The following is an announcement posted on the Compu-Quote web site by Marvin Mallon, President of HobbySoft.

“Thank you for your interest in HobbySoft programs for coin, stamp and currency collectors. Our business was founded in 1982 and over the last 27 years we have enjoyed distributing our software to thousands of serious customers such as you.

It is with much regret that we are closing our business at this time. The present state of the economy, the dwindling number of young people entering the hobby and the advanced age of others and myself here at Compu-Quote are the responsible reasons for this action. We can no longer accept new orders or requests for our annual update disks.

We will endeavor to honor our commitment of technical support to those who own our programs. We can, and will, do so by email communication for as long as we are reasonably able to provide that service. Your inquiries and comments will be answered if they are directed to support@compu-quote.net.

Vendors Supporting Compu-Quote Customers
Arrangements have been made with two of the leading competitors who, like ourselves, have sold thousands of copies of their coin, currency and stamp applications. They will be pleased to offer their services by providing a means for your personal records to be transferred into their programs that, I believe, they will offer to you at a discount. This will provide you with the means for continuing with the inventorying and evaluation of your collection.

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There are five major brands of coin albums that feature a large selection of titles. These album lines are Intercept Shield, Dansco, Whitman, US Mint and Littleton. While similar in many respects, each brand has some unique qualities that can impact a collector’s decision on which to select. In addition, there are numerous other brands with a more limited selection of titles (often limited to popular series like the State Quarters and Presidential Dollars). We provide a comparison of the major brands and more popular of the secondary brands below.

Intercept Shield

Our favorite line of albums is the Intercept Shield series. Thirty titles covering most of the major series from the late 1800s to date are currently available in this gradually expanding series. In addition, Intercept manufacturers a Type album that, in our opinion, is a better layout and mix of coins than that of any other manufacturer. As strong preservation proponents we are sold on the protective qualities of the Intercept Shield line. Intercept Shield albums go beyond just being constructed from archival quality materials. Each album is lined with Corrosion Intercept which traps and neutralizes corrosive gases before they reach the coins inside. The albums are sold with a matching slipcase that is also lined with Intercept Shield providing a second layer of protection. State Quarter and Presidential Dollar albums are available in multiple formats (Date Set, P&D, and P, D and S-proof). However, the other modern series are available in only in the with proofs format. We’d like to see Intercept continue to grow the number of titles available and offer a range of blank albums and pages so collectors could build their own custom albums so any collection could be protected in matching albums. (more…)

Wizard Coin Supply is the official supply dealer for the American Numismatic Association’s World Fair of Money taking place in Baltimore from July 30th to August 3rd. Wizard plans a number of events during these five days to engage show attendees in the books and supplies side of numismatics. One such event is the Autograph Festival. Three separate programs will make up the Autograph Festival with the goal of connecting as many authors to as many readers for book autographs as possible. Wizard is sponsoring the Festival at no cost to authors or readers and the books need not be bought from Wizard to participate.

Program 1-Autograph Sessions at the Wizard booth. Wizard will organize and promote autograph sessions at our booth for authors willing to join us for a session (or two) during the course of the show. Authors can reserve their preferred half hour or hour time slot(s) with Wizard. Wizard will include the session in our promotional materials and dedicate space at the booth for authors to meet the public, sign autographs and chat with fellow numismatists.

Program 2-Autographs at Author’s Booths. We recognize that many authors will be otherwise involved at the show and may prefer to autograph books at their own booths (either instead of or in addition to a session at the Wizard booth). For authors that advise us of their availability and willingness to participate in this manner, Wizard will include the author’s name and booth number in Autograph Festival publicity.

Program 3-Drop Off Program. Wizard will also accept drop-off books for autographing by the author and then return them to their owners later in the show or via mail after the show. This program is ideal both for authors who would like to participate but prefer not to or unable to have an autograph session and also for authors who participate in Program 1 and want to have an option available for customers who are unable to be present for the session (due to auction or seminar attendance, not present at the show that day, etc.). (more…)