PAN president Tom Uram will be making the trip to Schaumburg IL for the Central States Show. His trip is duel purposed. He is taking material to promote PAN and will also be entering an exhibit, Morse code on Money.

To Pat Vetter and Blaine Shiff, who each will be participating at the Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists Coin Show & Convention, set for next week at the Monroeville Convention Center, there is more to collecting coins than the value.

They think that along with “heads and tails,” there are artistic and historical sides to coins, as well.

And the same is true of many collectors heading to the free twice-a-year show, which offers a chance to buy, sell or trade items with more than 60 dealers, said Shiff, the show's bourse chairman. The bourse is the sales floor.

Along with being interested in the value of a numismatic piece, which can include silver dollars, gold coins, U.S. coins, foreign coins and ancient coins, many collectors, such as Shiff, care about the design of a piece.

“They're exquisite pieces of art. I really appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into a coin or token,” said Shiff, who owns www.cybercoins.net with his brother, Brad Shiff.

Those attending next week's show, which runs from 1 to 6 p.m. May 9, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 10 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 11, also can find tokens, medals, paper money and bullion, which refers to gold, silver, platinum and palladium.