Local coin shows thrive in age of Internet

For 20 years we have been speculating about the future of coin shows.

The Internet has diminished the need for face-to-face transactions.

Such transactions are the backbone of shows.

If you don’t need to go to a show, the shows will fade away. So goes the logic.

A funny thing has happened. Shows have not gone away.

They have been impacted by the Internet, but they have not gone away.

Local shows seem to still be thriving.

Collectors and dealers might not need to go to local shows in the old sense that there was no choice. However, they still do.

Local shows are a low-cost way for hobby participants to interact.

Virtually everyone present drives there for a single day.

There are no expensive airfares and hotels to worry about.

There are no upsets to family routines due to prolonged absences.

There is still great pleasure to be taken in geeting old friends and business colleagues face to face.

Dealer bourse table fees, which generate the cash to pay for shows at all levels, are very low.

You might call this blog my salute to local shows, the survivors of numismatics.

I have one other purpose.

Dave Sorrick of In God We Trust LLC has sent me a reminder that the 2017 Mid-Missouri Collectors Show will be held on March 18-19, Elks Lodge, 5161 Osage Beach Parkway, Osage Beach, Mo.

It is a two-day weekend event, but I will bet many, if not most, collector participants attend for just a single day.

Admission and parking are free.

Coin and currency appraisals will be offered by Sorrick.

“I am delighted to bring our event back to the Lake of Ozarks in early spring of 2017,” he said.

Email him at ddsorrick@yahoo.com if you need more information.

Local shows are not disappearing.

Promoters like Sorrick see opportunity in them.

That’s why they exist in the age of the Internet.

Check out the Numismatic News show calendar for a local show near you.

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

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