Went to a stamp show today (it's not off topic)
kranky
Posts: 8,709 ✭✭✭
I have been asked to handle a modest stamp collection for a widow whose late husband collected for a while. There was a stamp show in town today so I went to get some pricing information. It was interesting to compare the experience with going to a coin show.
The show advertised only 15 dealers so when I arrived I was stunned to see about 50 cars in the parking lot. When I got inside, though, I saw why. Only about half of the show space was allocated to dealer tables. The other half was exhibits and empty tables for the use of the show attendees. There was free registration and a souvenir sheet for sale by the sponsoring club, similar to the elongated cents offered at some coin shows.
Stamps have the built-in advantage of taking up much less space than coins do, so the dealers had an incredible amount of inventory available. Business seemed to be steady, and most people seemed to buy something if they stopped at a table.
The exhibits were mounted standing up on aluminum easels behind a plexiglas cover (each easel held an exhibit panel approximately 3 feet high by 3 feet wide, making viewing very convenient and you could get your nose right up on the items. Much nicer for viewing than the typical coin show exhibit. The exhibits were the centerpiece of the room with ample room to walk around them, and well-lit. Dealer tables were around the periphery of the room.
The biggest difference was the amount of space set aside for the public. Rectangular and round tables were distributed throughout the room, and people had brought albums with them ready to swap stamps with other collectors. Some people had brought plastic containers full of stamps and set them on certain tables which had stamps available free to young collectors. Quite a few younger collectors were there with their stamp albums, looking through the containers for stamps they needed.
It was a much more sociable environment than the typical coin show, with trading accounting for as much of the action as the dealer transactions did. Many more younger collectors than you'd see at a coin show as well.
The show advertised only 15 dealers so when I arrived I was stunned to see about 50 cars in the parking lot. When I got inside, though, I saw why. Only about half of the show space was allocated to dealer tables. The other half was exhibits and empty tables for the use of the show attendees. There was free registration and a souvenir sheet for sale by the sponsoring club, similar to the elongated cents offered at some coin shows.
Stamps have the built-in advantage of taking up much less space than coins do, so the dealers had an incredible amount of inventory available. Business seemed to be steady, and most people seemed to buy something if they stopped at a table.
The exhibits were mounted standing up on aluminum easels behind a plexiglas cover (each easel held an exhibit panel approximately 3 feet high by 3 feet wide, making viewing very convenient and you could get your nose right up on the items. Much nicer for viewing than the typical coin show exhibit. The exhibits were the centerpiece of the room with ample room to walk around them, and well-lit. Dealer tables were around the periphery of the room.
The biggest difference was the amount of space set aside for the public. Rectangular and round tables were distributed throughout the room, and people had brought albums with them ready to swap stamps with other collectors. Some people had brought plastic containers full of stamps and set them on certain tables which had stamps available free to young collectors. Quite a few younger collectors were there with their stamp albums, looking through the containers for stamps they needed.
It was a much more sociable environment than the typical coin show, with trading accounting for as much of the action as the dealer transactions did. Many more younger collectors than you'd see at a coin show as well.
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
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Comments
Was it an expensive venue?
It sounds like they set aside space to do in person what we do on-line and informally at bourse floors. It would be nice if more coin shows would do this, but coin collecting seems to be much more "about the money" than stamp collecting (no pun intended!).
Check out the Southern Gold Society
<< <i>I have been asked to handle a modest stamp collection for a widow whose late husband collected for a while............ >>
When I first read this, I thought to myself, "here we go again, another Deb with her late Harold's collection".
ER, since it's just such a beautiful day today, I took my cup of chamomile tea out on the veranda and.... no, it's not a Deb/Harold situation.
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
<< <i>coin collecting seems to be much more "about the money" than stamp collecting >>
Probably because there is no money in stamps. It's basically a pure hobby, similar to crafting. There was a period of time years ago when it was a hot collectible area, but it's been moribund for a couple decades.
Russ, NCNE