FUN Rocks in 2020!

There is one constant on the coin show circuit. Irrespective of market conditions, The Florida United Numismatists (FUN) Coin Show will be both well attended and full of optimism. This year was once again no exception. We only wish that the dealer community would maintain this same level of enthusiasm throughout the year. We purposely did not mention collectors in that statement, and for good reason. They have been in the game for quite some time now, which makes figuring out the general lackluster mood of the wholesale sector of the coin market a real head-scratcher. It is always good seeing all of the market players, from the largest suppliers to the rank and file collector, on the same page. If only for the week, that’s exactly the mood that prevailed in Orlando. From Wednesday setup throughout the conclusion of business on Saturday afternoon, this was another FUN Show for the ages.  Although we couldn’t begin to guess the exact number of attendees, the numismatic bourse floor of The Orange County Convention Center remained packed with people for the duration. Given that there were well over 1000 dealers in attendance, this was no small feat. We never take for granted the amount of planning, work and manpower that it takes to pull off a show like this. Kudos to FUN!

The Reeded Edge was non-stop busy for the entire show. Rob, Robbie, Miguel and Rory were all-hands-on-deck with customers two-deep on both sides of the booth for much of the show. Running out of supplies like checks, ink for the printer, printer paper, invoices and price stickers are all indicators of serious activity. Both buying and selling were robust, which is another encouraging sign. Balance is one of the most important aspects of a stable market. In all, The Reeded Edge conducted over half a million dollars worth of numismatic business. Furthermore, a mix of everything was selling. Surveying the show cases on Saturday afternoon, holes were evident in every case from the early copper on the left side of the booth to gold coins on the right. There was no one emerging trend for us at FUN, other than the collector is king. From second-hand reports, the auctions sounded like a mixed bag with extraordinary coins selling at stratospheric prices and ordinary material predictably depressed. Since auctions play no role in The Reeded Edge’s business plan, this was not a component that impacted us either way.

Our takeaway from 2020 FUN was pretty much the same as every other year. The mood coming into the show was predictably optimistic, and the mood leaving, even more so. The next several months will be telltale in defining the true market direction. Our next show will be The Vienna Quarterly Coin and Stamp Show, before traveling to St. Louis and Atlanta in February. By then, all of us should have a better read on both the health and future of the 2020 coin market. For now, we will enjoy the results of FUN, and process the many hundreds of new coins that we purchased throughout the week, making them available to our customers for the first time. Stay tuned!