To commemorate Coin World’s attendance at the Beijing International Coin Exposition Nov. 10 to 12, a special medal was produced and distributed at the show by the publication’s staff.

The small Panda medal prompted a major response from the crowd on Nov. 10 and 11, the busiest days of the show.

Coin World distributed most of the 500 medals minted to booth visitors. To receive the medal, collectors scanned a QR code to follow the publication on WeChat, a popular social media platform in China (where Facebook is blocked). 

Mysterious zinc cent discovered in antique store. A 1982 Lincoln cent and cent blanks encased in acrylic are possibly employees’ souvenirs from when the Ball Corp. began supplying the Mint with cent planchets.

Demand was brisk as the show opened to the public at 10 a.m. on Nov. 10, and the daily allotment of medals was distributed within 30 minutes of opening. Visitors were invited to come back to the booth the next day for their chance to obtain one of the medals.

And what a difference a day made. 

The crowd was by then well informed of the free medal, so an enormous line began forming long before the 10 a.m. public opening, which is when distribution of medals was announced to begin the second day. 

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Medal distribution was halted after just 15 minutes on Nov. 11, as the crowd became unruly, yelling and pushing, knocking the booth out of position. At that time, Amos Media Chairman Rick Amos announced that medal distribution would resume at 1 p.m.

But at 12:44 p.m., security officials demanded that Coin World resume distribution because the line of collectors was already extending to the doors of the hall inside the China National Convention Center where the exposition was being held.

The final batch of medals allotted for public distribution was distributed even before the announced 1 p.m. start time, leaving many collectors upset that they missed out. 

The medal was produced by Shanghai New Century Medals Corp., a private firm, with a design by Amos Media’s Brian Hertel.

Chinese language brochure

Coin World also distributed a Chinese-language brochure with some news highlights tailored to the local readers.

Portions of the brochure’s contents will be published in English in future installments right here at Coin World. 

Only 500 of these brochures were printed for the show.

Coin World will continue offering coverage from the show over the coming weeks.