Extra issue heads towards readers

This has been an unusually busy week because it was time for the State of the Industry issue of Numismatic News to go out the door. This extra issue was produced almost simultaneously with the regular weekly issue that went to press yesterday.

The staff here is having a celebratory pizza lunch to mark the occasion of getting both issues finished, among other things.

Though it is nice to share pizza, but the more important aspect is I anxiously await reader reaction to what we have done. The special extra issue, which is dated between two regular weekly issues, is intended to provide a bird’s eye view of what’s going on in the minds of dealers, collectors and leaders in numismatics as 2009 comes to a close and the prospects for 2010 are evaluated.

Aside from confusing the mailman with cover dates of Nov. 17, Nov. 20 and Nov. 24, with the date in the middle being the Industry issue, I hope readers will get a sense in that Nov. 20 package of what the decision makers are thinking as we move forward.

It is not a blow by blow account of what went on in 2009. It is not an almanac. It is intended to create a sense of awareness among the readers of the tone of numismatics.

Are we looking ahead to better days or are we headed for trouble?

I hope a majority of readers gain a useful sense of where we are from reading it.

I know it will not be universally praised, because nothing ever is, but I expect it will be better received than last year’s issue because it will be less of a surprise and not quite so unfamiliar.

One reader last year cancelled his subscription to Numismatic News because he did not perceive it as an extra bonus issue but as some sort of prototype issue for every single issue to follow.

That’s the risk you take for trying something new.

So subscribers should watch for it. Let me know what you think about it and what you are thinking about for next year.