Good Morning From the ANA show in Milwaukee!

This is my last day here in Milwaukee at the annual ANA convention, so I thought I would toss out a few impressions I have had about the world mints who have represented themselves at this show.

First, I should mention, as an adjunct to an earlier posting in my film recommednation catagory, that a representative of the Chinese Mint has a nice booth display here at the ANA. The emphasis of course, is on new issues related to the 2008 Olympics being held in Beijing. Many of the logos and symbols, which I linked to for my film recommendation for The Concrete Revolution are vibrantly represented on the mints colorful display here at the show. Coincidences like this just keep reminding me how little the world has actually become.

On a broader scale, I should mention that there are at least eight or ten mints set up with displays and coins for sale at this show, plus there are a few central banks as well. I find it facinating to compare the approaches of these different businesses. Some have very stable, fixed programs of coinage issue, while others are producing coins at record pace. Some have excellent marketing programs, while others seem to be in need of some assistance. Most all are producing some really nice products that have appeal to various segments within our traditional hobby field and a few are producing coins that reach out to tangential folks looking for an entrance to collecting.

One such person is Sara Wait, a designer with KP. Sara works on the numismatic publications for our firm and does a great job of keeping them classic, yet very lively. Sara is the person I went to when I wanted some special design work done for my Blog. The blue icons you see at the start of each of my postings are Sara's work, as is the top banner with the avatar of me in the corner. So that is Sara's involvement with our hobby, up until yesterday, when she became a coin collector.

While walking the bourse and taking everything in, Sara noticed a Niue coin commemorating Vincent Van Gogh, struck by the Polish Mint, at the Talisman Coin - Polish Mint display. Talisman is a new issues dealer, with an excellent website from which this image was obtained. They work with several mints to bring new new issues to U.S. collectors. In Sara's case they also helped to bring a new collector into the hobby, as she bought the coin that caught her eye and I am guessing that Sara is typical of how many people enter numismatics. They may have some light tie, perhaps a working association, or maybe a friend or relative who collects or used to collect, and then comes some eye catching item that compells them to begin a collection for themselves. Congratulations Sara, and welcome to the hobby! And kudos to Talisman for their friendly personal approach to marketing coins! And of course, compliments to the Polish Mint for continuing to create beautiful coins for our hobby and beyond!