As I write this, I’m preparing to join our senor staff writer Jeff Starck in Berlin for the World Money Fair.

The show features over 300 exhibitors and 60 national mints or banks. Its regular attendance of over 15,000 people makes it the best-attended numismatic event worldwide.

The guest of honor is a world mint familiar to U.S. audiences via its popular Vienna Philharmonic bullion coin which first went on sale 25 years ago, in 1989: the Austrian Mint.

The Austrian Mint, like many world mints, continues to innovate with designs and new products aimed to help introduce new people to the hobby and maintain the interest of established collectors.

Here at Coin World, we work to give our U.S. audience a well-curated sampling of what’s happening around the world.

From John Andrew, our longtime London correspondent, to David Vagi, who writes on ancient coins in each month’s Coin World monthly publication; from Jeff, who maintains relationships with dozens of Mints around the world to keep up with the latest new issues, to our entire staff, which combs the world for interesting auctions, Coin World hopes to give you a taste of what’s happening in the world — and what there is to collect — from the comfort of your home.

Two key long-established events serve as benchmarks for the world coin market: January’s New York International Numismatic Convention and February’s Berlin money show.

These are being supplemented by a growing number of shows in Asia and around the world as emerging markets discover the many pleasures of coin collecting.

This increasing globalization can only benefit the rare coin market by spurring innovation from mints around the globe and increasing the total number of people who identify themselves as coin collectors.

As Coin World, we understand our responsibility to bring you the latest in coin news around the world. Thank you for joining us on this journey.

Best,

Steve Roach

sroach@coinworld.com