Hundreds of collectors attended the bi-annual Paris Coin Show at the Paris Fairgrounds on Sunday, February 4, 2024.
With nearly 50 vendors in attendance, both amateur and serious coin collectors alike, spent their time sifting through the thousands of collectible items on display, or selling some of their own personal items.
Many guests of all ages came prepared with lists in hand as they searched for hot-ticket items to help fill their collections, often sitting with one particular vendor for an extended period of time.
From silver bars to special edition and commemorative coins, historical banknotes, books, medals and more, there was no shortage of items to browse. Several vendors even showed off their own personal items they have created from smelting down precious metals.
Coin collecting (also known as numismatics) is frequently referred to as one of the oldest hobbies in the world and many attendees agreed that it’s not just the thrill of the hunt, but the beauty in the designs and the history behind the items that brings them joy.
“I think what makes it interesting is probably the history and the events that were sort of tied to the same period. There are people that specifically collect coins that were issued during the wars and there’s some that will collect coins and banknotes from a particular country or region,” said John Smith, a vendor from the GTA. “Others may just collect various five-dollar banknotes, old silver dollars, or gold Canadian coins. For me, it was always the appeal for really nice graphics. I love to collect different coins with coat of arms, animals and that sort of thing.”
Smith said that his passion for numismatics began as a young child.
“I inherited by father small collection when I was very young and that’s kind of what piqued my interest. I collected until I was about 16 and then sort of lost interest. A number of years back, one of my nieces expressed her interest in buying my collection and over the period of a couple years of doing that with her, it kind of began to intrigue me again,” said Smith. “So, there was a bit of a lull for a few decades there but eventually I started doing these shows and I’m quite an active collector again. It’s just an interesting field and it’s a lot of fun. Occasionally, people will say ‘it’s a lot of money to spend on this sort of stuff,’ but what they fail to realize is that gold is an international currency. You’re never going to lose on gold and silver, and you’re putting money into precious metals.”
Jared Stapleton, the Paris Coin Show organizer, said that he was happy with Sunday’s turnout.
“It’s been a wonderful event, we have had a great turnout and I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from all the people that walked in the door,” said Stapleton. “We’ve probably already had around 300 people stop by and we’re only halfway through the day.”
The Paris Coin Show, formerly known as the Southwestern Ontario Numismatics (SWON) show, is a one-day event that has been running since 1990’s and is always held on the first weekend of February, and again on the second weekend of August.
Stapleton, who owns Metro Coin and Banknote in Toronto, and also runs the Toronto Coin Expo, acquired the rights to the SWON show from Ted Bailey back in 2017 and has since kept the tradition alive.
“I call it ‘Canada’s best one day coin show,’ and it’s something I did not want to see fall to the side. I’m passionate about events for our numismatic community and it was very much a question of, ‘what can I do to support it?’” he said. “So this is how I support it, by giving people a safe place to talk, to buy, to sell, and to have a day with friends. It’s not just about me, it’s about the other dealers, it’s about the collectors, it’s about the industry and it’s about one of the oldest hobbies that we know of.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
