Mail Bag – Will Coin Shows Ever Return?

Today’s Mail Bag question comes from Art and it is a timely question given the current situation the world faces with the COVID-19 pandemic. It has to do with coin shows and if I think they will ever return. Art writes…

Clinton,

With all of the coin shows that have been cancelled this year, do you think there will ever be coin shows again? I hope so as I love going to them but I’m worried that shows will become a thing of the past with all the fear around coronavirus.

Thanks,

Art

Ultimately, yes, I do think there will be a return of coin shows open to the public, much like there will be for sporting events, shopping malls, etcetera. The question is timing and I will be surprised if many if any shows happen this year.

The challenge is that we as a species still don’t have a full grasp of the impact of COVID-19 nor fully understand how it is transmitted from one person to another. There is plenty of conflicting information out there about how long it can live on surfaces, stay airborne, and so forth. Until scientists can fully grasp that, my feeling is that many large public events will continue to either happen with empty stands (sporting events) or simply won’t happen (numismatic shows). Event organizers will be hesitant and there is still no guarantee that local, state, and even federal government bodies won’t restrict these types of events.

But let’s look on the positive side. Let’s assume that in the next 6 weeks we get a better understanding of the virus and how to minimize its spread until an inoculation is available. If that happens, a more precise set of measures can be implemented to allow these shows to happen this year. I would still think that any show scheduled in July or August would be at risk but maybe by the end of 2020 we could see one or two.

Realistically however, I do think that 2021 is a more likely restart of these shows as by that time, we will have been dealing with COVID-19 for a year and will certainly have a grasp on what measures need to take place for a show to happen safely.

Make no mistake though Art: I fully expect some smaller, regional shows to not return. Like so many people and businesses that have been impacted by COVID-19, there will be some that simply cannot financially recover and will disappear. I hope that number is very small but equally, I have to be realistic in my answer.

Editors Note: I have disabled comments on this post due to what some will perceive it as being political in nature. This was a question asking my opinion, not my politics.