Ads are good as gold

It pays to advertise. Newspapers have been saying that for as long as I have been alive.

Numismatic News has emphasized this message for my entire career. At first blush, the message looks self-serving. I want ads in my hobby paper, so naturally I encourage advertisements.

A recent email shows it is more than just self-serving. Advertising is absolutely necessary.

On Friday a new poll question went up online at www.NumisMaster.com.

“Would you go to the ANA convention just to buy the new gold Kennedy half dollar?” It asks.

One of the written responses sent to me by email helps me make my point about ads.

It says, “Maybe. When is the ANA convention and where is it?”

Not everybody follows numismatics day to day as I do. Not everybody is an American Numismatic Association member. In fact, our reader surveys have shown over nearly 40 years that the percentage of readers who are ANA members never rises above 25 percent.

This year’s convention will be held Aug. 5-9 in Rosemont, Ill. This is the second consecutive ANA annual World’s Fair of Money to be held there. Next year will be the third. But this email writer obviously needs a reminder. That reminder is called advertsing.

Naturally, Numismatic News is not the only vehicle for ads, but it would not hurt to take advantage of it to remind its readership that the big annual numismatic event is coming up and that among the reasons to be present will be the chance to go to the U.S. Mint booth to buy the new three-quarter ounce, .9999 fine gold dual-dated proof Kennedy half dollar, which will be struck at West Point.

Will this new 50th anniversary gold coin be a hot item at the convention as Baseball Hall of Fame coins were in March in Baltimore?

With special grading service labels and a receptive audience, it sure could be.

Answer the poll question at the web address below:

http://www.numismaster.com/ta/numis.jsp

There. I have done my part to get the word out. A little advertising would help as well.

Buzz blogger Dave Harper is winner of the 2013 Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog and is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."