With the challenges in the economy and the increased interest in gold and silver, the number of guests at the monthly Greater Atlanta Coin Show have steadily increased since the beginning of the year. The amount of people and the seemingly chaotic activity at the show can be intimidating if you are not familiar with coin shows.
Activate your imagination and let’s take a mental tour of a coin show.
For security purposes, only one entrance is active with the other doors on the bourse for emergency exits. From the entrance, you look into the room filled with tables (sales and backup), chairs (guests and dealers), the dealers’ showcases, the dealers and the guests. The sales tables are arranged in rows with aisles for guests to meander through at their leisure. The backup tables provide storage space for the dealers and are private within each dealer’s space. Of course, the showcases give the guests a glimpse into what the dealer brought to the show along with some security for the dealer’s merchandise. Many people prefer to stand, but the chairs allow for involved discussions and transactions between dealers and guests.
If you attend at a busy time, the room appears to be disorganized. In reality, the bourse is a beehive of bustling activity. Those bustling bees, both dealers and guests, are in pursuit of their specific collecting and investing goals.
As a newcomer to the room, the challenge becomes where do you start to pursue your objectives. Sometimes, if you are unfamiliar to the bourse and to the people, you can observe the room for a couple of minutes as you determine where you want to begin. Instead, maybe you want to walk the aisles of the bourse to get an idea of what each dealer brought to display, how busy each dealer is and which dealers you want to stop to visit.
Now, if you are truly new to the coin show bourse, you can learn by observing. However, take care not to interfere with other guests’ interactions with the dealers. Also, be conscientious such that your observation does not make the other guests or the dealers nervous.
Otherwise, take your time to learn the bourse and to learn numismatics. The dealers will be glad to answer questions provided you do not monopolize their time. The dealers are collectors at heart and enjoy talking about coins and precious metals, however they are business people as well. They need to make sales in addition to talking about their interests.
Don’t be intimidated by the bourse floor. It’s just lots of people pursuing their interests.
It may take time, but soon you will be comfortable being a part of the bustling beehive.