Colorado show works for youth

Youth and their families hunted for numismatic treasure at the Colorado Springs, Colo., Coin, Currency and Collectibles Show June 21-23.

Budding young hobbyists also built U.S. coin starter collections at the event.

The American Numismatic Association, the Colorado Springs Coin Club and the Colorado Springs Numismatic Society teamed up to bring educational numismatic exhibits and host the show’s first Youth-Family.

The show was held as usual during the transition period between the first and second weeks of the ANA’s annual Summer Seminar.

Show and Bourse Coordinator Ken Byrd said, “We wanted to add to the 2018 show a few special public numismatic educational displays and family fun activities to attract more local folks into our show, which was held at a new location. Our team goal was to ask the ANA to share some of its numismatic treasures with the public.”

Additionally, Byrd said, “We invited ANA Past President Walt Ostromecki, who was in town for the ANA 50th Annual Summer Seminar, to come and take charge of the show’s youth and family activities.”

These activities included one of his fun and popular 10-stop Treasure Trivia Hunts, which help youngsters build a starter coin collection and discover the interesting hobby of numismatics.
Ostromecki’s Kid’s Zone area did well education-wise and planted many a hobby seed for the future, according to Byrd.

“Furthermore, he also brought along several other hands-on youth activities for their learning pleasure. The results? Simply amazing. The big bright smiles on the youth Treasure Hunters and parents told the story. Nearly 60 youngsters with parents participated in the Treasure Trivia Hunt during all three days of the show,” Byrd said.

Activity on the floor of the 80-dealer bourse was ranked as fair.

Dealer Michael Quinn, Something Old -Something New, Post Falls, Idaho, remarked, “Business was slow and sporadic. I suspect the new venue played a role in this, as did the Baltimore Show going on during the same dates.”

JLF U.S. Coins owner Jerry Fritz of Colorado Springs said, “Overall sales of collector grade U.S. coins were pretty OK. I did a lot of complimentary U.S. coin evaluations for the public.”

The ANACS grading service was very busy and did a brisk business with coin certification on site.

Another area also seeing a lot of public traffic was the exhibit area. Several outstanding and award-winning U.S. and foreign coin and paper money numismatic displays placed by club members of the Colorado Springs Coin Club and the Colorado Springs Numismatic Society wowed visitors.

But displays are part of the life-long educational process, too.

Plans for the 2019 Colorado Springs show are already in the works.

For more show and bourse information, please contact, Ken Byrd via email at: ken@kenbyrdcoinsandcurrency.com, or telephone him at 719-434-6527.

For further information about meetings and membership for the Colorado Springs Coin Club and the Colorado Springs Numismatic Society, visit cscc.anaclubs.org.

More Collecting Resources

• Start becoming a coin collector today with this popular course, Coin Collecting 101.

• With over 25,000 listings and 15,500 illustrations, the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money, Modern Issues is your go-to guide for modern bank notes.