Shows and Clubs Are Going Back to Normal

I received an interesting email from a reader named Bob, who felt that COVID had changed things regarding shows and our hobby’s retail practices. He speculated that most shows would peter out and unless the large shows didn’t do more to make them user friendly, they would fail as well. I think he has a point. One of my thoughts in this area would be making interesting presentations at shows into Zoom friendly meetings. Bob speculated that perhaps dealers could sell on the internet at shows. What do you think?

On a different note, being a bit old fashioned, I didn’t really know what YouTube was all about until my grandson Toma showed me. We watched a program and he said, ‘you’re on YouTube’, and he entered my name and a lecture I gave in Kansas City on Minneapolis Federal Reserve notes popped up. If you want to know what I know about Minneapolis FRN’s, look it up. With a few misspeaks it is pretty accurate. Speaking of shows, the Central States Show has now been canceled, but Heritage has scheduled the currency auctions for April 21-27 on the internet. Looking at the catalog online there are a lot of Fractional rarities. There is also a Stacks-Bowers auction on March 25 and 30. I was fortunate enough to get A COVID shot and will have my final shot March 25, so I’ll be searching for a large show so I can once again mingle with collectors.

Reviewing Tuesday night auctions, it appears that prices are getting back to a normal pace, some up and some down. I know we are all starving for some action and hopefully shows will be scheduled for summer and fall. Michigan State is planning on a Fall Thanksgiving show and I’m sure other state shows will begin popping up. You might think about joining a club when things clear up. I have enjoyed Zoom meetings at the Chester County Club and the Wisconsin Valley Club. The Zoom meetings are opening up club memberships to people not living in the Coin club neighborhood. As president of the Paper Money Collectors of Michigan, a club not limited to Michiganders, I hope to do a Zoom meeting Thanksgiving weekend, so our far-flung collectors can participate. At Zoom meetings we get to visit with old friends and of course show-and-tell is a valuable topic.

A new book is now available on Michigan Upper Peninsula notes; for info, email Dave Gelwicks at cyomonroe@hotmail.com I see the Red Book will be issuing a 75th anniversary edition. Red Books have become collectable especially with limited edition books they put out at bib conventions.

Speaking of clubs, if you like World Currency, the International Bank Note Society is worth looking into; also of interest to U.S. collectors is the Society of Paper Money Collectors. Each has an excellent publication for members. Email me for information if this interests you.

I’m interested in your thoughts. What would you be interested to read about in this column? I answer my emails and would enjoy hearing from you. Have you made a great or interesting find? Email me about it and we can share it with other collectors. I’m at billbrandimore@charter.net