COIN WORLD – A TALE OF TWO ISSUES

When I returned home from the ANA Convention, I laid out my back print issues of Coin World in order. There is a gap between the issues of August 12, 2024, and April 21, 2025, when I did not receive the paper. While the weekly edition of Coin World was interrupted, the monthly edition was intermittent. I have the August 2024 and December 2024 issues followed by February, March and April and continuing. The last issue of Coin World Trends was the June 2024 issue and has not been continued.

The E-Sylum previously reported on this including a December 1, 2024, statement from Coin World.

I looked for a listing of Coin World staff in the August 12, 2024, issue. I found Editorial Director, Larry Jewett / Editor-at-Large, Steve Roach and William T. Gibbs / Senior Editors, Paul Gilkes and Jeff Starck. By the April 21, 2025 issue, only Larry Jewett and Paul Gilkes remained.

Coin World has many contributors. In four issues before the break, they included David T, Alexander, Chris Bulfinch, Thomas Cohn, Mike Diamond, Michael Fahey, Ross Johnson, Brad Karoleff, Bill O'Rourke, Joel J. Orosz, John Roberts, Gerald Tebben, Wendel Wolka, and Vicken Yegparian.

For the first four issues after the break, they included David T. Alexander, Chris Bullfinch, Thomas Cohn, Mike Diamond, Kevin Harper, Ross Johnson, Bill O'Rourke, Joel J. Orosz, John Roberts, and Vicken Yegparian. Thus most of the contributors had stayed on.

Gerald Tebben's last "Coin Lore" column was in the March 2025 issue. Joel J. Orosz. "The Numismatic Bookie," announced his retirement effective August 18, 2025. The "Collectors' Clearinghouse" articles by Mike Diamond were reprinted from earlier articles.

In May of 2024, the size of each issue was reduced from 42 to 34 pages. The May 27, 2024, issue listed seventeen advertisers. The May 26, 2025 issue listed eleven advertisers. The June 2, 2025, issue listed just five advertisers. That number fluctuates greatly from issue to issue. The three big auction companies continue to advertise. Individual coin dealer ads are far fewer.

My subscription to Coin World would have expired during the break. I was informed that my subscription would be extended. I will be giving serious thought to the value provided when time comes to renew. I suspect that subscription rates are declining.

Coin World did not have a booth at the ANA World's Fair of Money in Oklahoma City. That is unusual. It is apparent that Coin World is going through hard times. Can they recover?

Coin World was discussed at the meeting of the Rittenhouse Society. There is concern that there is currently little opportunity for commercial writers. Many of us grew up with Coin World as our source for current news of the hobby. Perhaps with all the opportunities for free digital media, there is no longer a viable market for a weekly coin paper.

I believe that current numismatic historians should report on what is currently happening to create a record for future research.

Thanks, Pete. We'll look forward to chronicling future developments and wish Coin World the best in moving toward the future. The hobby itself is booming, and coin publications continue to appear in various formats, as seen in this year's NLG awards elsewhere in this issue.

As noted in my comments in the previous article, The E-Sylum is a different animal from the traditional numismatic publications like Coin World and Numismatic News - from the beginning we've avoided discussions of grading, pricing, and the latest U.S. Mint products, preferring instead to focus on books and research, and the history of numismatics and the numismatic hobby. We have no reporters or fact checkers, and are partly a blog and a moderated community. Our learned and active readers are often the ones who relay news, add additional facts and nuance, and correct mistakes. But the numismatic world still needs real reporters to dig into the important issues of the day, and that can be done with or without a print edition. And the numismatic community needs to support these reporters and their efforts. I heard that Coin World advertising manager Brenda Wyen was at the show, and I hope dealers kept her busy booking ads for upcoming issues.

Yes, dealers and auction houses now publish on the open internet, making information freely available. But given that deluge it's more important than ever for reporters and commentators to make sense of the information and provide perspective. But even that isn't enough - investigative reporting is sorely needed to dig behind the headlines and discover the stories we need and want to know. That's the essence of reporting. A bot can republish a press release, but only a real newshound can suss out the parts unsaid that matter most to the rest of us.

As for me, I recently re-upped my online Coin World subscription and received fast service for a question to their help desk about a password reset issue. -Editor