Visiting the World Money Fair in Berlin

New calendar year, fresh start to a new numismatic season! So where will I begin? At the World Money Fair in Berlin!

I'll be attending the World Money Fair in Berlin again this year, with my co-workers; Dave Harper - Editor of Numismatic News and Coin of the Year Director, Lisa Bellavin - Online editor and COTY coordinator and Scott Tappa Numismatic Publisher. We all attended the WMF last year with great success and are excited to be returning.

The annual World Money Fair is without a doubt the best combination trade fair and retail show that numismatics has to offer. Their Media Forum clues you in to the full array of new issue coins planned for that years release, their coin dealer bourse offers a wide selection of modern issues to classic coins, plus books, medals and fantasy issues, their associated auctions - this year by Fritz Rudolf Kunker, offer classic rarities and their Mint and Mint supply booths are fabulous and extensive.

If you can be in Berlin the first week in February, please stop by our F + W Media - Krause Publications booth for a chat, or catch me on the bourse floor for a quick visit.

Hungary Wins Again!

World Coin News and NumisMaster announced today that a Hungarian coin won the newly established Coin of the Year - Peoples Choice Award for the second year in a row. Last year, the first year a COTY Peoples Choice Award was presented, Hungary stunned the Mint and Central Bank community by getting out the collector vote for their coin.

In Berlin last year, at the World Money Fair, I was asked by several Mint Directors how Hungary had done so well, so I asked Terez Horvathne, Commercial Director for the Hungarian Mint and was told that they had worked with the countries numismatic clubs and encouraged all members to vote. A straight forward get out the vote effort, combined with a good patriotic national theme for the coin - the 1956 Revolution - brought votes from populace outside the mainstream collecting community also.

I relayed this information to all the folks that commented on the voting results and encouraged each and every one to attempt similar drives their own nominees, but happily for Hungary they were able to beat the competition again.

Quite an honor to recive this popular award in it's first two years of existance! My congratuations go out to the Hungarian Mint both for a beautiful coin and for a great job exciting their collecting community!

Colin Bruce Wraps Up 34+ Years At KP

In 1974 Clifford Mishler brought Colin Bruce II out to Iola, WI to work on the Standard Catalog of World Coins. Colin stayed with it, expanding the series, additing in data and images, proofing, editing and lending his expertise for over 34 years. His last day with the company was this past Friday, October 31, 2008.

Randy Thern, who spent over 20 years with KP in the numismatic advertising and catalog divisions, also left the company this past Friday, October 31, 2008. Many of our contributors knew Randy from email correspondence, as well as from his annual visits to the Michigan State show and the New York Internation Numismatic Convention.

Both Coiln and Randy will certainly be missed here in our offices, but the rest of us will troop on. It will be up to us and our contributors to make sure the Standard Catalogs continue to thrive and provide our shared hobby with a central exchange for up to date information.

Over my years here, many good people have come and gone through the KP Numismatic cataloging department. I fondly remember my days with Marian Moe, Joan Melum, Fred Borgmann, Bob Wilhite, Sally Olsen, Sherry Dopp, Kathy Hines, Ethel Thulien, Joel Edler, Elizabeth Burgert and now Randy Thern and Colin Bruce.

I thank them all for their parts in building the catalog that we have all worked on for so long. Thank you for a good job, one and all.

High Prices for 1601-1700 Thalers Ducats and Minors

While many of my colleagues enjoy the ANA Show in Baltimore, work continues, here in Iola, on our massive updating of the Standard Catalog of World Coins 1601-1700 4th edition. Everyone on the cataloging staff, plus a few outside helpers, have pitched in and taken a great deal of the data entry work out of my hands, so that I can concentrate on research. I'm lucky to have such a great group of co-workers and contributors! And my luck is turning into your luck each day as I find more auction results and fixed prices to drive the values in this new 4th editon up in line with todays market.

Earlier in the week I took a few minutes from my hectic schedule to write back cover copy for the SCWC 1601-1700 4th edition. While the marketing people may edit or re-write this before the book sees publication, I thought my readers might like a sneak peek at what I said, as it reflects the intensity and scope of our work pretty well. So here it is, for my readers eyes only:

Welcome to one of the most greatly appreciating areas in all the world of numismatics. Picking up this volume of the new 4th edition Standard Catalog of World Coins 1601-1700 shows that you have an interest in coins of quality and your interest is well founded. The retail prices presented in this catalog represent some of the fastest rising values in world coins. Economic factors have conspired this year, driving collector interest and prices for these classic coins right through the roof!

The 4th edition Standard Catalog of World Coins 1601-1700 features

If you own a 3rd edition of this catalog, set it aside and add this new 4th edition to your daily working reference library. It’s one tool you cannot afford to do without

Now, two additional things for you to keep in mind.

