When I went to Coin Shows when my son was young I would ask if could pry himself from the video games and go with me. He would go knowing that he would get McDonalds or something after. One thing that stuck with me is he would say people were mean there and for the most part they were but me being me he would enjoy me taken the real nasty ones down. You would think you would treat anyone under 18 with the celebrity treatment... they are our future. Now I know I'm going to get blasted (I kinda like it) Here's something I think they should do at coin shows to make the young people interested. Give them a cheap coin album lets say Lincoln's and have them go to designated tables that will give them a cheap coin to put in there free album Kid love to hunt for things. But what do I know...Hope everyone is having a great day
You are so correct on this! I would be proud to take the punches with you. Particularly for some wold schoolers who I think lack empathy for the future of the coin collecting hobby, dealers at shows need to find a way to get younger numismatists and actually more diverse numismatist more engaged. My wife enjoys the hobby, but some dealers will talk down or try to dumbify the dealing because of her gender. I have observed this a few times and sometimes it is sad in our current day and when she deals with them it gets comical. As for dealing with youth - yes I understand dealers need to profit. However, for long term growth, programs and activities are imperative. I think the ANA does a great job in their shows with the Q and A searches, passports and treasure hunts. Some dealers are wonderful, some unfortunately swat them away like flies.
I had jus the opposite experience when my sons were younger. They were always given something, gold plated Ikes, blank planchets, foreign coins, they always made out way better than I did!
I have seen both sides at Las Vegas coins shows. I have seen dealers be very rude to young kids. I have seen some dealers being so kind and handing them cheap coins to get the kids interested in coins for free.
At the ANA in Orlando (this past March) Kurt (@V. Kurt Bellman ) had something lined up for the kiddies.
I should says this is from past so if they improved good for them...the last couple of shows Ive been solo so I don't care that they r nasty to me
That was always my experience as well, and not just with my son. I've taken whole groups of kids to coin shows, numerous times. That said, people are people and not all are the same. So I have no doubt that others have had less than pleasant experiences.
Yeah I'm gonna see at the next show...things have probably changed I have noticed more women behind the counters.....that's always pleasant well unless u marry one
Back in the 80’s I used to get tables at some of the local coin shows. In the late 80’s I started taking my daughter with me. She loved going and meeting the other dealers. Some dealers took the time to show her different items and talk to her. Others not so much. She has even put together a somewhat complete set of buffalo nickels on her own. She’s missing the over date and the 3-legged buff but she is still looking. She’s told me of a few times she has gone into some out of the way shops in her travels and asking about coins she is looking for and have gotten some very strange responses. Surprised that a woman would be interested in collecting. I still encourage her collecting by adding items to her collections. She teaches elementary school now and shows her collections to the kids and gets lot of positive responses. If a dealer just takes the time with the beginners there is hope that we will have some future numismatists.
Yeah, there's a lot of folks that are surprised to find a woman interested. But things are changing, have been for some years now. There are a large number of females who are members of this forum for example. Based on my observations I'd say it's probably close to 20-30% of our membership. And with over 40,000 members that's not a small number.
The ANA especially makes a big deal of catering to kids at all their shows. It's a key part of the ANA's educational mission. From what I've seen both FUN and Baltimore Whitman shows do some things as well, if only by bringing a mini version of the ANA's Kids Zone to those shows, especially FUN. I'm starting to think of January FUN as the "3rd ANA show", because ANA's presence there is so significant.
I should have mentioned an interesting tidbit the other day when I was talking about women in numismatics. How many of you are aware that the very first book ever printed about coins, and yeah I mean the very first one (it was published in 1511), was written by a woman, Margarethe Peutinger. The book was a treatise on the images and titles of the Roman Emperors on the coins of their times.
This may sound snobbish (Doesn't MOST of my stuff?), but it's getting to the point for me that if a show is just a sales bourse, I'm not interested. There need to be presenters, talks, roundtables, courses, classes, and the occasional "symposium". Quality material I can get every weekend or two at local auctions. What I need is interaction and learning and social aspects.
I agree Kurt, I only got a dose of that at the ANA World's Fair in Denver this year. It was great. I do get the presenter, talks, classes; social interaction, etc. at my coin club every month. With the club auctions and dealers there too I get a lot of my coin collecting needs met. The show circuit in my area is lacking in the educational and social aspects. Wish this would change. I encourage anyone reading this to join a coin club. It's fun!
To each his own, but I have always found that I can get all three of those without attending the presentations, talks, classes, etc. put on at the show. And typically of better quality, and a whole lot more fun, than those put on at the show. Granted, there could be rare exceptions, but it would have to be a presentation of some kind that held a particular interest for me. And that doesn't happen very often.
