(Baltimore, Maryland) — This year’s annual PNG Day conducted by the Professional Numismatists Guild in conjunction with the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money® convention will be Tuesday, July 29, 2008, in Hall A of the Baltimore Convention Center from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Collectors are cordially invited to attend; however, an invitation is required for admission.

“Invitations to attend the PNG Day are available free from participating PNG member-dealers as well as from PNG headquarters,” said Robert Brueggeman, PNG Executive Director. A directory of members is available at the PNG’s web site (www.PNGdealers.com) or you can contact the PNG office.”

More than 60 PNG member-dealers will have booths, prominently designated with PNG banners, for buying and selling numismatic merchandise at the Baltimore PNG Day show.

“To showcase our membership to the collecting pubic, PNG has made arrangements with the ANA and the Central States Numismatic Society to hold two PNG Days each year in conjunction with those organizations’ annual conventions. This gives collectors an opportunity to meet many of the experienced, trustworthy PNG dealers at a less frantic pace than often found during large shows,” explained PNG President Gary Adkins. (more…)

(Fallbrook, California) – The Professional Numismatists Guild will continue its year-long series of PNG Share the Knowledge educational seminars at major numismatic conventions in June and August. Programs will be conducted by PNG member-dealers at the Whitman Baltimore Coin and Currency Convention, June 6; the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money® in Baltimore, August 1 and 2; and at the Whitman Coin and Collectibles Atlanta Expo, August 22, 2008.

A complimentary light lunch will be available for audience members at each seminar. The seminars are free and open to collectors and dealers as a way for some of the hobby’s top experts to share their knowledge.

PNG Immediate Past President Jeff Garrett of Lexington, Kentucky will present a program about “United States Gold Coins and The Smithsonian Collection” at Noon on Friday, June 6, in room 303 of the Baltimore Convention Center.

“While doing research for the book, Encyclopedia of United States Gold Coins, I had the opportunity to study one of the greatest collections of gold coins ever assembled. During my seminar I’ll discuss the history of the collection, the museum and many of the incredible highlights that make the National Numismatic Collection one of the finest in the world,” said Garrett.

Two PNG seminars will be presented at the ANA convention starting with Donald Kagin, Ph.D. of Tiburon, California who will discuss “Pioneer Gold Pattern Coinage” at 11 a.m. Friday, August 1, in room 319 of the Baltimore Convention Center.

“It’s the story of our nation’s first entrepreneurs who created and made impressions from coinage dies primarily in contemplation of making coins from the gold in our country’s first three gold rushes. There were more than 30 different companies, but 11 of them never made gold coins,” Kagin said.

The second PNG seminar at the ANA’s annual summer convention will be presented by PNG President Gary Adkins of Edina, Minnesota, “Collectors Are From Venus, Dealers Are From Mars!,” at Noon, Saturday, August 2, also in room 319 of the Baltimore Convention Center.

Adkins will discuss expectations on both sides of the bourse table when attending a coin show, including preparation before the show; travel and security; show hours and management; dealer and collector etiquette; buying and selling; expectations of the transaction; and enjoying the experiences of a coin show. (more…)

(Fallbrook, California) – An Atlanta area high school freshman, Dustin Reynolds, 15, is this year’s winner of the Professional Numismatist Guild’s (PNG) Young Numismatist Scholarship. The PNG scholarship covers tuition for a one-week session at the American Numismatic Association (ANA) annual Summer Seminar, airfare, meals and six nights of dormitory accommodations on the campus of Colorado College, site of the ANA headquarters.

“I was pretty excited,” said Reynolds, recalling his reaction when he was informed of the scholarship.

Dustin began collecting coins at the age of 13. At that time he was intrigued by Morgan dollars.

“The dollars had belonged to my grandfather and I always enjoyed looking at them. I bought a ‘Red Book’ (A Guide Book of United States Coins) at Barnes & Noble. My Father (Ed Reynolds) and I would visit local flea markets to buy coins. In July of 2006 my Mom and I attended a coin show in Dalton (Georgia). The show exposed me to coins at a whole new level, and I was very intrigued with the dealers that I met at the show. Now I’m also selling coins, and I really like it,” Reynolds explained.

He had a bourse table at a recent Georgia Numismatic Association show in Dalton.

“I’m balancing between being a collector and a dealer. I want to be a professional numismatist (for my career).”

Reynolds enjoys collecting varieties of early date large cents, such as the 1806/7 overdate, and says his favorite area of numismatics is “everything Seated.” He would like to enroll in the counterfeit detection class at this year’s ANA Summer Seminar. (more…)

Pattern coins and the precious metals markets are the topics of the next two, free Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG) “Share the Knowledge” educational seminars. They will be conducted, respectively, by PNG member-dealers Andy Lustig and Richard Nachbar at the Central States Numismatic Society convention (CSNS) in April and at the Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo in May.

A complimentary light lunch will be available for audience members at both PNG seminars.

Lustig of Nyack, New York is a co-founder of The Society of U.S. Pattern Collectors. He will present “Collecting Pattern Coinage” starting at 11 a.m. on Friday, April 18, 2008 in room 42 of the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, 5555 N. River Rd., Rosemont, Illinois, the site of the 69th Annual CSNS Convention.

“Patterns are some of the rarest coins struck by the United States Mint. The series has more than 2,000 different prototypes for American coinage including patterns, die trials and experimental pieces. This half hour seminar will provide an overview of the series, historical background, collecting strategies and a superb slide show of great rarities,” Lustig said.

The annual spring PNG Day will be held in conjunction with the CSNS show on Wednesday, April 16. Collectors may obtain free, printed PNG Day invitations from PNG member-dealers. An online membership directory is available at www.PNGdealers.com, or call PNG Executive Director Robert Brueggeman at (760) 728-1300. (more…)

(Fallbrook, California) – Investors who want to purchase or sell gold or silver coins should avoid “impulse buying” and “uninformed selling,” according to the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG), a nonprofit organization composed of the country’s top rare coin and bullion coin dealers.

The experts warn investors to be wary of cold-call solicitations because the telemarketer’s fees may be significantly higher than other sources for precious metals coins.

“As bullion prices significantly increased in recent months, PNG-member coin dealers across the country have seen a new ‘Gold Rush’ with a sharp increase in the number of people who want to buy or sell precious metals coins, such as the American Eagle and Canadian Maple Leaf. To make the best possible transactions, people need to know the current ‘spot’ price of precious metals, the dealer’s reputation and the fees or commissions before they buy or sell,” said PNG President Gary Adkins of Edina, Minnesota.

(more…)