"It is with great sadness that MPCFest headquarters announces that MPCFest 21 is cancelled. While this will not be a surprise to any Fester, it will nevertheless be a matter of disappointment."

"For me, this whole thing is rather surreal. In fact, my city is THE epicenter in Washington state, which makes it feel all too close. Not only is my city the place of origin, but the main street next to my house is the exact epicenter. Crazy stuff. My school is, of course, cancelled, so things at my house have been rather slow. I am still trying to be productive though, especially in regards to numismatics which had taken a sort of back burner recently to the numerous other activities in which I take part."

"While the majority of our Capital One Bank branches will remain open, we have temporarily closed select branches. As a necessary precaution, we are temporarily closing branches that do not have glass-protected tellers or drive-through servicing. We believe these are important steps to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

"Capital One ATMs will remain open 24/7, and we will be temporarily waiving our fee for out-of-network ATMs."

"Our shop will remain closed to the public due to the current health situation and the security measures adopted by the Principality of Monaco until further notice. Our site continues to function and new online auctions will be offered periodically. Orders will be sent as soon as possible.

"Don't miss our online auction which will close on April 3rd at 16.00.

"Editions Gadoury reserves itself the right to delay or cancel any order following the needs, demands or recommendations of the Monaco Authorities."

"In one of the first tests of the art market since the UK government announced tougher ‘social distancing' guidance due to the coronavirus outbreak, Sotheby's latest ‘Made in Britain' auction recorded a dramatic increase in online bidding.

"Despite understandable concerns that the market may take a major hit, the sale total and selling rate held up at this sale at least, despite the number of people in attendance in the saleroom itself being significantly reduced.

"The mixed auction of Modern and Post-War British art raised £2.11m with 237 of the 291 lots sold (81.4%). Although the total was down on the £2.48m from the equivalent sale last year, Sotheby's reported that they had nearly 10% more bidders overall.

"Online buyers hoovered up 53% of the lots sold, a 30% increase year-on-year and a remarkable figure for a category which is normally dominated by room and phone bidders."

"We struggled to decide if we should send out our newsletter, but in the end felt it best to stay positive. Many of us will be cooped up in our homes over the next several weeks and we figured it would have entertainment value and be a pleasant distraction from the current backdrop. If you would like to discuss or purchase one of our great selections we will do our utmost to fill your order at a great price and timely manner. Currently both U.S Mail and Fed Ex are running and our building has no restrictions. If it stays that way it will be business as usual at HLRC.

"Many events all over the country have been cancelled. The Baltimore and Central States shows have been cancelled. I have been doing these shows for 40 years and this has never happened. PCGS is open but was momentarily closed then open again. Very strange indeed. Needless to say, events unfolding rapidly are creating a fluid situation.

"This is the largest social participation or non-participation event to ever occur in our country. The world and human behavior will be changed forever. People seem to have a fatalistic attitude. When I asked my daughter in New York, a current hot spot, how they are doing, she replied, "Riding the wave".

"Following Health Canada's community-based measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, many show organizers are cancelling their events. In addition to public and mass gathering cancellations, these community-based approaches include avoiding crowding, school closures and workplace measures and closures.

"This is really devastating not just for everyday life but for the numismatic community as well," said Paul Johnson, long-time executive secretary of the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association (RCNA).

"It's going to affect a lot of people, including dealers and their sales. It's their livelihood. People can still buy coins through the mail, but the interactions at shows is so important. Obviously, it's very important to keep the lines of communications with dealers and other collectors open, but other than that, there's not much that can be done. We have to pull together as a group, and hopefully sometime in the future this gets sorted out. We can all see what's happening out there and it's devastating."

"But "talking" and "hanging out" are not the same thing. And especially if coronavirus-induced social isolation stretches on for months, as experts now say it might, just talking to friends isn't going to cut it.

"All over the world, people are already making memories across a video screen, staging virtual baking sessions, art classes, dance parties, book clubs, birthday parties and family dinners.

