New Dulles Coin & Currency Expo a Success
May 21, 2007

The first annual Dulles Coin & Currency Expo was held May 17-20 at Dulles Expo & Conference Center just minutes from Washington Dulles International Airport in the nation’s capital.  The four-day event began with dealer set up on Thursday followed by three full days of public admission on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.   Area collectors came out in support of the new show in large numbers with over 1,000 guests visiting during the three public days.  Included were many area collectors who had never been to a coin show that took advantage of the free admission and free parking to experience a coin show for the first time.

Attending dealers reported strong retail sales with several being very enthusiastic about the show.  While signing up for next year’s event (and taking additional booth space), Michael O’Higgins of Maryland Coin Exchange commented “We had better retail sales and more customers at our table than at Baltimore.  And we have a good table location at Baltimore!”  Supply dealer Eddie Robinson of Tidewater Coin Company in Chesapeake, Virginia saw steady traffic throughout the show including “a surprising number of customers on Sunday.”  Steve Bryan of MidAtlanticCoins of Dover, Delaware observed that “Type material was hot at the show, with many seeking out better grade Barber material and mid grade Bust coins. For the first time in a long time, common date Morgans were moving like hotcakes.”  After seeing heavy bullion sales on Friday followed by additional strong retail coin sales on Saturday, Bob Bruce of All American Coin Company in Pensacola, Florida lamented not being able to stay through Sunday having previously made arrangements to be elsewhere. “In proceeding month’s the rare coin market had retracted and slowed but you could did not find that in evidence this weekend. The buying and selling was hot and the show was on fire!"

Austin, Texas based ANACS was also in attendance at the show taking submissions and handing out sample slabs to visiting young numismatists.  Traci Poole, ANACS Customer Service Manager, was pleased with the show as well noting that "The Dulles Coin and Currency Expo was an excellent show.  The promoters did a great job of advertising the show which made it very successful for us.  We will certainly be at next year's show."

Dealers and collectors alike were pleased with the show location and convention facility.  The Dulles Expo & Conference Center is the second largest exhibit hall in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Located just six miles south of Washington Dulles International Airport, this 240,000 square foot facility offers over 2,400 adjacent free parking spaces. An on-site, full-service, 233-room hotel complements the over 12,000 airport area rooms that also serve attendees and exhibitors of the Expo Center.  Tidewater’s Robinson was particularly enthusiastic about the new venue noting in a message on the dealer FACTS network the following Monday that he was “back from a GREAT show at the Dulles Expo Center--the first of hopefully many shows at this venue.  [There is] plenty of free parking for everyone.  The hall is huge--plenty of room for expansion--easy access for loading/unloading.  I, personally, was skeptical at first.  I didn't realize this place even existed--but Paul Singleton and Wayne Herndon did a FABULOUS job of promoting, advertising, and managing this initial show.”

Several dealers without tables took advantage of the easy access to the show to make quick day trips in to visit the show when it opened on Friday.  Similarly, the show’s proximity to downtown Washington, DC makes a side trip to the monuments and museums in the nation’s capital very feasible.  Traveling further than any other attendee was Mountain View, California dealer Wei T. Chang.  Chang walked the bourse on Friday before heading downtown for the weekend.  Chang found the trip practical given “the Dulles Expo Center is convenient to Washington Dulles International Airport” and the trip could be combined with a weekend visit to the Smithsonian.

Event organizers Paul Singleton and Wayne Herndon of Potomac Promotions, LLC were also very pleased with the show.  Singleton noted the only downside was “a date that conflicted with four other sizeable shows that reduced dealer attendance and wholesale activity.”  Herndon added that “even when it came apparent that we were not going to get the level of dealer participation we had hoped for, we stuck to our advertising and promotion program to assure strong collector attendance.”

“Dealer attendance definitely was hurt by four other fairly large shows being held on the same weekend,” said Julian M. Leidman of Bonanza Coins in Silver Spring, Maryland.  “The fact that next year's show has already been scheduled for a time that normally does not conflict with other shows will further add to the dealer base that attends.  I definitely feel that the show has an enormous amount of potential. There were interested buyers on all three days.  I believe that in a few years the show will see two hundred, maybe as much as three hundred tables. The public will definitely respond positively.”

Andy Skrabalak of Angel Dee's Coins and Collectibles had a similar assessment.  “The show has all the characteristics needed for a successful show:  The Dulles Expo Center has a great location that is minutes from a major airport, convenient to many hotels/motels that offer shuttle services to/from the airport, many restaurants nearby and the lure of the nation’s capital.”

Singleton and Herndon are already working on next year’s event scheduled for April 24-27, 2008.  For additional details about the show, see the show’s website at www.DullesCoinExpo.com or call Paul Singleton at 703-932-9568.  Potomac Promotions, LLC also coordinates the bi-annual Annandale Coin Show in Annandale, Virginia (www.AnnandaleCoinShow.com).