Quantity: Number of dealers: high. Number of Mints: down. Number numismatic book dealers: same three (bless them for dragging all that inventory, but should also mention Wizard Coin Supply for a large display of books in print). Number of Auctions: high. Show attendance: less than I expected. Exhibits: mixed, some high, some low. Numismatic lectures: same number it seems but very well attended. (Thank goodness collectors still want to learn!)

Quality: Dealer stock: very high. Auction items: very high. Numismatic lectures: extremely high quality. Auction attendance (someone else must report on this and auction sales results).

The economy definitely affected the Boston ANA. Dealers seemed to bring more stock of higher priced items. This was the place to sell it. But many carried unsold items back home.

Book and supply items had a tax-free day on Saturday. (I bought, I sold.)

Introduction of my new book -- Monographs of Coin & Medal Artists -- found a great reception. Had to open a second box of four I brought to the show.

It seems the profitability of conducting conventions is great for the ANA, as evidenced by increasing the number of major shows from two to three a year, by adding a new Spring Show.

More next week.

You're missing a fun ANA! It's been a very successful and productive show for me, from a publisher's perspective. I've met with current Whitman authors, talked with potential new authors (writers with manuscript proposals), and worked on planning for several longterm projects.

Our autograph sessions have been popular --- Fred Reed was kept busy signing copies of his Abraham Lincoln book, and he later told me he was asked to speak at a Lincoln forum as a result of his meet-and-greet. Bob Leonard's Curious Currency remains a nice popular seller and attention-getter. 100 Greatest Error Coins has been the buzz of the bourse, and it looks like we'll sell out of the show's inventory before the convention closes.

At the Numismatic Literary Guild awards banquet, Whitman authors who walked away with prizes include Jeff Garrett, Q. David Bowers, David MacDonald, and Robert Leonard. (Not to mention David Lange, Rick Snow, and Fred Reed, for various non-Whitman works.) QDB's Whitman Encyclopedia of U.S. Paper Money won "Book of the Year" (the work most likely to have an impact on numismatics). This is our second year in a row to earn the top prize.

On a non-literary note, I added a couple dozen 19th-century European medals to my collection, enjoyed dinner with the Austrian Mint at the Boston Athenaeum (which actually does have a literary connection, of course; their collections include books that belonged to Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, among others); attended some great presentations including Don Bailey's study of Mexican Revolution personalities and the Orosz/Augsburger immersion into the first U.S. Mint; and toured the show's amazing exhibits. Hanging out with Ken Bressett and Dave Bowers after the bourse closes, and I dare to call this "work"? And it's only Friday!

There were no entries in the numismatic literature class.