Journey to the center of numismatics

Here we go.

It is American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money week in Rosemont, Ill., a Chicago suburb.

A huge bourse, two significant auctions and more meetings and social gatherings than any individual can attend will keep thousands of people on their toes.

I feel tired just thinking about it.

I also am excited.

It is Christmas in August for those of us who thrive on information and interact with other attendees for the other 51 weeks of the year.

Bullion has been behaving in recent days, that is, it is stable.

Gold was $1,096.50 this morning when I checked the Kitco website.

Silver was $14.93. It is a bit friskier than last week.

The best environment for most dealers at a convention is for bullion to be stable enough that they do not have to constantly reprice inventory.

Also, when bullion is stable, attendees can focus on the numismatic aspect of their coins and not whether the pieces on their wants lists are leapfrogging ahead solely because of what metals are doing.

The last few weeks have seen a true summer slowdown.

This used to be considered traditional.

Only the upsets of nonstop bullion gains during the financial crisis made everybody think summer vacations were a thing of the past.

My tasks today are to haul newspapers to Chicago, find the Krause Publications booth and lay them out.

Tonight is the annual awards dinner of the Professional Numismatists Guild.

The organization jointly sponsored a pre-show with the ANA over the weekend.

The dinner provides an opportunity to congratulate outstanding professional numismatists and to hear what they are thinking and doing now and what they are planning in the coming months.

If you have ever been to an ANA summer convention, you know how interesting and hectic it can be.

For anyone planning to be there, I wish a safe journey and a successful outcome, whether that outcome is defined as good business, taking advantage of the learning opportunities, or just seeing old friends.

For some, this is the one and only show of the year. No wonder it was dubbed the World’s Fair of Money. It truly is. For the week, it can also be called the center of numismatics.

Buzz blogger Dave Harper is winner of the 2014 Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog and is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."

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