Berlin becomes the center of numismatics

I am making my way to the World Money Fair in Berlin, Germany.

I don't like the jet lag, but the physical discomfort is for a good cause.

There is no numismatic event like it anywhere else on the planet.

It is a trade show for mints, equipment makers and sellers of packaging.

It also is a bourse with real coin dealers selling rare coins to real coin collectors.

In short, it is a hybrid event.

But what a compelling hybrid it is.

If you want to know what the Paris Mint is going to do in 2017, you should be in Berlin.

A road map is laid out for you by dozens of mints in a media forum on Friday.

Special coin and medal issues are released in Berlin each year. Sometimes it is the only place you can get them.

Germany issues a commemorative 2-euro coin each year.

Coin firms that specialize in selling new issues to collectors often commission their own pieces.

Berlin is the place where you can find out what the latest technological innovations are.

But the most important thing is Berlin is the place where business is done.

It is not a time for customer surveys.

It is the time for seriously moving product.

Mints are in Berlin to sell their coins.

Marketers are there to acquire coins to market.

Bullion sellers are there to see whose latest bullion coin or bar issue has the most appeal to to their clients in 2017.

While you can be a window shopper in Berlin, the schedule and the structure of the event is for participants who are ready to do the deal.

Money talks.

Nowhere does it speak louder in the numismatic field than at the World Money Fair in Berlin.

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

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