As the leaves start to change at home and we head into the Autumn season of 2023, I hope this article finds all of our readers happy and healthy wherever you are in the world. This year’s Summer 2023 American Numismatic Association’s (“ANA”) World’s Fair of Money show was held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in the famous “Steel City” of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from August 8th-12th. This was my first ever visit to Pittsburgh, and I am pleased to report that the city did an excellent job of hosting this year’s Summer ANA. Our readers will be glad to know that the coin and currency market continues to thrive as the demand for nice collector coins and currency remains strong. The 2023 Pittsburgh Summer ANA show proved that numismatic collectibles and rarities continue to be a safe and preferred method of investing in a time of uncertain international politics as we go forward to the last quarter of 2023.
Pittsburgh hosted this year’s ANA World’s Fair of Money show which consisted of hundreds of dealers and exhibits from all over the world. Pittsburgh is a major U.S. industrial city located in western Pennsylvania where three rivers (the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio) come together in the Ohio Valley region of the United States. The downtown riverfront location of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center makes for a truly a scenic and beautiful site for a coin show. The city’s most famous nickname is the“Steel City”because this area was home to the largest producers of steel in the world. Pittsburgh is also famous for its athletic teams such as the Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL), Pittsburgh Pirates (MLB) and Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL), making it one of the best sports cities in the United States. The 2023 Summer ANA was well attended by thousands of collectors over the five day event, and those that attended were very active buyers. For this Summer ANA, I set up with Michael Chou (President of Champion Auctions), and Philip Kapaan (Kapaan & Mades GbR located in Bochum, Germany). This was my first show setting up with Philip and it was a true pleasure. Philip is one of the world’s specialists in vintage German and European coins, and I learned a lot about this area of the numismatic market while set up with Philip in Pittsburgh. Overall, the coin and currency dealers at the show were pleased with the activity of sales as the numismatic market remains very strong. Sales of vintage and key date U.S. type coins continue to do well. As for U.S. currency, high denomination notes and large size federal paper money continues to lead the way as it is getting harder to find these items in nicer conditions. For the international coins and currency market, vintage Chinese gold and silver coins as well as vintage Chinese currency continue to be in high demand. Although prices have slightly come down in the vintage Chinese coin and currency market from the recent highs of the past few years, demand is still high as many collectors see this as an opportunistic time to buy such better items. I have also noticed an uptick in demand for pre-20th century European silver and gold coins in nicer conditions and vintage Korean paper money in nicer grades as well.
The Pittsburgh Summer ANA Show offered a wide variety of activities such as grading service appraisals, educational seminars, auctions, collectors meetings, events for young numismatists, and much more. A first for any ANA show, the internationally famous Coin Of The Year (COTY) awards ceremony was held at this year’s Pittsburgh Summer ANA. This is the 40th Anniversary of the COTY program and the awards ceremony usually takes place in Berlin, Germany and recognizes outstanding coin designs worldwide in 10 specialized categories. My favorite COTY category is “Most Artistic Coin”and this year’s winner was the Ukrainian 5 hryvnias celebrating “The 30th Anniversary Ukraine’s Independence.”It is always great to see younger numismatists enter into our industry, and the Professional Numismatic Guild (“PNG”) hosted a networking event for about 20 young dealers during this year’s Summer ANA. There are at least 100 young people who have entered our industry full-time over the past year, and PNG has started a program called nexGen to encourage these new professionals. It was great to see numismatic veterans such as Jeff Garrett, Mark Salzberg (who funded the PNG nexGen event) and Jim Halperin mingle and give great guidance to the newest members of our industry.
The “Money Talks” educational presentations were excellent again this year and included“The Renaissance of U.S. Coinage, 1907-1933”presented by Mark Wieclaw which discussed in depth the sculptors that designed the most beautiful U.S. coins from this period, and “The Money of Russian America” presentation by CJ Buchanan that went into an overview of the money and economy of the Russian-America Company to include paper roubles, Siberian coinage, Spanish issues, and native mediums of exchange. Another presentation I found very interesting was“How the Pandemic has Transformed Collecting Coins”by Scott A. Travers and Maurice Rosen. We all know the Covid-19 has had an impact on the industry and this presentation focused on the impact of hobbyists emerging from home and what the future of collecting holds in the post-pandemic era. The presenters focused on providing helpful tips on how to protect your coins and collectibles from natural disasters and other unexpected events. The discussion also listed prudent steps one could take to make the world a safer place for rare collectibles which many found very informative.
