CPMX receives high marks

High marks were given the paper money market, the Chicago Paper Money Expo and the Lyn Knight auction at the March 8-12 show.

?Fantastic!? commented dealer David Westerman of MP&D Coins and Jewelry, Lehigh Acres, Fla., who was set up at his first all-paper show. ?I think that we have a long, wild ride ahead of us.?

U.S. paper money dealer Joe Sande of Nichols, Fla., said the market ?is extremely strong for large-size type and small-size type. It?s extremely difficult to buy large type at any level.?

Large-size type note rarities headlined Knight?s $6.7 million paper money sale.

?I spent $115,000 on Lot 1, which is certainly a good way to start of an auction,? said Fred Bart of Roseville, Mich. ?And I spent a better part of a million dollars throughout the course of the auction. Lyn Knight?s prices realized were strong, ? I would have spent about twice as much but I was shut out on nearly a million dollars worth of notes. It?s a sign of a robust market.?

For more about the auction results, see coverage that starts on Page 1.
Robert Giamboi, who deals in large and small type notes, said he was kept busy. ?As usual, Chicago flourished. Tremendous number of collectors, serious collectors. It just keeps getting better and better.?

?I had a very good time buying at this show,? commented Judy Kagin of Kagin?s, Tiburon, Calif. ?Even though the prices were up, we all managed to do business both ways.?

?Wonderful,? said dealer in world notes David Cienewicz of Huntsville, Ala. ?World notes continued to be aggressive; they sold well. It was a little difficult to buy, especially older, rarer notes. CPMX is always a great show.?

CPMX chairman Kevin Foley said, ?I never cease to be amazed at the intense level of commercial activity that takes place at CPMX. Collectors quite clearly put money aside just to come to this show to see what their favorite dealers have in the way of new inventory. ... Serious buyers know that the CPMX is the place to be to add rare and elusive items to their collections.?

Away from the bourse, Robert Olson told International Bank Note Society meeting attendees about the Military Payment Certificate conversion he experienced Aug. 11, 1969, when he was a U.S. soldier in Vietnam.

Six candidates for American Numismatic Association board were at the show ? Joe Boling, Patti Finner, Chet Krause, Cliff Mishler, Radford Stearns and Wendell Wolka.

Stearns gave a talk about Colonial Currency from Georgia, and Mishler and Krause teamed up to speak to the Chicago Coin Club.

Krause told stories about his vast Wisconsin paper money collection ? including territorial issues, obsolete notes, National Bank Notes, advertising notes and scrip ? which will be exhibited this summer in a 160-case display at the ANA show in Milwaukee Aug. 8-12.

Mishler, general chairman of the Milwaukee ANA convention, discussed some plans for the convention and invited people to attend.

Next year?s CPMX is scheduled for March 27-30. For information, contact Foley, P.O. Box 573, Milwaukee, WI 53201; telephone (414) 421-3484.