If the advertising blitz works, Houston’s Money Show of the Southwest hopes to create a crowded bourse floor Dec. 3-5 at the George R. Brown Convention Center.
“The billboards are up on all the major freeways and will remain so through the show’s run. Over 5,000 postcards and two e-mail blasts to previous attendees have stirred calls to the show’s phone lines and hits on its Web site,” said Edwin Johnston, the show chairman.
Once in the door, hobbyists will have an abundance of educational forums to choose from and kids will have activities whether or not they are Boy and Girl Scouts.
Kids 12 years old and under also don’t have to pay the $2 admission fee.
Patti Finner will lead the Boy Scout Coin Collecting Merit Badge qualification clinic Saturday morning, Dec. 5, and then lead the Girl Scout Fun with Money patch qualification that afternoon.
All kids will have a chance with the “Put-A-Penny-In-A-Slot” event that is the first step in a child’s pursuit of a one cent collection. Each kid will be given an album and a half hour to fill as many holes as possible from a bunch of loose cents on the table, said bourse chairman Carl Schwenker.
There will also be a “Treasure Chest Grab” that assures that kids leave the show with more than just the free Territorial quarter that they will be given upon arrival, Schwenker explained.
A Signature Auction will be conducted Dec. 3-4 by Heritage Auctions. (See story on Page 20).
The show will not have Sunday hours this year. Schwenker said this decision was based on feedback from dealers.
Instead, the show begins with a special Professional Numismatists Guild Day Dec. 2.
“To say we are excited with the opportunity to host a PNG Day is an understatement,” says Johnston. “We’re one of only three shows at which the PNG has chosen to hold their by-invitation-only shows.”
Public hours begin at 2 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3. The bourse closes at 8 p.m. that night.
Friday and Saturday public hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
More show information can be found at www.houstoncoinshow.org, or by calling (281) 586-9727.
