There are no coin clubs where I live. Those of you who know me know that I am just a beginner, so I have no pretense of coming into this with a vast repertoire of knowledge. I am kicking around the idea of starting a coin club and was hoping to get some helpful hints and tips from those of you who have done this before. Or even from those who have seen it done (either well or "not so well"). I'm pretty sure I can use a room at the local library for no fee. There are a small handful of coin shops within driving distance, so I know there are collectors out there; I'm just not sure how to get the word out. If this goes forward, I guess I would just advertise at the Library and at any local coin shops that would put up signs. I'm thinking that we'd meet once a month. I'd have to come up with a topic to speak on for 10-15 minutes or get a guest speaker. Thoughts? Comments?
I'm curious: why are you reluctant to give your location—at least the area? My thoughts are more along the lines of what not to do, if they'll help: I attended the coin club in my city for a few years when I first moved here (Grand Rapids, MI). It soon became very tiresome because there was little, er, discussion of coins. Minutes were gone over, a few new topics were raised (usually about logistics of participation in local coin shows), then our monthly auction was held—which, wrongly I believe, was allowed to contain non-coin items. This might seem painfully obvious, but the most interesting meetings always featured a presentation of coins. We had a member who, at the time, owned the no. 1 PCGS registry set of 2 cent pieces. He discussed his set using very nice projected visuals and of course had his set on display, too. I really enjoyed seeing that stunning set. We've had other presentations, just not enough of them nor of good quality. (Presentations don't have to be fancy or involve spectacular coins, just informative. And I would've presented something had I a collection/topic I felt worth doing at the time but really didn't.) All in all, I was really turned off by the lack of energy. As is often the case, just a few stalwart members kept the whole thing running. Grand Rapids isn't huge but is far from tiny. I've heard that the club in Lansing has a more vital program but haven't made the hour drive to check it out. Good luck! I'm sure many other CTers can give you some good ideas.
I dunno... paranoid I guess. If someone finds out I'm starting a coin club, they might think I have a lot of coins? ;-) I'm in south-central PA, but not close enough to York to attend their meetings.
I drive an hour and a half to a Coin Club meeting... is that too far? I would suggest attending several meetings from several different clubs, make a list of things they do that you like and things they do you don't like...