The ANA Museum Showcase at this year’s Pittsburgh show offered incredible historical numismatic rarities and private collections from all over the world. Highlighting this year’s exhibits was The Tyrant Collection’s Tyrants of the Thames 2.0 display. This 300-piece exhibit featured the finest private collection of English coins outside of Great Britain known.
This collection has been valued at over 40 million dollars and included a continuous run of portrait pieces on English coins of all the“tyrants”or rulers of the Thames River region for the past 1,400 years. These rulers included the Saxon kings of Kent, Wessex, East Anglia, and Mercia. Highlights of the collection include a gold thrymsa of King Eadbald of Kent (A.D. 616-640, struck in London and first Anglo-Saxon specimen to feature the name of the king who issued it), a silver penny of King Harold II (A.D. 1066, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England before the Normans under William the Conqueror took over), an exceedingly rare gold double leopard of King Edward III (Issued from January to August 1344 and only one of three known to exist), a gold ship ryal of Queen Elizabeth I (struck between 1583 and 1603 the rare coin features the queen holding an orb and scepter in the middle of a detailed ship), and a“Petition Crown”of King Charles III (produced in 1663 it is considered to be one of the most famous of English rare coins). Another great exhibit was the Elite Collection of Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles displayed by Great Collections valued at over 20 million dollars. This collection featured 35 of the 61 finest known or tied for finest known U.S. gold double eagle coins.
If you ever get a chance to attend an ANA numismatic show I highly recommend it as it is an event of a lifetime for any lover of numismatics. As this summer in Pittsburgh proves, there is something at the ANA for everyone. This year’s Summer ANA Show in Pittsburgh was a huge success and it was great to see old friends and make new ones. It appears that the numismatic industry will continue to be very strong as we head to the end of 2023. I want to wish everyone all the best, and as travel restrictions continue to improve, I look forward to seeing my good friends, Michael Chou, Jeffrey Wai, and others once again as I will be in attendance at the 2023 Macau Numismatic Society Annual Meeting from Nov. 23 to Nov. 26 and the upcoming 2023 Champion Macau Auction on Nov. 26. I wish you all the best in your numismatic pursuits and if you ever are in the Sarasota, Florida area be sure to stop by and say hello!
1937 Pattern Proof Set ：King Eadbald of Ⅷ
Pittsburgh hosted this year’s ANA World’s Fair of Money show which consisted of hundreds of dealers and exhibits from all over the world. Pittsburgh is a major U.S. industrial city located in western Pennsylvania where three rivers (the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio) come together in the Ohio Valley region of the United States. The downtown riverfront location of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center makes for a truly a scenic and beautiful site for a coin show. The city’s most famous nickname is the“Steel City”because this area was home to the largest producers of steel in the world. Pittsburgh is also famous for its athletic teams such as the Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL), Pittsburgh Pirates (MLB) and Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL), making it one of the best sports cities in the United States. The 2023 Summer ANA was well attended by thousands of collectors over the five day event, and those that attended were very active buyers. For this Summer ANA, I set up with Michael Chou (President of Champion Auctions), and Philip Kapaan (Kapaan & Mades GbR located in Bochum, Germany). This was my first show setting up with Philip and it was a true pleasure. Philip is one of the world’s specialists in vintage German and European coins, and I learned a lot about this area of the numismatic market while set up with Philip in Pittsburgh. Overall, the coin and currency dealers at the show were pleased with the activity of sales as the numismatic market remains very strong. Sales of vintage and key date U.S. type coins continue to do well. As for U.S. currency, high denomination notes and large size federal paper money continues to lead the way as it is getting harder to find these items in nicer conditions. For the international coins and currency market, vintage Chinese gold and silver coins as well as vintage Chinese currency continue to be in high demand. Although prices have slightly come down in the vintage Chinese coin and currency market from the recent highs of the past few years, demand is still high as many collectors see this as an opportunistic time to buy such better items. I have also noticed an uptick in demand for pre-20th century European silver and gold coins in nicer conditions and vintage Korean paper money in nicer grades as well.
