Selecting a city to serve as the host for a major coin convention requires show planners to weigh a lot of factors. The staff and board of governors for the American Numismatic Association, with decades of experience in researching potential show sites, is trying to get things right with the latest board decisions.

The ANA World’s Fair of Money is one of the biggest numismatic conventions every year. Shows sponsored by the Florida United Numismatists every January and the World Money Fair in Berlin in late winter also compete for “biggest convention” bragging rights, but few would deny that the annual ANA summer convention is a “must” for major firms and government/private mints from around the world.

In the past decade or so, one ANA convention host city has dominated — Rosemont, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The World’s Fair of Money was held in Rosemont in 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2022. Two cities in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, were selected four times between 2012 and 2023 (the 2020 convention in Pittsburgh was canceled because of the pandemic). Anaheim, California, and Denver were the sites of the 2016 and 2017 shows.  

Chicago suburbs are popular sites for coin conventions. The Central States Numismatic Society holds its annual convention in Schaumburg, another Chicago suburb. The major airports serving Chicago make it easy for show attendees to get there from virtually anywhere in the world. However, having Chicago serve as the preferred show site shortchanges collectors who cannot attend every convention due to travel costs.

The ANA has firmed up its schedule of 2023 to 2026 convention host cities: Pittsburgh, 2023 and 2026; Rosemont, 2024; Oklahoma City, 2025. The Oklahoma location is a new one for the ANA; it has not held a show in the state since the first ANA convention (1891, Chicago!).

The ANA is to be applauded for discussing the selection of different host cities. Success will be determined by the participants at the future sites. Good experiences could translate to future shows in the same city. Mediocre results will likely lead the ANA to strike off a city as a future site. The 2025 show should proved an interesting experience.
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