The Great American Coin Hunt will continue in 2020, but like most aspects of life during the COVID-19 pandemic, will shift toward digital efforts instead.

The 2020 event, as with the inaugural effort in 2019, coincides with the American Numismatic Association’s National Coin Week, which this year is April 19 to 25.

In 2019, hundreds of thousands of old coins and paper money items were released into circulation in change for purchases and through other avenues, to put classic American spending money into the hands of folks who never or rarely encountered them before.

Given the pandemic, organizers of the hunt have pivoted to change the way it will work.

“We were handed lemons, so we decided to make lemonade,” said Rob Oberth, founder of RoundTable Trading, which organized the Great American Coin Hunt in 2019. “We hope that the GACH2020 campaign will prove to be the largest social media campaign ever in the numismatic community.”

Dealers and other participants are being asked to send coins and coin folders to at least 10 different young people, who now find themselves with more time to engage in hobbies.

“These are troubling times but there is a silver lining,” according to Oberth. “We have all found an opportunity to slow down and reconnect with our families. Coin collecting can be an enjoyable and wholesome escape from television and electronic devices.”

Each participant commits to give away $50 worth of rare coins, including vintage silver U.S. coins, per post on social media. They will also be giving away Whitman blue book albums for kids to fill.

Those pledging to give away coins or coin albums will be using the hashtag #GACH2020, #RoundTableLife and #GachIsBack in their posts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

To be eligible to receive the items, folks should “Like” and share or retweet the posts. The original poster will then choose a winner at random from the eligible participants and announce it in further posts.

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