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Heading to the World Money Fair: Monday Morning Brief

Berlin is set to again host the World Money Fair, one of the largest coin shows in the world. The fun begins with an auction and continues with coin launches, awards ceremonies and more. Coin World’s Jeff Starck previews the numismatic Lollapalooza this week for those who can’t make it to the big show.

Full video trancript:

Good morning. Welcome to the Monday Morning Brief. I’m Jeff Starck of Coin World.

Right now I’m getting ready to head to Berlin, Germany, for what promises to be one of the most exciting coin shows all year—the World Money Fair. The Republic of Korea is the guest of honor at this year’s fair, the 45th annual event. The show is expected to draw at least 10,000 collectors from Germany and across Europe to the Estrel Convention Center, which has hosted the show since 2006.

Festivities begin even before the ribbon ceremony on February 5. First off is the Fritz Rudolph Künker auction preceding the show on February 4.

One of the highlights of this juggernaut sale is this French 1799 gold 5-francs pattern coin. It was issued 10 years after the storming of the Bastille. The coin is the only one available in private hands and was once owned by Louis II, Prince of Monaco. It has an estimate of €125,000.

A total of about 50 world mints and multiple times that many world dealers will fill the hall with modern material and historic treasures, and everything in between. Companies that make the machinery used to design, strike and package the coins also have a place at the numismatic festival.

Two big events are scheduled for the show, including the handover of dies and punches that were once used at the German manufacturer Otto Beh to strike Chinese coins. Representatives from both Germany and China will be on hand for a formal ceremony on February 6 to transfer the tooling to Germany’s state coin collection in Saxony.

Following the ceremony is another spectacle, the formal distribution of the Coin of the Year Awards. Each year, the awards honor the best in coin designs from around the world. This is the 33rd year for the awards, which were first begun in 1984 for 1982-dated coinage. The top winner this year is the United States Mint for its 2014 National Baseball Hall of Fame half dollar.

And if that isn’t enticing enough, let’s just say that one never knows who they might meet in Berlin. But if you can’t come along, we’ll cover the show for you. Just follow us on Twitter, at Facebook, online at CoinWorld.com and of course in print in your mailbox.

For Coin World, I’m Jeff Starck. Happy collecting!

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