Kids were given their own “korner” at the Whitman Coin and Collectibles Baltimore Expo March 26-28 and “kids” in the rest of the age spectrum had the entire bourse floor as their playground.
Expo general manager David Crenshaw said 1,200 dealers filled 400 bourse tables.
The real kids had the opportunity to participate in a Boy Scout merit badge clinic conducted by American Numismatic Association Vice President Patti Finner in the Kids’ Korner area. When it was concluded, more than a dozen had earned their badges.
The National Federation of the Blind helped promote the new Louis Braille commemorative silver dollar at the show. Supplies of the new coins delivered to the show floor sold out. The $10 surcharges for these and all of the other coins sold by the U.S. Mint will go to fund a Braille literacy effort. (See separate Mint ceremony story.)
Q. David Bowers, who writes for the show’s newsletter, said, “Business is ‘okay’ across the hobby. Not great, not spectacular, but okay. Not many businesses can say that today.”
What was a great experience was the attention paid to actor Dennis Boggs, who portrayed Lincoln on the bourse floor. Approximately 400 attendees had their photographs taken with him.