The Pittsburgh Summer ANA Show offered a wide variety of activities such as grading service appraisals, educational seminars, auctions, collectors meetings, events for young numismatists, and much more. A first for any ANA show, the internationally famous Coin Of The Year (COTY) awards ceremony was held at this year’s Pittsburgh Summer ANA. This is the 40th Anniversary of the COTY program and the awards ceremony usually takes place in Berlin, Germany and recognizes outstanding coin designs worldwide in 10 specialized categories. My favorite COTY category is “Most Artistic Coin”and this year’s winner was the Ukrainian 5 hryvnias celebrating “The 30th Anniversary Ukraine’s Independence.”It is always great to see younger numismatists enter into our industry, and the Professional Numismatic Guild (“PNG”) hosted a networking event for about 20 young dealers during this year’s Summer ANA. There are at least 100 young people who have entered our industry full-time over the past year, and PNG has started a program called nexGen to encourage these new professionals. It was great to see numismatic veterans such as Jeff Garrett, Mark Salzberg (who funded the PNG nexGen event) and Jim Halperin mingle and give great guidance to the newest members of our industry.
The “Money Talks” educational presentations were excellent again this year and included“The Renaissance of U.S. Coinage, 1907-1933”presented by Mark Wieclaw which discussed in depth the sculptors that designed the most beautiful U.S. coins from this period, and “The Money of Russian America” presentation by CJ Buchanan that went into an overview of the money and economy of the Russian-America Company to include paper roubles, Siberian coinage, Spanish issues, and native mediums of exchange. Another presentation I found very interesting was“How the Pandemic has Transformed Collecting Coins”by Scott A. Travers and Maurice Rosen. We all know the Covid-19 has had an impact on the industry and this presentation focused on the impact of hobbyists emerging from home and what the future of collecting holds in the post-pandemic era. The presenters focused on providing helpful tips on how to protect your coins and collectibles from natural disasters and other unexpected events. The discussion also listed prudent steps one could take to make the world a safer place for rare collectibles which many found very informative.
The ANA Museum Showcase at this year’s Pittsburgh show offered incredible historical numismatic rarities and private collections from all over the world. Highlighting this year’s exhibits was The Tyrant Collection’s Tyrants of the Thames 2.0 display. This 300-piece exhibit featured the finest private collection of English coins outside of Great Britain known.
This collection has been valued at over 40 million dollars and included a continuous run of portrait pieces on English coins of all the“tyrants”or rulers of the Thames River region for the past 1,400 years. These rulers included the Saxon kings of Kent, Wessex, East Anglia, and Mercia. Highlights of the collection include a gold thrymsa of King Eadbald of Kent (A.D. 616-640, struck in London and first Anglo-Saxon specimen to feature the name of the king who issued it), a silver penny of King Harold II (A.D. 1066, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England before the Normans under William the Conqueror took over), an exceedingly rare gold double leopard of King Edward III (Issued from January to August 1344 and only one of three known to exist), a gold ship ryal of Queen Elizabeth I (struck between 1583 and 1603 the rare coin features the queen holding an orb and scepter in the middle of a detailed ship), and a“Petition Crown”of King Charles III (produced in 1663 it is considered to be one of the most famous of English rare coins). Another great exhibit was the Elite Collection of Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles displayed by Great Collections valued at over 20 million dollars. This collection featured 35 of the 61 finest known or tied for finest known U.S. gold double eagle coins.
If you ever get a chance to attend an ANA numismatic show I highly recommend it as it is an event of a lifetime for any lover of numismatics. As this summer in Pittsburgh proves, there is something at the ANA for everyone. This year’s Summer ANA Show in Pittsburgh was a huge success and it was great to see old friends and make new ones. It appears that the numismatic industry will continue to be very strong as we head to the end of 2023. I want to wish everyone all the best, and as travel restrictions continue to improve, I look forward to seeing my good friends, Michael Chou, Jeffrey Wai, and others once again as I will be in attendance at the 2023 Macau Numismatic Society Annual Meeting from Nov. 23 to Nov. 26 and the upcoming 2023 Champion Macau Auction on Nov. 26. I wish you all the best in your numismatic pursuits and if you ever are in the Sarasota, Florida area be sure to stop by and say hello!
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| Ship Ryal Queen Elizabeth I |
Thrymsa King Eadbald of Kent
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1937 Pattern Proof Set ：King Eadbald of Ⅷ