1969

[RWB]

The pandemic might be/have been enough to force show promoters to adopt new, more interesting approached to these events.

[Henri Charriere]

5 minutes ago, RWB said:

The pandemic might be/have been enough to force show promoters to adopt new, more interesting approached to these events.

Never been to a coin show but sense dealers have increasingly relied on their internet presence to advertise special discounts on inventory to carry them through.  When the pandemic subsides, it will be as though it was all nothing but a bad dream. From my vantage point in a big city, what with more people having left never to return, those electing to retire earlier or having grown accustomed to working from home, there will be no getting back to "normal" as the business model has evolved.  Only time will tell how long it will be before a sense of normalcy returns.

[GoldFinger1969]

3 hours ago, RWB said:

The pandemic might be/have been enough to force show promoters to adopt new, more interesting approached to these events.

In the past, some dealers may have HAD to go to shows to Keep Up With The Joneses (other dealers).  They may find out they don't have to:   over the past year, most probably had higher revenues and lower expenses.  Nirvana !

But if my understanding of the business is correct.....(1) dealer-to-dealer transactions are crucial, especially at the big shows and (2) you never know when the small purchaser at the show will get the collecting bug and be a loyal customer for years.

So we have 2 competing forces and we'll have to see which pans out over the year as more people get vaccinated and Covid-19 burns itself out.  

[GoldFinger1969]

3 hours ago, Quintus Arrius said:

Never been to a coin show 

They're fun...especially the larger ones with workshops, ability to meet up with (internet) friends, meet dealers and authors, auction houses, etc.

[EdG_Ohio]

I have to admit I've never been to a true Coin show, large in person auctions that had coins and currency within them yes. I look forward to actually seeing a raw coin in person, of any value, instead of trusting digital images.
    I'll probably go broke fast.

[GoldFinger1969]

28 minutes ago, EdG_Ohio said:

I have to admit I've never been to a true Coin show, large in person auctions that had coins and currency within them yes. I look forward to actually seeing a raw coin in person, of any value, instead of trusting digital images.
    I'll probably go broke fast.

All I had gone to was small locals until FUN 2020.  That was a blast -- the talks, the workshops (didn't do them but will in the future), the chance to meet people I've talked to on the Internet for years.  Even if you don't go every year all serious collectors should give it a shot at least once.

If you go to a big national or regional show and are staying there multiple days, try and stay in the same hotel with your friends or anybody you were planning on meeting (like forum pals).  Lots of down time....if you are in the same hotel, you can hang pretty easy.  My 1st time at FUN, I was in a separate hotel from alot of the guys I wanted to spend time with and meet for quickie lunches or drinks or just hanging out in the lounge.

Edited April 12, 2021 by GoldFinger1969

[Henri Charriere]

12 hours ago, GoldFinger1969 said:

They're fun...especially the larger ones with workshops, ability to meet up with (internet) friends, meet dealers and authors, auction houses, etc.

I don't know if this counts and to my knowledge no one has made mention of it on the Forum (or maybe I wasn't playing attention what with all the cancellations of shows) but the New York International Numismatic Convention (NYINC) expects to go forward with their plans tentatively scheduled for mid-January 2022 at the Grand Hyatt hotel next to Grand Central Terminal.  If this is true, I see no reason why I shouldn't be able to make it and if per chance VKurtB is there prowling the floor with his camera, I will smile for him. 😀

Edited April 12, 2021 by Quintus Arrius

[GoldFinger1969]

3 hours ago, Quintus Arrius said:

I don't know if this counts and to my knowledge no one has made mention of it on the Forum (or maybe I wasn't playing attention what with all the cancellations of shows) but the New York International Numismatic Convention (NYINC) expects to go forward with their plans tentatively scheduled for mid-January 2022 at the Grand Hyatt hotel next to Grand Central Terminal.  If this is true, I see no reason why I shouldn't be able to make it and if per chance VKurtB is there prowling the floor with his camera, I will smile for him. 😀

That's a short trip for me, so I may attend, too.  Last time it was right after FUN 2020 so I needed more time to get ready. 

That show is 100% on foreign and international coins, nothing domestic.

[Henri Charriere]

1 hour ago, GoldFinger1969 said:

That show is 100% on foreign and international coins, nothing domestic.

Right up my alley.  Maybe now I can close out my Set Registry and pay more attention to my wife.  (No kidding, I was sitting in the park talking to an old group of friends when my attention was drawn to her and I slapped my forehead and said, "Oh my God. I'm married! I have a wife!." True story.)

[VKurtB]

40 minutes ago, Quintus Arrius said:

Right up my alley.  Maybe now I can close out my Set Registry and pay more attention to my wife.  (No kidding, I was sitting in the park talking to an old group of friends when my attention was drawn to her and I slapped my forehead and said, "Oh my God. I'm married! I have a wife!." True story.)

Yeah, I broke my own rule and re-married ex #2. The coin time is suffering madly. 
 

The cost of not dying alone, I guess. 

Edited April 12, 2021 by VKurtB

[DWLange]

You never die alone, if you still have your coins... 

[Henri Charriere]

1 hour ago, DWLange said:

You never die alone, if you still have your coins... 

Wow!  First time I heard anyone refute the baseless claim: when you die you can't take it with you. We can all be like King Tut and take it with us. Thank you, DW!  😉