Jeff Garrett: The 2020 World's Fair Of Money That Never Was

NGC - The August sales that took place without the annual ANA show demonstrated a strong demand for quality coins.

Last week should have been the highlight of my numismatic year. Every summer since 1974, I have attended the ANA World's Fair of Money. The show is the cornerstone of the numismatic calendar, and is greatly anticipated by thousands of collectors and dealers around the world. The bourse usually boasts over 700 tables, with dealers offering material from every corner of numismatics. Many years there are over 10,000 public attendees. My company normally has six to seven tables with sales of hundreds of thousands. This year, none of that happened!



As everyone knows, the 2020 World's Fair of Money in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was an agonizing decision for the ANA board, but in the end, safety ruled the day. Much of the decision was outside of the ANA's control as the city of Pittsburgh had its own restrictions pertaining to large gatherings. Unfortunately, the trend of the pandemic seems to be going in the wrong direction, and the future of any coin show for 2020 is very much up in the air.

Starting in the early part of 2020, Heritage Auctions and Stack's Bowers began soliciting auction consignments for the 2020 ANA World's Fair of Money. The ANA sale is usually one of the premier events of the year, and many collectors send consignments for the prestigious sales. This year was no different, and both companies staged impressive auctions that were conducted mostly online.

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