Review of the National Money Show

Above, the National Money Show in Phoenix. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The National Money Show in Phoenix this past week at the Phoenix Convention Center was an enjoyable event. It seemed to be well-organized with a huge room of dealers from around the country.

There were all kinds of coins, bullion, rounds and ingots to be had. There were special presentations and seminars during the show, there were none that I was interested in on Saturday. People of all ages were in attendance, which is a good sign. I spent a few hundred dollars there.

There were some things I noticed. One, I saw no dealers with coin collecting supplies such as capsules, cases (there was one lady selling used cases), boxes and other items for collection organizing. I thought this was odd. 

Above, the show's main entrance. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Another thing I noticed was that on Saturday (the free admission day), about half of the dealers began packing up to leave about three hours after the show started (10:00). Other dealers who stayed open remarked that they, too, thought it was odd since there were plenty of people wandering the aisles. 

There were new coins along with old ones. It seemed that the older coins were dominated by Morgan silver dollars, which was fine with me (my favorite coin). Just about every dealer had them. I should have made a list of the ones I have and so that I could reference it and just look for the ones I don't have. My mistake. I was hoping to meet Doug Davis of the Anti-Counterfeit Educational Foundation. I didn't see him. He was on the schedule earlier in the week. Each dealer I spoke with were friendly and willing to answer whatever questions I had.

Above, Mitch Geriminsky and I with U.S. Mint Director Ventris C. Gibson.

The National Money Show is sponsored by the American Numismatic Association (ANA), based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. They put on two shows per year: The World's Fair of Money in the summer, and the National Money Show in the spring. The cities for each show change each year.

Looking at this year's schedule, the World's Fair of Money this summer will be held in Pittsburgh on August 8-12, 2023. 

Vendors included private and public coin businesses, coin clubs and the U.S. Mint. Memberships in the ANA were also available. I got myself a senior Platinum ANA membership at the show. 

If either of the shows are scheduled in a nearby city in the future, I will attend. I had a great time. The three and a half hours we were there went by quickly.

For more information on the American Numismatic Association, go here.