I have been to this particular coin show several times of the years and remember it being a Marriott hotel ballroom crammed with dealers and being nearly elbow to elbow walking down the aisle. I have not been in a couple of years as life happened, though made a point to go this year and found nothing but disappointment. So many empty tables and so much fewer as far as visitors. I overheard one dealer mention the collectible coin market is just not fairing well in recent years. Anyone else have similar experiences in their local coin shows? Do dealers on the site share the same sentiment that the collectible market just isn't up to snuff as of late?
There were fewer dealers there than there have been in past years, but several dealers that normally have tables at that show died during this past year. I also believe this year was a transition from one bourse chairman to another and that can create problems if the new one doesn't really know what they should be doing. I don't think the COIN market is doing that much differently than it has in previous years, but the gold and silver markets have been a lot more stable and many dealers make more on the bullion market than in the coin market. Not a lot of excitement in the gold and silver prices means not a lot of bullion activity and lower profits/income for the dealers. I did have a good time at the show though, and I did come away with one nice new purchase.
Obviously this is just one data point (and in a different state to boot), but my local coin club has done a small (~30 dealers) annual coin show for the past five-ish years and its attendance has been steadily improving. And as an aside, I have family who live about 60 miles south of Indianapolis! Not sure where you are in relation to Indy, but your cornfield may be near my family's cornfield.