Embrace the weirdness of the situation
"When we try to pretend things are normal, it causes more anxiety," says Allie Nagle, a Salt Lake City based therapist, who planned a "family dinner" for 10 of her closest friends on Monday. "It's okay for this to be weird — just giggle and agree to make the best of it." Inevitably, there will be technical glitches, Nagle says, but don't let that throw everything off. Whenever someone's screen froze at the dinner, they took a beat and waited for the technology to sort itself out. By the end, they were making jokes about it. "We'd say, ‘Hey if your screen freezes, you should probably moon us,' and everyone would laugh." The key, Nagle said, was to acknowledge the "odd moments of disconnection with humor and grace."

"It was only a few short weeks ago that I could not have imagined writing those words...Spring 2020 without coin shows. How times have changed.

"Yes, we're all presently in a bit of a bind, at a minimum. Yes, these are challenging times, and there are likely to be many more challenges ahead. We will all be spending a lot more time indoors, our routines completely disrupted. And, we all have plenty of things to be concerned about, foremost among them is our health and that of our families, friends and loved ones. First things first, of course.

"But we as collectors have an island. That's one of the truly great things about collecting anything...a collection provides a diversion - usually a diversion from the rigors of daily life - and that fundamental concept is even more important now. Take some of your excess indoor time to really review your collection, study it in detail, discover things you haven't seen. Would I be very appreciative if you spent some time on my website, and found something nice to add to your collection? Of course, but that's not a requirement to enjoy your hobby. Read a numismatic book. Share a line of research you're involved in with other collectors. Ask a question you've wondered about. Write something for a numismatic publication. I'm here to help in any way I can, but there are hundreds of online places and resources you can use.

"Rest assured that Melissa and I remain hard at work listing new items, and will continue to do that just as long as we can. We have lots of coins that are now stuck at PCGS (for those who may not have heard, PCGS is closed as a non-essential business...Gov. Newsom didn't consult the collecting community on that detail), but we also have a pretty good stock of coins to work with here.

"So, when will our next show be? We have no idea. We would be setting up next at Gettysburg, PA in a couple of weeks, but that isn't going to happen. Of course, later in April, we would see many of you at Central States near Chicago, but that will have to wait until next spring. We fervently hope that Baltimore in June finds us all together again. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to email or call if Melissa or we can help you in any way. We'll be very happy to hear from you."

"As a near 150-year-old organisation, Baldwin's has seen many challenging moments throughout its history. Witnessing the developments of Covid-19 has saddened us while at the same time has re-enforced our commitment to the two most important elements of our business, namely our colleagues and our customers.

"Over the last few weeks, we have been working continuously to ensure that we do all we can to protect everybody as much as possible while providing you with the best, most comprehensive service possible.

"The situation continues to change day by day, if not hour by hour. For the majority of this week, many of our staff have been working from home and this proportion will increase further. We have also operated a policy of staggered attendance on a team by team basis.

"Throughout this time, all areas of our business have remained open but in order to further protect both our colleagues and customers, as of today we have reluctantly closed our shop in Central London on a temporary basis. The Baldwin's team, however, remain willing and able to assist you by phone or email and distribution of our products, all of which are available online, is currently unaffected. We would love to hear from you if you are interested in buying, selling, or simply discussing the wonderful world of coin collecting. "

"I am up to 1988 and when I did some research I almost forgot that in Oct. 1987 we had a "Black Monday" on October 19th and that did a real job on the economy. The Market dropped over 20% and there was wild selling including precious metals. It really took a full year to recover without a virus. I am concerned that we Will have a long wait to get out of this mess.

"In checking as I can from home the effects of the coin market in that period we fortunately had a drop and a quick revival as it seems that those Who collected did not sell wildly as they loved their coins and felt they still were a 'store of value'. Let's hope they feel the same with this virus we are all encountering."

"To help you pass the time at home we are offering free delivery on all orders to our customers in the United States. International shipping is still determined by package weight, but shipments outside the U.S. can subtract $10 from the calculated cost. We will add the shipping cost after the order is weighed.

"Thank you for supporting our small business during this stressful time. We are taking every precaution to stay healthy so we can continue to help you remain engaged in the hobby."

"All is well here in shelter-in-place California. We're still able to go outside and do the usual grocery, pharmacy, bank, exercise,and P.O. runs. Trader Joes is rationing entrance to our local store and wiping all the carts down before and after each use. The Post Office has marked their floor so that customers are distanced 5-6 feet from each other.

