Will Big Coin Shows Cut Back On Their Show Frequencies ?
GoldFinger1969
Posts: 2,052 ✭✭✭✭✭
I wasn't aware until a few years ago that many of the Big National and Regional Coin Shows had MULTIPLE shows throughout the year -- sometimes 3 in one year ! Of course, I hadn't attended any of them at that time but now I have. 
Anyway.....I'm not sure how long some of these 2nd and 3rd shows have been in existence....but given the time and effort and costs to put them on (even if somewhat slimmed-down from the #1 show)....do you think that some of these shows could get eliminated going forward given increased online sales, auctions, etc. ??
Maybe some of these shows pre-date the Internet and online sales/auctions ? If so, there was certainly more of a need for multiple shows pre-2000 than today, right ?
Curious what some of you who have attended these shows for decades as collectors and dealers think will happen going forward.
Comments
From what I read on this forum, there’s a chance Long Beach and Baltimore/Whitman/Greysheet someday may each go to two shows instead of three. On the other hand, Summer FUN has been strong, and has a ton of non-stop flights from around the country, so I believe that one is here to stay!
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
Thanks WS....that's EXACTLY what I am talking about.....I really think a 3rd show for both LB and BWG is excessive if those shows were around decades ago (were they ?). Because even FUN only has a 2nd show,
Of course, the organizers know better than me if they are still able to cover their costs, maintain attendance, etc. I just remember all the baseball card shows I used to goto decades ago, as it was the only way to see premium cards as they weren't at the LCSs. Today, if I were still into cards, I'd probably dump 80% or more of the shows I would drive hours to get to.
Keep in mind, my comments above are not my opinion on what should happen. I'm only passing on of what I've read of the conclusions of knowledgeable people, including dealers, of what they believe will happen.
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
It can be a possibility if they not making money for the promoters / not selling tables.
Shows I do at one quarterly large local one my sales volume varies. It’s more of a cash flow and buying show than a strong margin performance good profit show.
If dealers having bad shows there getting hosed by expenses they may not be back.
Long Beach and Baltimore should both cut back to two each a year. I doubt that they will.
Long Beach is the only large show on the west coast, all the other large shows are clustered in the east. For that simple reason I don't see it cutting back or going away anytime soon. Honestly; biased on many of the show reports I read; many shows retail sales are an afterthought, dealer to dealer transactions are what many dealers go to shows for.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
That's what I am talking about. Decades ago, if you wanted to do dealer-to-dealer you HAD to attend these shows...maybe all or most of them. You could meet dozens of dealers (or more) all at one location as opposed to driving to 1 dealer or calling 1 dealer at a time. Nowadays with the Internet and Zoom, post-Covid...many dealers saw their travel expenses in 2020-21 fall a ton but their total revenues soar so the "marginal" shows maybe are on the chopping block for these dealers.
I heard that about the dealer-to-dealer stuff....that maybe 80% of the activity is conducted BEFORE the show actually opens. That was eye-opening to me. That's how you get inventory at a good price in bulk, I take it.
But ultimately....don't you NEED the public and retail buying to ultimately lead to profits ? I mean, if 100% of the dealer activity is with other dealers....that's not a sustainable business model I would think ? You want to buy WHOLESALE (dealer-to-dealer) but sell at RETAIL (to the public). No dealer will buy at full retail price for all their stuff unless they are confident they can gouge the public at RETAIL-PLUS or something like that.
For the future coin shows their existence may depend on the turnover of the old guard to the new guard. If the new blood even wants to bother with face to face dealing. If there is not enough new blood dealers, and shows decline, hot dog sales will surely suffer.
Long beach has had 3 shows a year since 1964 it's beginning year. I've been attending since.
Only decent sized show on west coast.
One Every 4 months.
Not like it was due to east coast dealers boycoting, and the elimination of NGC / PMG attendence.
Expansion of a baseball card bourse. Still OK but again not like it's heyday!
Currently live in a Numismatic desert. Small shows that require some distance to travel. Connecting flights are misery (Dalton 2018 took 12 hours both ways)
Likely will move outside of Atlanta in 2026 to be near my wife's family.
Was weighing a few options in this order.
1) Buy a building for B&M Gold buying and any incoming collections.
2) Step up to fulltime online collectibles store.
3) Office/vest pocket dealer (my Numismatic chops need work)
4) Show dealer - specialize and fake it until you make it
I was struck at the access of cheap direct flights.
No show would be out of my reach.
Got to figure a way to recoup the cost, but I see the attraction to dealers and traveling to larger shows.
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Exactly why IMEX makes so much sense. We hope everyone agrees and helps support. IMEX will take place Sept 3-6 2025 in Nashville Tennessee please like and follow IMEX on Facebook for updates and if you have suggestions just let me know. We are listening
@yspsales . Whatever you choose i wish you the best of luck. James
I would have said that they should eliminate the June Long Beach show, but my last one was actually pretty good. If the State relaxed their sales tax nexus rule, it might lure back out of state dealers. Our local July show (San Diego Coinarama) has just added a January one. It will be interesting to see how that goes. This region is odd in many ways. Hotel rates hurt the summer shows. Then we have the Orange County shows in Buena Park and Anaheim that seem to not suffer from regularity. Vegas is always, quite appropriately, a crap shoot. The Bick shows are long gone.
What broke the shows are the auction companies. The golden years were those after bourse hours, especially Platinum Night, anchoring auctions. That brought the people in. They overdid it with sessions during bourse hours and then checked out entirely in many cases. Some dealers stopped doing them. Big money retail stopped coming. And cards and stamps moved in to consume a quarter of some bourses.
Besides Heritage, what auction companies worked Long Beach ? Did they always show up or just occasionally ?
Heritage was the LB anchor for as long as I recall. I think the logistics combined with the increase in online bidding changed it all. But I am not in that loop to know the back story. Just was logical though. There still is often lot viewing and big collection displays. But as much as online took things down quite a bit, there still is no substitution for rifling through boxes or inspecting coins in hand.