2026 World’s Fair of Money Recap
The 2026 World’s Fair of Money brought rare coins, bank notes, world mints, major auctions, and the Coin of the Year awards together for five numismatic-packed days in Pittsburgh.
A visit to the city of Pittsburgh typically inspires one to walk on one of the city’s many bridges, catch a sports show, or grab a sandwich filled with meat, French fries, and coleslaw at the famous Primanti Bros. But during the week of August 25 to 29, many visitors and locals heard the jingle jangle of coins and the whoosh of bank notes as the Steel City was the home of this year’s World’s Fair of Money.
Hosted by the American Numismatic Association (ANA), one of the busiest locales of the event was the bourse. Filling a convention floor at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center were dealers and retailers from throughout the world and the United States who showcased their latest and best finds. Continuing the international presence were world mints, such as China Gold Coin Group, T&S Coin, and The Royal Mint, which presented their newest works that are up for sale later this year and the next. Bank notes were far from ignored, with many rare pieces up available at dealer tables, as were trend pieces like gold foil notes by American-based retailer Valaurum.
On view were multiple exhibitions, including ANA’s well-known Tyrant Collection of Byzantine Empire coins, a short snorter with American actor Jimmy Stewart’s signature brought by the Short Snorter Project (ShortSnorter.org), and treasures from the “Ship of Gold” that held gold ingots and thousands of Double Eagle coins. At Ernie’s Treasure Treehouse, children and adults alike learned about numismatics through interactive games. They also took the Young Collectors Corner class, earned a collecting merit badge, and had the opportunity to grab some money in the Cash Cube.
Auction houses found space in the heavily visited event, including the ANA official auctioneer Great Collections, which displayed famous issues like a 1933 Saint-Gaudens double eagle and other prized pieces for upcoming sales. Stack’s Bowers Galleries presented a preview of its Summer 2026 Global Showcase that included ancient, world, and American coinage that will conclude on September 10 and 11, respectively. Heritage Auctions also showcased a preview of its ANA US Coins Signature and ANA World & Ancient Coins Platinum Session and Signature auctions, which concluded on August 31.
Above the bourse floor on August 27, World Coin News hosted its annual Coin of the Year event! Six mints from across the world were awarded as category winners, and the ultimate prize went to China Gold Coin Group for its “Chinese Dragon” 10-yuan silver coin. “This year’s overall winner, the Chinese Dragon, impressed the judges,” explains Numismatic News senior editor and COTY coordinator, Sophia Mattimiro. “This coin received the highest number of votes in this year’s competition for its category win of Best Crown, so it was no surprise when it took the lead in the final round of voting.”
Alongside enjoying acceptance speeches from the winners, which included a speech from famed Monnaie de Paris General Engraver and Artistic Creation Director Joaquin Jimenez, COTY was blessed with speeches by noteworthy members of the numismatic community, such as Journal of East Asian Numismatics founder Michael Chou, COTY committee member and Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee Donald Scarinci, and U.S. Mint director Paul Hollis, who accepted on behalf of the United States for the Best Gold category and John Mercanti as this year’s Lifetime Achievement award recipient. “This year’s Coin of the Year ceremony was quite exciting,” says Mattimiro. “The team worked together to pull off a successful event, and we were pleased to recognize and award well-deserved coins and their mints.”
Information about this year’s Coin of the Year awards is available at numismaticnews.net. The 2027 World’s Fair of Money conference will be heading to the Midwest on August 10–14 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. The next ANA National Money Show will occur from March 4–6 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. For more information, visit money.org.
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