December 18, 2014 – Patricia Foley, Convention Chairman for the Professional Currency Dealers Association sponsored National Coin and Currency Convention, has announced a format change for the event, effective with its 2015 edition. She said, “Our 30th Annual National Coin and Currency Convention will once again be held at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare, located in Rosemont, IL, just two miles from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. In 2015 our Board has decided to increase the overall appeal of the NCCC to our attendees by introducing a format change. We will once again be the weekend prior to Thanksgiving. As in the past, our auction lot viewing will open on Wednesday. Our booth holders will move in on Thursday morning and we’ll have our traditional Early Bird/Professional Preview Day on Thursday, November 19 from 1PM-6PM. Our bourse area will be open to the general public on Friday and Saturday from 10AM-6PM each day.”
She continued, “In order to address the perennial issue of a disappointed public attendee base on Sunday due to the early departure of booth holders prior to the official close of the bourse, we’ve decided to eliminate Sunday public hours. Instead – and this is what we are really excited about – we’ll have a four session Numismatic Educational Symposium on Sunday, November 22 from 9:30AM-3:30PM. The PCDA will be jointly sponsoring the symposium with the Central States Numismatic Society and the Chicago Coin Club. There will be four speakers, all well known numismatic authors or researchers. While the full lineup has not been finalized, we’ve already received a confirmation from Peter Huntoon. Mr. Huntoon is well known in the numismatic community as a published author and pioneering original researcher on the general subject of United States National Bank Notes. In addition to his many articles in Paper Money Magazine, the journal of the Society of Paper Money Collectors, Mr. Huntoon has lectured widely on various currency related topics and is the author of United States Large Size National Bank Notes.”
Bourse Chairman Kevin Foley added, “I know how disappointing it can be for people to come to any numismatic convention on Sunday, only to find that a fair number of the booth holders just aren’t there. We’ll be providing full security in our bourse room on Sunday so that dealers can remain and either do business with each other or avail themselves of the opportunity to stay on Sunday for the educational opportunities to be provided by our symposium. Central States Numismatic Society Education Director Ray Lockwood will be in charge of the symposium. CSNS has sponsored upwards of a dozen of the traveling seminars and they typically draw crowds of 50-70 attendees to hear the high end presenters that CSNS engages. This new format will, we hope, give both our dealers and public attendees a real incentive to come early and stay late to take advantage of all the resources offered by the National Coin and Currency Convention, both commercial and educational. We expect that this exciting addition to the format of our event will see all of our booth holders actually operating their booths right up to the 6PM Saturday close of our bourse to the general public.”
There will be a $75 registration fee for attendees at the 1PM-6PM Thursday, November 19 Professional Preview/Early Bird Day, payable on site. A two day pass valid for admission to all public bourse hours from 10AM-6PM on Friday and Saturday, November 20 and 21 is $5, also payable on site.
Registration for the Sunday Numismatic Educational Symposium is $20 for members of the Central States Numismatic Society and $30 for non-members, which includes a continental breakfast and light lunch. Advance registration for the symposium is required due to limited seating. Details are available from Ray Lockwood via email. Lockwood said of the symposium, “CSNS has sponsored these free standing seminars throughout the Midwest on a twice per year basis for the past half dozen years. The seminars have proven to be one of our most popular educational endeavors, bringing highly credentialed authors and researchers to interested students of numismatics in an entertaining and socially enriching format. In fact, we have a regular following of attendees who make a practice of traveling to attend our seminars, so we must be doing something right.”
Rooms are available at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare at a special discounted rate of $115. Accommodations can be reserved by calling the hotel at (877) 337-5793 and asking for the $115 “National Coin and Currency Convention” rate. Dealers interested in bourse space can obtain an application from Bourse Chairman Kevin Foley by e-mailing him.
Lyn Knight will be the official auctioneer for the convention, holding a three session sale on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. Additional information about his auctions and consignment details are available via e-mail or on the company’s website.
Additional details about the Professional Currency Dealers Association and the National Coin and Currency Convention can be accessed on the website of the PCDA. The Central States Numismatic Society website, where additional information is available about that organization, you may find here.