First, the SCWC 1601-1700 4th edition will be a smaller print run book than the 20th or 21st Century SCWC's. This means that they may go out of print more quickly, so, if you dabble in this area of coins, or more importantly, if you are a regular collector or dealer in 1601-1700 material, don't wait too long to get a copy for your reference library.

Second, if you are a coin dealer or represent an auction house which normally offers 1601-1700 coinage, you may seriously want to consider placing an advertisement in this book. The deadline for advertising in the new Standard Catalog of World Coins 1601-1700 4th edition is August 20th, so get moving!

If you have advertised with KP before, in our news papers, magazines or catalogs, just give your regular ad rep a call or email. If this is something new for you, stop by our booth at the ANA, or give us a call for more information.

Robbie Cain of our ad staff is out in Baltimore at the ANA starting tomorrow, so stop by the KP booth and talk to her this week if you are at the show too. Otherwise, give her a call at 1-800-573-0333 ext. 13220 or send her an email at robbie.cain@fwpubs.com

We only publish the SCWC 1601-1700 catalog on a five year cycle, so don't miss this opportunity, or you may be waiting until 2013 for another chance to put your companies name and contact information in the hands of serious buyers from around the world.

1901-2000 Standard Catalog of World Coins DVD

Since I began writing this blog I have noticed that many people are searching for a free download of the Standard Catalog of Wolrd Coins. Well, I must tell you that nothing in this world is truely free and any "free" download of the SCWC that you might find is most certainly a pirated older version of the catalog. So what I can say with certainty is, just give it up and pay for the real deal!

There are three main ways you can get the information contained in the Standard Catalog of World Coins.

First - You can go the old fashioned way and buy the book. Now-a-days we include a DVD version of the catalog in each book we revise, so you get a paper copy and an electronic copy in one tidy package.

Second - You can buy a stand alone DVD package of many of out titles for a bit less than the Book/DVD combo.

Third - You can search all data, except pricing information, for free at our website - www.numismaster.com and for a reasonable annual fee you can get the pricing information as well.

Here is an example. We recently released the 36th edition of the 1901-2000 Standard Catalog of World Coins. You can buy the Book/DVD combination at our Krause Books website for $60.00. You can buy the stand alone DVD version at our magazine website for $44.95. Or, you can go out to NumisMaster and subscribe to all our data from 1601-Present for $79.95.

There are different benefits and features for each of these options, which line up with the different costs, but in each case you get the catalog in an electronic, searchable version. Nothing this useful is truely free in life, but the current SCWC is readily available in several forms, all with electronic features for use on your home computer or laptop. Pick the one which suits you best, pay for it, use it and enjoy coin collecting!

Just Two More Days to Get Special Discount

Only two more days until the end of my special Big Ideas, little world discount on the new 3rd edition Standard Catalog of World Coins 2001 - Date. It's a 20% discount bringing your price down from $35 to $28 and this years edition includes a DVD of the catalog so that you can travel light or enjoy the SCWC on your computer at home.

See my blog posting from June 12th for more details, including the essential coupon code that allows you to get this discount when ordering online from KPBooks.

Standard Catalog of World Coins 1901-2000 36th Edition

I have not yet received my desk copy, but the new 36th Edition Standard Catalog of World Coins 1901-2000 is now available for purchase through our KP book website. You should also be seeing copies at shows and in stores very soon, if not already, as the distributors are the first to get stocked.

This edition represents a huge effort in price updating, as I had to work on all silver, gold, platinum and palladium issues to bring them up to current market levels. From last years catalog production period to this years, the spot price of gold has risen by about 30%, while silver has climbed about 35%. Platinum went up by over 70% during the year, while palladium rose by over 40%.

When you see a copy of the book, you may notice that I am now listing market level ranges for precious metal spot prices used during book production, which takes many months. This range illustrates how much metals were changing during the 3-5 months it takes us to revise listings for the new edition. This presents a very difficult task, but I think this 36th edition offers a very good set of values, as fellow blogger George Cuhaj and I were able to accomplish some precise metals changes in the final weeks of production to ensure stability at the upper end of our spot ranges.

Another big added feature of the 36th edition is the inclusion of a pdf file DVD of the entire catalog. It's a great way to get the catalog onto your PC screen for quick easy reference, plus you can enlarge images for a closer look at design details. An electronic version of the Standard Catalog of World Coins is something collectors have been waiting a long time for, so if you have a DVD player on your desktop or laptop, pick up the 36th edition and enjoy the enclosed DVD today.

This new edition and it's DVD version should serve the hobby well over the coming year and of course, we have already been working on new updates out on NumisMaster, our live database, which will fold into next years 37th edition SCWC. It's a continual process and we appreciate everyones participation!