The beaches in San Diego and the boardwalk in Pacific Beach are less populated, but populated nonetheless. People act a little weird when they get close to each other. My wife runs infection control at the La Jolla VA and is required to go to work every day...I'm a little worried about her. Fortunately, her commute time has now dropped from 30-45 minutes each way to 13. I've been working at home since 2008, so this is no big change for me.

On the plus side, we can "see" each other on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook groups such as the Virtual Coin Show, Coin Cube Trading, Coin Dealers Helping Coin Dealers, etc.

Stay healthy everyone. This, too, shall pass."

"New York is pretty much shut down. Only essential services are open. It is still difficult to get paper goods, chicken, bread, pasta and sauces etc. Canned goods and certain frozen foods fly off of the shelves as well as soon as they become available.

"As I work from home, I am not impacted by the shelter in place rules and at least money is coming in. My sister works for a medical supply company so she commutes to work each day but they are out of masks and other items that people want like alcohol and gloves are hard to come by. The only good thing about this is that there is much less traffic on the roads.

"On the coin front, we will see how long it takes for this to reach a comfort point to see if the June Baltimore or even the August ANA convention shows go on. The Stack's Bowers sale seemed Ok although the three million dollar coins went a bit low in my opinion. My guess is auction activity will continue online and perhaps companies will update their inventory online more frequently or send out more inventory listings via email than they normally would.

"Everyone please keep safe during these extraordinary times."

"This too will pass. As people are not going on cruises and as vacations are postponed, I see increased activity in the dynamism of rare coin auctions. The Stack's Bowers Galleries sale broke a lot of records. From what I understand here in NH, sales of automobiles and real estate are very strong. Strange times in the world. Keep safe."

"It will definitely be interesting to see how this plays out with the future of coin shows. The Stack's Bowers sale had, as QDB pointed out, many record prices - but at least in the colonial section it had absolutely no bargains. People may have been forced to stay home, but they were staying home and bidding (likely with the money that they would have spent in person at the Whitman Baltimore show!). Perhaps auctions do not need to be tethered to a coin show - and perhaps shows themselves move online. Swipe left, add the coin to your cart, checkout with PayPal or ApplePay and your coin is shipped from some remote AmazonCoin warehouse. Brave New World, indeed!

When you think of what our parents and grandparents suffered through - the Great Depression, WWII - surely sitting at home watching TV and eating more than we should for a couple weeks or even months is not the biggest price humanity ever had to pay. Stay safe, we will get through this."

"Best wishes to all in these strange times! Things in Dallas have the same post-apocalyptic appearance I hear about everywhere - empty streets, empty shelves in the super markets and many businesses closed. So far, the changes have been tolerable, with no crippling shortages and most people keeping their spirits up, despite the universal anxiety and uncertainty. Some are keeping journals to record these extraordinary times for posterity.

"Work has gone on more or less uninterrupted, since cataloging has built-in social distancing protocols and much can be accomplished remotely. Hope this finds everyone well and safe. We will get through this together."

"Kalamazoo is following the rest of the nation into this strange combination of 17th century plague conditions and 21st century failed state shortages. I'm just waiting for some desperate collector to offer to trade a mint state 1794 dollar for a four-pack of toilet paper. I would take that deal now, but a few days from now, I'm not so sure.

Due to very dodgy immune system, I've been self-quarantining for ten days. Not a bad deal to be, for the good of the community, forced to hang out in my numismatic library. I do miss seeing the grandchildren, and now that my wife has total control over the grocery cart, I'm eating revoltingly healthful meals.

All privations can be borne with equanimity as long as Len Augsburger keeps running the Newman Numismatic Portal, and Wayne Homren keeps publishing The E-Sylum. If either of these twin portals of civilization should fall, it's to the barricades for all of us!"

"Yesterday evening at 6pm, I ordered four bottles of olive oil. At 9 pm to the minute, the door bell rang and, yes, it was the olive oil."

"The plaza around the Roman Aqueduct of Segovia at 6 P.M. of most any day will have a few hundred people milling about. But the Corona-Virus shut things down last Friday and it looks like that will be the situation for some weeks to come."