Revival time for good idea?

There is a certain cyclical nature to events.

I was reminded of this when I received a press release relating to the Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists promoting the organization’s Oct. 24-26 convention in Monroeville, Pa.

Dormont, Pa., dealer Blaine Shiff of Cybercoins.net plans to leave a Barber half dollar worth $250 as a tip at one of the restaurants in Pittsburgh’s Market Square.

He will use the coin on Oct. 21 and the person who receives it can then come to the PAN show to be paid $250 for it.

Will the recipient recognize the opportunity for a quick $250, or will that person perhaps keep it as a memento?

We will have to wait until this sequence of events transpires to find out.

But back to cyclicality.

Years ago Krause Publications began spending rare cents ahead of a convention in hopes that this would generate interest in coin collecting generally and in each American Numismatic Association convention specifically.

It was so successful we did it again and again. Others did it too.

After a while it became old hat. Dare I say boring?

Krause stopped doing it. Others stopped doing it.

This new effort perhaps is a revival of a good idea.

Enough time has passed that I doubt that the public will feel it is old hat.

How much interest and excitement leaving a Barber half dollar as a tip will generate will tell us whether it is time for others to copy this idea.

Hobbyists attending the PAN convention will be the first to find out.

Public hours will begin at noon on Oct. 24 at the Monroeville Convention Center. Closing time will be 6 p.m. on that first day.

Friday hours will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.. There are no Sunday hours – and that is probably a topic for another blog on another day.

Buzz blogger Dave Harper is winner of the 2013 Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog and is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."