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Why don't coin collectors have conventions?
tydye
Posts: 3,894 ✭✭✭
There are coin shows. But they are dealer run. I guess the ANA is supposed to be a collector convention but it is the same ole set up. "Professional" dealers making a living off of our hobby. I belong to some other organizations where say 20-100 of us get together. We sell/trade off extras(parts), socialize, eat, drink (my favorite) and usually have some type of contest. We all chip in to fund the location site. At coin shows it is expected that all transactions are either dealer-dealer or dealer - collector.
Before you think I am slamming dealers- that is not my intent. Many of my friends are dealers. But compared to some of my other hobbies it is just not as collector friendly as the others.
Before you think I am slamming dealers- that is not my intent. Many of my friends are dealers. But compared to some of my other hobbies it is just not as collector friendly as the others.
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Without the commercial aspect of coin shows, the cost to
collectors would be , in many cases, prohibitive. Further, without
the joy of looking, buying and selling coins, one would miss out on
much of what makes collecting fun.
Camelot
But I still collect coins for fun.
Camelot
See how many non dealers that you can get to attend a regional or national event and pay for the meeting space, security, etc.
I do not think that it can be accomplished.
There are just too many costs to absorb.
Good luck!!
I firmly believe in numismatics as the world's greatest hobby, but recognize that this is a luxury and without collectors, we can all spend/melt our collections/inventories.
eBaystore
Some coin clubs have tried the idea of a "bourse night", a regularly scheduled club meeting where the attendees get to set up at tables and sell coins, sort of like a mini coin show. "Bourse night" often turns out to be the worst attended meeting of the year.
Authorized dealer for PCGS, PCGS Currency, NGC, NCS, PMG, CAC. Member of the PNG, ANA. Member dealer of CoinPlex and CCE/FACTS as "CH5"
Organizations, like the CSNA, do have conventions that are not always linked to a shows.
But I hate stand alone conventions anyway. These are mainly "insider event" that rip off non insiders. Conventions get way too clickish for me, and what is the point? The cost of attending a convention is allot more than just going to a show. They rent a nice hotel and have an awards dinner and the insiders eat prime rib and the non insiders eat ALPO.!! What do you really get from a convention. A t-shirt that says I went to a stupid convention?
I do other hobbys that have WAY way too many splinter group conventions at the expensive of having any real good general shows.
A convention could be educational with no bourse.
Perhaps a Convention piggybacked on a major show is a concept worthy of the must serious consideration
Just some thoughts
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
<< <i>At coin shows it is expected that all transactions are either dealer-dealer or dealer - collector. >>
Collectors could set up and do business at shows if they wanted to- there's nothing stopping them but the cost of the table.
......what would 2-3000 guys in Hawaiian shirts have to do in a room with no tables and nothing to buy...?
edited to add....and (1) rubber chicken.
<< <i>Many coin club operated coin shows try to start out or be just that, a show run by collectors for the collectors. It's a concept that's been tried repeatedly and unfortunately for the proponents of the idea it's a concept that's never been successful.
Some coin clubs have tried the idea of a "bourse night", a regularly scheduled club meeting where the attendees get to set up at tables and sell coins, sort of like a mini coin show. "Bourse night" often turns out to be the worst attended meeting of the year. >>
I've heard of the bourse night idea at coin clubs, but I've been told that they aren't always successful. Don't you need a resale certificate from the Board of Equalization to be legally set up at a show?
<< <i>I would urge you to try and accomplish this.
See how many non dealers that you can get to attend a regional or national event and pay for the meeting space, security, etc.
I do not think that it can be accomplished.
There are just too many costs to absorb.
Good luck!! >>
Sounds like a challenge!
I enjoy another hobby that has many conventions and it's the attendance fee (which is small) pays for the events. Members trade and purchase from each other. I don't know if its practical with numismatics on a large scale.
As to the topic, I don't see the point of a coin convention without any dealers. Most participants in the hobby are interested in buying more coins, or trading some coins in for new material. A few collectors are interested in net selling, but they are mostly inheritors or have had an unfortunate change in life circumstances.
Those collectors that buy and sell all the time are dealers by any other name, even though some may try to sneak around without paying the dealer table/badge fees and taxes.
As for education, I almost always go to one or more of the seminars or club presentations when I attend a big show. For the most part those are poorly attended as compared to the attendance at the show. Even at a big show, there are often fewer than 10 people at a club meeting/seminar, even for the more popular series. In a hobby where most everyone believes knowledge is king, it is ironic that so few people are interested in attending free seminars or presentations.
A convention just for collectors, without any dealers would likely have similarly low attendance as the seminars and club meetings at the shows. People might show up once at a collectors convention out of curiosity, but no more than that. As I said, most folks are mainly interested in buying more coins, or trading some of what they have for different coins. Dealers are in that business, and foot most of the bill for the rent, the security, travel, and all else that goes along with a convention.
/edit to add: there are coin clubs, and some of them are more along the lines of what the original poster described. Yes, some clubs are dealer run, but some are collector run as well. One key element is "local." Very few people are going to foot a big bill to travel to some far away club meeting, which is what a collectors only convention would basically be. If you have a local buddy, there you have two people to start a local club. Now try and find a meeting place and start the ball rolling. Perhaps in time it can grow to the 20 to 100 people that your other activity attracts.
I have mentioned this before in the past. The local Masonic Lodge or Shrine Club will usually rent their building for a reasonable fee. Most of these buildings have a dining room that would be large enough to handle a coin show and which would have tables and chairs. I am sure the Masons or Shriners would also set up and sell refreshments if the coin club wanted this service. Plus any money taken in by the buildings rental would usually either go to the Lodges building fund or Masonic Charities.
Ron
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