"The Long Beach Expo, leading coin, currency, stamp and sports collectible show on the West Coast, today announced it has canceled its June 2020 expo due to the ongoing COVID-19 health pandemic and in compliance with Governor Gavin Newsom's March 12, 2020 Executive Order to cancel all large gatherings. The Long Beach Expo plans to return to the Long Beach Convention Center, September 17-19, 2020.

"The health and well being of our expo community is of the utmost importance to us," said Cassi East, President of the Long Beach Expo. "Due to the escalating concerns around the spread of COVID-19 at large community events, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the June show and plan to return to the Long Beach Convention Center this September. We appreciate the ongoing support and help of everyone involved as we work through this challenging and uncertain time together."

"If you are interested in participating in the June 4-7, 2020 Long Beach Expo U.S. Coins Signature Auction hosted by Heritage Auctions, Heritage Auctions will be accepting online and phone bidding only."

"It was on this day in 1796 that the doctor Edward Jenner inoculated an eight-year-old boy with a vaccine for smallpox, the first safe vaccine ever developed.

"What made it so remarkable was that Jenner accomplished this before the causes of disease were even understood. It would be decades before anyone even knew about the existence of germs.

"Jenner submitted a paper about his new procedure to the prestigious Royal Society of London, but it was rejected. The president of the Society told Jenner that it was a mistake to risk his reputation by publishing something so controversial.

"So Jenner published his ideas at his own expense in a 75-page book, which came out in 1798. The book was a sensation. The novelist Jane Austen noted in one of her letters that she'd been at a dinner party and everyone was talking about the "Jenner pamphlet." The procedure eventually caught on, and it was called a "vaccine" after the Latin word for cow. It wasn't perfect at first, because of poor sanitation and dirty needles, but it was the first time anyone had successfully prevented the infection of any contagious disease."

"Since the printed May issue of "Talkin' Tokens" with the auction listing has nor yet been delivered to NTCA members, I am forced to reschedule the closing to June 27/28. This is a major inconvenience, but it appears the USPO is having real problems!

An example - this morning I went to the Shingletown PO to mail a Registered Priority. Although there were two clerks present, neither of them knew how to handle a Registered mailing -- pretty incredible!

If you would like to receive a copy of the auction listing by email, please let me know.

Descriptions and images for many of the tokens being offered can be viewed at: https://tinyurl.com/vv5mzmt

Note that the image numbers for the lots pictured on this site are not the auction lot numbers. However, the image description does provide the lot number that must be used for bidding.

This is one of my most outstanding auctions since I began twice-a-year auctions 26 years ago!"

"Fresh off the success of their monumental 10th Anniversary Hong Kong auction earlier this month, Stack's Bowers and Ponterio has finalized new dates for their next sale focused on Chinese and other regional rarities. Previously slated for August 17-20 in conjunction with the Hong Kong Coin Show (HKCS), this auction will now take place October 5-8, 2020 and be held at the Mira Hotel as have previous Stack's Bowers and Ponterio Hong Kong sales. It will not be held alongside the HKCS, which plans to retain its original August dates.

The shift in dates will allow the firm to space out the time between the two annual sales, the first of which had been postponed nearly two months due to the global pandemic caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus. Despite this postponement and the overall uncertainty that has gripped the globe, the firm was pleased to announce that their 10 th Anniversary sale brought incredible results, with total prices realized achieving $13.2 million—154% of the high estimate! This extra time between spring and fall sales will allow for additional consignments to be added, ensuring that the October auction will be as wildly anticipated as the recently-completed May event. The firm has set a new consignment deadline of July 17, replacing the previous date of May 29. To find out more about consigning, email Consign@StacksBowers.com or call 800-566-2580 to speak to a numismatic expert."

"Hello all my "social distancing" friends! As time moves forward, I learn more about our new existence and am trying to modify the way I do business. I'm no different than many people in our business. If I think too long about what is happening it frankly scares me a bit. That said, I believe that in our business/hobby we have the ability to work together with our partners in the U.S. and abroad and still accomplish our goals. I'm starting to embrace the virtual meetings. The "Long Table" series through the ANS has become my new Friday @ noon meeting! I just like to see my friends (and sometimes customers) and talk about coins for an hour. This is open for everyone. Just join the ANS which is well worth the money. I'm trying to push such initiatives at the ANA as well and curator Doug Mudd is already on top of it! We should expect to see podcasts soon from the ANA. Pandemic or not, we should be doing this kind of thing through our small network."