ANA coin show eliminated, one to go?

Baseball players can take a minimum of three swings at the ball before they are out on strikes.

The American Numismatic Association board of governors has decided that just two are enough where the autumn National Money Show is concerned.

The second one is scheduled to be held in Dallas Oct. 18-20.

It will be the last one.

President Tom Hallenbeck announced the decision May 11 at an open board and town hall meeting held in Denver at the spring National Money Show.

The vote had been taken in a late-night closed session of the board that had concluded at 1:30 a.m. earlier that day.

The spring National Money Show could be the next one to go even though it has been an institution for three decades.

Money is the culprit.

The fall National Money Show was not financially viable and the spring one is deteriorating.

There was no auction at the Denver event. The ANA misses the auction fee that this generates and the dealers on the bourse floor miss the people that auctions attract.

Another missing feature at the Denver show was the lack of same-day, walk-through grading service by the Professional Coin Grading Service and Numismatic Guaranty Corp.

The absence of this service persuaded another group of regular dealer attendees not to go to the show, chipping away at business.

As a result, the May 2013 National Money Show in New Orleans could be the last one.

A decision one way or the other will likely be taken when the board of governors meets in August at the ANA World’s Fair of Money in Philadelphia, Hallenbeck said.