The myriad of activities planned for the American Numismatic Association (ANA) World’s Fair of MoneySM, July 30 to August 3, will fill the Baltimore Convention Center.

“In addition to the busy bourse in Halls A, B, C and D, and the spectacular exhibits right inside the door, club meetings, Numismatic Theatre and special events will take place throughout the convention center,” says ANA Convention Director Brenda Bishop. “The Baltimore Convention Center offers plenty of room for the many, many activities scheduled for the ANA’s convention.”

More than 1,000 bourse dealers and mints will fill the four convention center halls, with the exhibit area set up just outside the bourse area. On display will be the once-in-a-lifetime reunion of four of the five known 1913 Liberty Head nickels; a collection of original works of art by the late cartoon storyteller and painter Carl Barks depicting Disney’s famous big- bucks character, Scrooge McDuck, in money-related themes; and the premiere of a world-class collection of United States paper money.

On the bourse, the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) will have its eye-opening $1 billion exhibit of colorful currency, and the British Royal Mint will launch its “Lord of the Rings Coin Collection.”

Special events planned for the show include tours of the Baltimore Branch of the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank and the BEP in Washington, D.C.; a Friendship Luncheon cruise of the Inner Harbor aboard the Bay Lady; sailing on the Clipper City around the Inner Harbor to Fort McHenry and other marine terminals; and an evening watching the Baltimore Orioles play ball.

A fantastic lineup of Numismatic Theatre educational programs and Convention Theatre presentations will be held throughout the week, with introductory numismatic classes for the family–“Coin Collecting Basics”–scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, August 1-3. More than 50 specialty clubs and organizations will hold meetings during the show, including World Coin News’ Coin of the Year presentation and the Numismatic Literary Guild Bash.

Six news conferences are set to be held at the ANA show, as are an open meeting of the U.S. Mint’s Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee and the Mint’s Collector’s Forum.

Six sessions of the Bowers and Merena Galleries official ANA auction will be held at the Baltimore Convention Center, with auction-lot viewing adjacent to the exhibit area.

For young collectors, the ANA will offer a number of events, including the ANA World Series of Numismatics, Young Numismatists Awards Breakfast and Auction, Boy and Girl Scout collecting clinic and Treasure Trivia Game.

During the convention, the ANA will host a Life Member Reception, Membership Reception, and Numismatist of the Year and Retirement Celebration for Edward C. Rochette, executive director emeritus. Presentations of ANA merit and exhibit awards will be made at the convention center, and the Association’s Awards Reception and Banquet will be held at the nearby Hyatt Regency Baltimore, where the installation of ANA officers will occur on Saturday, August 2.

“Everyone who attends the World’s Fair of Money will have to study their program to select their week’s schedule,” Bishop says. “ANA conventions offer so much for collectors, we are certain everyone will find more than enough to see and do.”

For more information about the ANA World’s Fair of Money 2003, contact the ANA Convention Department, 818 N. Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, CO 80903-3279; phone 719-632-2646; fax 719-634-4085; e-mail convention@money.org; or visit the ANA website www.money.org.

Originally Release Date: July 1, 2003

ANA Contacts: Phone: 719-482-9872

                            Email: pr@money.org