Review of the 46th Annual Las Vegas Coin Show

The Las Vegas Numismatic Society sponsored its 46th Annual Coin Show the first Sunday of March and the last weekend of February, at the Plaza Hotel, in downtown area of the city. As seen advertised in the Review Journal Newspaper, which offers a link to this non-profit organization's web site, this show was free and open to the public. The culture of collectors first gathered and formerly took it's name in 1957. The Nevada club is one of the largest and near oldest of this kind in the nation. Dealers from around the country sat up vendor booths, and were willing to discuss historical functions of our money, and differing questions as well. For the children that walked in the door, a free collector's coin package was gifted kindly.

I spoke with several persons while at the show. One was the president of the Las Vegas chapter, Joe Cavallaro. Both him and his wife direct their guests and run the show here. I was told by him, that this show has been in The Plaza Hotel now since 1980. for their 46th show over a 100 dealers were on hand. Some specialize in rare coins, tokens, paper money from international sources and from our nation. He tells me additionally that American is the best collected investment, due to our sound value with strong backings. I guess so, if our nation now is bailing out banks and forgiving bad loans, I would think that our dollar will keep it's worth, too. New collector's items this year to be made include the continuation of the Quarter Series to add another 5 state territories and the new Lincoln Penny.

Joe was a big help at explaining the importance of this society of coin collectors. He is claimed to be lifelong collector of money and coins, as are others there. One such expert was Brad Watts. Brad is the owner of U.S. Classics, a coin shop he operates and owns in San Dimas, California. His focus of hobby and skills, after being a retired graphic artist, are: U.S. type notes; Military Payment; Fractional Currency; U.S. Coins; etc. He tells me that most dealer get comfortable around certain eras of collector editions, as so many types of numismatic eclecticism has evolved. We talked for over an hour about what I saw in his display case as I walked by. Some of the merchandise is quiet flashy here!

While I had my eye on several high dollar notes (up to a thousand dollars) at other tables, I focused on one collection of bills at Brad's. I was taken by the beautiful artwork I saw on an older series of Ones and Fives. I found out this is a not so common Educational Series of dollars, put out into circulation around 1896. Only five individual domination notes were made, and short lived due to it's abrasive nudity of the female winged liberty icon on the front. The extensive details of these notes were astonishing. Brad went on to tell me the quality of these bills endures today from the time consuming work required to make them. Over three months of labor is poured into etching a steel press frame for engraving. A century ago, this process finished in three steps. However, in today's demand to keep counterfeits from remaking bills, a five step process takes much longer.

I had many other questions for the dealers at the coin show. I could not help but asking: What ever happened to those cereal box collector coins I grew-up with in the 80s? To my surprise, the response was, high up on the auction block, and they are rare to find, but bring in a good amount. Along with, is there some outstanding truth to the two 1950's pennies worth over a million dollars? I was greatly confused on this issue. Brad went on to give me tips on rare and valuable coins. The 1955 Double Dye Penny, he tells me, is a rare coin. This coin has the date printed twice, and attracts it value therefore. His best words were related to the condition of the paper money collectors find. The grating system gives it's highest points to those notes which have not been handled. Advice for investors, is this is safer than the stock market, possibly.

For more information about collected money readers may also enjoy these website and links:

www.money.org- This is the official site to the American Numismatic Association (ANA). Offers the link to the Money Museum, and gives a virtual tour. With over 250,000 objects inside the guided audio tour is easy to learn from. A library and educational resource can be found here.

www.usmint.gov- This is the site to agency responsible for producing our nation's coinage. Since 1972 the U.S. Mint has been an official Federal Agency. Historical and educational resources are also available here.

www.treasury.gov- Follow the link to Coins And Currency to find facts about money, and the sites to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP). Fonded in 1861, this agency was made responsible for sole production of our paper bill in 1877. Two main printing houses exists, one in Washington D.C., and one in Forth Worth, TX. Both sites have links on this page, and do schedule tours to the public.