All News is Good News for Coins

Coin collecting enthusiasts don’t appear to be able to get enough of the hobby. Auctions abound with rare coins being offered that have been salted away for a generation or more. Record numbers of bidders participate in these auctions. Coin club attendance is strong.

In addition, the Central States Numismatic Society recently announced it is innovating the group’s April 27-29 convention, that convention being held in Schaumburg, Ill. According to convention manager Larry Shepherd, a second floor will be added to the bourse, this new area being called “Collector’s Coin Shop.” The CCS will be devoted to lower-end rather than to expensive rare coins. The show will also provide an area on the main bourse floor for merchants who are only doing wholesale dealer-to-dealer business. Hopefully other shows will follow the CSNS example, recognizing that there are many tiers to the business and to the hobby of coin collection.

These tiers can be illustrated by the U.S. Mint’s April 13 release of the limited-edition proof 2023-W American Buffalo $50 gold coin. At the time this commentary was being written, there was no retail pricing or household order limited announced. This is a sort of consumer versus wholesaler scenario.

It’s always good news for the coin collecting world when the general press runs with a story on coins. Many times, this is where new collectors will first have their interest tweaked. Such a story hit the non-collector press this week, as dredge operators working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers discovered gold coins during what has been described as a “routine maintenance dredging of the Charleston Harbor near Daniel Island.” Right now, all news is good news.