More Coin Shows Cancelled as Holidays Near

We were hoping the news would get better as we entered the holiday season of one of the strangest years ever. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, as FUN officially announced the cancellation of their quintessential show which would have ushered in 2021. We are still waiting for the first national coin show to break the COVID ice. FUN now joins the casualty list of Central States, two Long Beach shows, Summer ANA and two Whitman Baltimore shows. With the emergence of several larger regional shows like Dalton, GA, Tinley Park, IL, Saint Louis Silver Dollar Show and PAN, we held out cautious optimism that FUN might happen. Then came more bad news, as COVID case counts started to predictably rise. Despite the fact that this was neither surprising or unexpected, we witnessed a second round of shut downs extending into our numismatic arena. And so goes 2020. We are all ready for this year to go into the history books.

The good news is that the coin market continues to show evidence of strength. Gold and silver have rebounded nicely from their mid-Fall correction, and interest in virtually all areas of numismatics remains solid. We don’t see this trend reversing any time soon. Of course with the absence of shows (which we really feel is temporary), this puts newfound pressure on sourcing coins for our customers. Although we have been down this road several times since March, it is nonetheless a challenge that we can do without. Our creativity is once again getting tested.

Fortunately, The Reeded Edge is still working through several collections purchased over the last couple of weeks, and these coins alone should provide ample supply up to the holidays. We had begun to line up appointments for pre-FUN trading with some of our more consistent suppliers, all of whom will probably be shipping us parcels of coins in lieu of meeting in-person. We have preached that for every problem, there is a solution, but never in our lives has this gotten put to the test like it has this year. There is a certain comfort in knowing that we are all in this together, and I think it has made each of us work that much harder to overcome the obvious obstacles.

Finally, we hope that each and every one of you have had a happy and safe Thanksgiving, and we extend our best wishes for the same during the upcoming holidays. We know that better times are ahead, and believe that next year could signal when we collectively turn the corner. Let’s hope so!