Early ANA bourse business brisk
Opening day of business at the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money Aug. 9 in Anaheim, Calif., offered a positive contrast to a slow pre-show event jointly sponsored by…
Opening day of business at the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money Aug. 9 in Anaheim, Calif., offered a positive contrast to a slow pre-show event jointly sponsored by the ANA and the Professional Numismatists Guild.
Mike Garofalo, director of numismatics at APMEX commanded a team of 22 people whose mission was to do nothing but buy at the convention.
“It’s been phenomenally good.”
He ticked off the areas one by one. Numismatic stuff was strong. Currency was strong. He did note that there were somewhat lower prices for pre-1933 gold U.S. coins because there was a lot on the floor.
His team was buying more dated silver dollars then generic pieces. There was little bullion to buy, in fact, but that was not unexpected. Shipping costs for the low markup material eat up the potential profits.
“This is stronger than I expected it would be,” Garofalo said.
Tom Hallenbeck called his results solid. He said during setup the day before, “It was extremely brisk.”
Gus Tiso called the first day OK. “I expect more Thursday and Friday here.”
This is when he figured many local collectors could break away from their jobs and come to the show.
World coin dealer Mark Teller summarized his experience of the first day this way: “Not big attendance, but bigger spenders.”
World paper money dealer David Cieniewicz labeled his results “certainly positive” and then settled on the phrase “very acceptable.”
John Kraljevich, who deals in Early American material said, “It’s actually been good, stronger than my low expectations at this particular venue.” He pointed out that his field has more collectors on the East Coast and he had based his expectations on previous California events.
With four days to go, it was too early to characterize the shows eventual outcome. But one thing is certain: Dealer experiences at the ANA help set the tone for the fall collecting season.
This article was originally printed in Numismatic News.
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