"The NUMISMATA Munich 2020 has been cancelled!

"Due to new administrative orders of the City of Munich because of the coronavirus, we unfortunately had to cancel the fair at short notice.

"We are deeply sorry that we found ourselves constrained to cancel NUMISMATA at short notice. We apologize to all visitors especially to those who travelled far in order to come to Munich. Nevertheless, we really want to express our gratitude to the many exhibitors who reacted with such an aplomb showing us that they were aware of the difficult situation."

"As things stand today, we are still planning to hold our 2020 Summer Seminar and Pittsburgh World's Fair of Money®. Colorado College has informed us that they are delaying a decision on whether we can hold Summer Seminar on its campus until late April. You can still register for Summer Seminar programs (and we hope that you will); however, during this time of uncertainty, we encourage you to wait to book flights and hotel accommodations until we are confident that the event will be held as scheduled. (Summer Seminar registration fees are fully refundable.) We will keep you updated on the status of both events.

"The ANA headquarters building and Edward C. Rochette Money Museum will be closed to the public from March 14 through April 30, to reduce the spread of Coronavirus."

"First, please know the ANS's work is continuing uninterrupted, as we have instituted contingency plans that were worked out a few weeks ago when the potential extent of the current crisis became clear. While some ANS's staff will be working remotely for as long as is prudent, we expect to be available to you, as always. We have no intention of closing our facilities, but if you are planning to visit, it is important that you check with our staff regarding actual accessibility, which may change based on how the next weeks unfold. If you have questions or concerns, please let us know.

"At the same time, our online presence will continue to improve and expand unabated. The ANS has been at the forefront of digital numismatics for many years now, as can be seen by MANTIS, DONUM, and our successful collaborative platforms, including OCRE, HRC, and CHRR. Beyond our blog, Pocket Change, we are planning to launch a new podcast, The Planchet, covering various numismatic topics. Expect some announcements soon via our e-news and usual social media posts. "

"Hello everyone! I know it may seem like the world has turned upside down but I'm hopeful that people will try to remain calm. I think the self isolation steps that the U.S. has taken is probably the best start to controlling the spread of the virus on the U.S. side. Due to this crisis I was forced to end my Europe trip early by over a week. It was very disappointing not being able to properly view the Roma and Künker auctions but even in the last day I'm feeling much better about the auction situation as the houses are stepping right up with logical solutions.

"To be honest I was most worried about the auction at our good friends at Künker. With the very traditional (and frankly much loved by me) format of floor auctions with no live bidding, came the scary prospect of a lot of missing customers during the auction. Ulrich Künker and his organized staff went into solution mode and decided to offer for the first time live bidding during the auctions. This is a big deal and I commend them for doing this. Phone bidding will still be available and certainly there will be a sizable audience of floor bidders from Europe but having the live bidding option available will open many more opportunities.

"Another auction house that I am quite worried for is Roma. This auction is on the heels of Künker and certainly will experience a lower turnout due to the Coronavirus. Again, Richard Beale and his dependable team have made accomodations for dealers like me. I was able to view some of the coins since I had arrived in England the day when I was forced to change my plans. Viewing some of the coins obviously won't cut it so Richard has made high resolution photographs available to me (and others I'm certain if they request it). Of course it never is as good as being there and viewing them but it certainly is pretty darn close."

"The Central States Numismatic Society has canceled its April 22-25, 2020 convention because of the coronavirus outbreak.

"Our focus is the safety and health of our booth holders, exhibitors, collectors and the general public. Therefore, in accordance with recommendations from health officials to cease activities where people gather together in large and close groups, we are canceling our convention," CSNS President Mitch Ernst said.

"The official CSNS convention auctions held by Heritage Auctions will still be held on the dates scheduled. However, the location has changed from the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center in suburban Chicago to Heritage's headquarters in Dallas, TX, instead."

"The 2020 Northwest Coin Club Money Show, scheduled for March 20-22, has been cancelled. This would have been the club 86th anniversary show and was to be held at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.

"Friday afternoon, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz issued an emergency order and recommended that all events with attendance of 250 or more should be cancelled or postponed. However, the coin show was cancelled earlier in the day when the venue announced they were cancelling all events from Monday through the end of March.

"This follows the announcement that the Whitman Baltimore show, scheduled for the same weekend, had been canceled based on orders from the Maryland Governor. We expect other coin shows will also be cancelled."

"The Indiana, PA coin show today (Saturday the 14th) has been cancelled at the last minute. They were going to hold it until they went for setup Friday night and found the building locked. Inquiry led to coronavirus regulations."

"To all, the Southern Educational Symposium has had to be indefinitely postponed due to concerns about the spread of the COVID19 virus. My intent is still to have the Symposium later in the year at the same location. I will strive to keep everyone informed as to the status of the Symposium and the date of its rescheduling. Thank you for being understanding and I hope everyone keeps safe till then."

"Probably not unexpected, but we wanted to be sure that anyone who had this event on their calendar had sufficient notification to adjust their plans. It would likely be a good tactic to check up on any type of similar event scheduled over the next month or two, just to ensure a likewise postponement or cancellation hasn't been announced. In the meantime, wash your hands, hoard your TP, and stay safe…"

"Although Washington University in St. Louis, which administers Newman Portal, has sent students home for the semester, Newman Portal activity continues apace. The campus remains open for staff and faculty, and, while we rely on students to operate scanning equipment, we do have a full-time staff member in St. Louis (Kelli West) to continue handling contributions of hardcopy materials. We also have good options for outsourcing scanning work if necessary. In the meantime, we encourage electronic submissions (documents and images) and can process these virtually. Among the electronic contributors in the last week were Q. David Bowers, Roger Burdette, Richard Lussier, Gerry Tebben, and others. There is no substitute for in-person gatherings of coin collectors, but there is no shortage of research to do on our own, and we hope Newman Portal will help facilitate this as a virtual library.

"Eric Newman once related his experience with the Spanish flu epidemic. Newman, 6 years old at the time, was with his father and sister in New York. The father, a doctor, felt the need to send the two children home to St. Louis. They were cached in a train car, which Dr. Samuel Newman scrubbed down with formaldehyde. The children were instructed not to leave their room until the train arrived in St. Louis. Eric and his sister Ivy, who was four years older, dutifully obeyed, and arrived in St. Louis no worse for wear, despite having inhaled a toxic substance for the better part of a day."