The vast majority of the world’s money supply and transactions now take a digital form. But coins and paper currency were all the rage in downtown Phoenix this past week. The National Money Show — a three-day event devoted to coin collecting — concluded this weekend at the Phoenix Convention Center.
Exhibitors, dealers and collectors gathered to buy, sell, trade or just view coins, currency and similar items.
Patrick Richey is one of the owners of World Numismatics, a Carefree company that specializes in Mexican and Latin American coins.
“In terms of interesting things here that you can find, it's really a journey and exploration at the show. You never know what you're going to find. It could be something that's impressive because of how valuable it is, but it's also just the history,” he said.
The event drew exhibitors from all over the country, including Hannah Hallenbeck from Hallenbeck Coin Gallery in Colorado. She said it’s an easy hobby for beginners to break into.
“There's some really fabulous resources out there, the United States red book, or coming to a local coin show so you can talk to some people who have been in the industry for several decades, including my grandfather, who's here today at night, age 91," she said.
Her father and grandfather, Tom and Kenneth Hallenbeck, previously served as presidents of the American Numismatic Association, the event organizer.
Ventris Gibson, director of the United States Mint, also made an appearance.
“Some people may think it's a very expensive hobby. But to start off, it's not very expensive at all. It's more checking the coins that you have comparing them to what's in a catalog or checking online to see what the worth is," she said.
Gibson says the mint produces 1.2 billion coins per month and thousands of other collectible products, some of which appeared at the show.
From old Arizona tokens to rare Morgan silver dollars, the event had a little bit of everything. And the next time somebody offers a penny for your thoughts, you might ask them for the rare 1943 Lincoln cent that was on display here. That one’s valued at over a million dollars.
