World Money Fair (Berlin)

[Bimat]

The WMF says about itself that it is the biggest coin show on earth; not sure what criteria they use. About 15,500 visitors were there, but what makes the WMF special is that it is many coin related events in one.

May be so, but let me tell you that couple of big coin shows Mumbai hosts every year witnesses about 2k-3k visitors in 3 days. Remember that there's no mint that participates in the show (not even the Indian mints! ), foreign dealers are absent too. It's just about 70-80 dealers from all over India. Considering that, 2k-3k visitors is not bad IMO, however I'm not sure how many of them are actually collectors. I sincerely wish that Indian coin show organizers follow the Berlin (or other) pattern for better response. Stephen Album participated in one of the coin show in Mumbai couple of years back, didn't see him again.

Aditya

[izotz]

Is there anything of interest for a token collector at the WMF (Berlin)?

In my opinion, anybody will always get something there, but more than what you will actually buy during the event, it is about the show itself : mints, dealers, publishers, ... and endless exhibitors organized in an impressive way.

But well, if you really need to find tokens there, I'm pretty sure you will find many dealers offering a few, and several mints, like "Monnaie de Paris" which every year give away some tokens as a proof of their quality (or just marketing).

[chrisild]

In several other posts I already posted bits and pieces from the 2015 WMF catalog published in mid-December 2014. Now there is an updated version - German/English, 18 January - which can be viewed or downloaded here. (PDF, about 32 MB)

Christian

[Bimat]

The Royal Mint just posted this photo on twitter...

Aditya

[chrisild]

Whew, I'm back. What a zoo ... This time I went there on Saturday, and it was full but (as far as I can tell) not terrible. From what I have seen and read, there may have been fewer visitors than last year. Note the cautious wording.

Got most of what I wanted in terms of euro coins, but also (for example) the British £5 Churchill and £2 Magna Carta pieces, the Swiss Alpabzug coin, the Bulgarian Romanian Vladislav I Vlaicu (50 bani) piece. Also, wine gums and a "golden" pen from Degussa, a chocolate coin from the Royal Australian Mint (this year's guest of honor), and a really nice calendar from Künker which shows and explains one coin per month.

Quite disappointing was the fact that the Andorran Numismatic Office apparently canceled its participation at the very last minute. The booth had been set up, but there was a hand-written note that they would not be there. Guess they did not want to hear the same question again and again: "What, just diners, no euro sets?"

Christian (the guy in the photo, hehe)

[Pabitra]

the Bulgarian Vladislav I Vlaicu (50 bani) piece.

Great!!!
Can you put the image?
When did Bulgaria shift to Bani?

[chrisild]

Can you put the image?

Grmpf. Let me just mint them first.   That show is too much stress for me ...

(But still fun.)

Christian

[Bimat]

Anyone visiting it this year? Several mints have already planned 'WMF Special' coin sets...

Aditya

[chrisild]

Yep, I was there. And since I had two coupons (reduced admission fee), I went there on Friday and Saturday. Less WMF time per day, thus more time in the city per day.   Well, visitors who went to the booths of, say, the Monnaie de Paris or the German Numismatic Office had to be patient. And wait in line. Have I mentioned patient? Umm, I am not ...

The MdP sold rolls (at €60) or, for example, the proof version of the UEFA Cup €2 commem (€20). From a kind of vending machine one could get UEFA/unc, and apparently some €10 piece ... was not interested as I would have had to wait in line for an hour or more. The Dutch mint (KNM) had a WMF coin set which was sold out after two hours on Friday.

Another "problem" is the collectors who buy a Coin Passport at the entrance which they can then fill with coins at various mint booths. A really nice idea especially for young people, except that several mints did not have extra staff just for these visitors. Result? You guessed it. This photo shows the line in front of the Canadian Mint's booth ... except they were all waiting for the Monnaie de Paris (booth in the background) to "serve" them.

Christian

[chrisild]

This year's guest of honor was Korea; was not really interested myself as that is not my collecting focus. Here for example is an English language report about this year's WMF: http://news.coinupdate.com/world-money-fair-2016-highlights-of-europes-amazing-three-day-numismatic-event/

The Australians (RAM) did their privy mark thing again - a $1 coin with a special WMF related mark. Last year it was the Ampelmännchen, this time they had a Buddy Bear. Here is a closeup photo of the bear mark (Downies); my camera won't do that.

Next year the WMF will start on Fri 3 Feb and end on Sun 5 Feb. The special guest will then be the South African Mint which plans to celebrate the Krugerrand's 50 year anniversary.

Christian

[Pabitra]

What about the presentations of media and technical forums?
Are those uploaded on the site or anywhere?

[chrisild]

Don't know; in the past they have posted some info about the Technical Forum here:
http://www.worldmoneyfair.de/wmf/en/technical-forum/

The Media Forum is open to any visitor, so maybe they don't think it is necessary to publish all that. After all, the mints presenting their programs will usually publish them at their websites anyway.

Christian

[Pabitra]

Yes.
The information is available in bits and pieces, spread all over.
It is WMF which is the place where you get all info and materials ( including new coins ) in one place.
Some of the presentations do include some details which the presenter does not put anywhere else.

Example,
Mexico plans to revise its series and the design ( size and shapes) include very interesting concept of utilisation. I have not been able to get details anywhere else.

[Bimat]

Another "problem" is the collectors who buy a Coin Passport at the entrance which they can then fill with coins at various mint booths. A really nice idea especially for young people, except that several mints did not have extra staff just for these visitors. Result? You guessed it. This photo shows the line in front of the Canadian Mint's booth ... except they were all waiting for the Monnaie de Paris (booth in the background) to "serve" them.

Thanks for the report!

That passport thing is now a collector's item on eBay. The ability of sellers to make anything a 'collector's item' always amuses me...

Aditya