Nepal Gets Democracy

In 2001 amid a shocking Royal bloodbath, Nepal gained a new, and what now appears to be their final, King. King Gyanendra and Queen Komal have ruled over a disturbing time in Nepal. The have had continual political unrest, which has escalted greatly since the King's dismissal of the representative government from 2005-2006.

Yesterday Nepal swore in some 600 official lawmakers and within two weeks they expect the King to step down and the 238 year old Shah Dynasty to come to an end as Nepal becomes a Republic.

As life in Nepal changes, so will the form of listings in our coin and banknote catalogs. The political distinction will move from Kingdom under Shah Dynasty to a Republic of the people. The banknotes and coins for daily circulation will surely be redesigned with legends reflecting their new governmental structure and images not of the Royals, but of prominent buildings, floral and fauna. I do hope that heritage and tradition is not left out entirely though. It would be a shame not to see Buddha on Nepalese gold coins!

Speaking of change, I should mention that friend and fellow blogger Colin Bruce has been busy at work this week updating the 17th Century listings for Nepal. Colin is working from an write-up done by long time contributor Klaus Bronny and has supplemented this with current market information obtained through conversations with dealer Steve Album. Much of the work is now complete and can be viewed on NumisMaster, even though the printed and bound 4th edition of the Standard Catalog of World Coins 1601-1700 will not be available until later this year. Why wait? Check it out at NumisMaster now.

Just as the revsion of our 17th Century Nepal listings went smoothly, I hope this is a time of peaceful rebuilding for the Nepalese people. They have had a terrible few years of revolt and the populace deserves a chance to flourish again.

NumisMaster DVD & Book Contests in April

NumisMaster is running two great contests this month. To check out the rules, prizes and such just stop by the NumsiMaster site and click on Contests on the top nav bar.

The prizes for these two contests include the three DVD Standard Catalog of World Coins set and the new Gold Rush book. Entries are only limited to one per person per day, so you can keep stopping back and entering each day up until the contests close at the end of April.

The Standard Catalog of World Coins DVD set includes three DVD's encompasing all the book materials for the 19th, 20th and 21st Century catalogs. This is the first time KP has issued an electronic version of the catalogs with pdf files of the actual pages from the books. It's a nice package and about as close to a download as you are going to get, so get entering today.

Berlin Hosts World Money Fair

If the wild Wisconsin weather cooperates, tomorrow morning I'll be leaving on my way to the World Money Fair in Berlin, Germany. The WMF is one of the worlds largest coinshows in terms of Mint represenation.

There will be 16 world mints attending this years WMF, including the official guest of honor, the Mint of the Peoples Republic of China, and each will be presenting some aspects of their scheduled 2008 coinage programs at a media forum during Friday, the first day of the show.

On Saturday, my little band of travels will be presenting the Coin of the Year Awards, a program that Krause Publications has been holding annually for the last 25 years.

This year COTY also added a live interent voting program for a People's Choice Award, the results of which will be announced in Berlin. Online voting turned out to be very popular and there was a high degree of competition between countries, presumably supported by their clubs and national organizations.  

KP Update

ANA Comes to Milwaukee

Begining this weekend and running through the 13th of August a majority of our numismatic hobby will be focusing their attention on the American Numismatic Associationsbig annual summer show. It's a broad event which can offer a great deal in the way of buying and selling opportunites for everyone and for all kinds of material. You can find just about any type of U.S coinage or tokens, along with a wide variety of world coins, tokens and medals. There will be paper money from most any nation, probably some stocks and bonds and other fiscal instruments. Several world mints will be present and most major coin dealers. There will be many coin dealers from outside the U.S., set up at tables or walking the bourse floor. Club meetings, vest pocket dealers, collectors, accumulators, specialists, researchers, and more will all bve gathered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for a weeks worth of numismatic fun.

And yes, even publishers will be there. Krause Publications will have a large booth area set up with information on our magazines, newspapers, books and internet products. We will have plenty of staff members there to answer your questions, help with subscriptions, show you our products and walk you through our newest internet product, NumisMaster. I'll be there too, from the 9th to the 11th, so stop by and we'll have a chat, I can sign a book for you, or I can show you how NumisMaster can help you to enjoy a fun hobby even more.  

NumisMaster is a live catalog style database. You can use it to search for coins in your collecting area, identify a coin you may already have, value a coin you may have purchased years ago, or to do any other research live on the Internet. The KP database and catalog staff is updating NumisMaster all the time now, right on the Internet, live to the world. This new system makes for wonderful interaction and great market responsiveness, and you can test drive it live at the ANA convention in Milwaukee next week. See you there!