JEFF GARRETT: 2026 FUN SHOW REPORT

PREV ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE FULL ISSUE PREV FULL ISSUE

V29 2026 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 29, Number 4, 2026, Article 9

As noted last week, the January Florida United Numismatists (FUN) show set all sorts of records for attendance and sales. Jeff Garrett published a report on his NGC blog. Here's an excerpt - see the complete article online. -Editor

By around noon, word started to spread on the bourse floor about the MASSIVE numbers of public participants trying to get into the show. There was a line snaking the length of the convention center, which is huge. I have heard that some members of the public had to wait over an hour and a half for their credentials to get in. Based on the line we saw, this was probably not an exaggeration.

Later that afternoon, the bourse was alive with activity, and the aisles were packed with rare coin buyers. Every table had multiple customers elbowing for attention. It was the most active bourse I have ever witnessed, and I have been to every major coin show for more than 50 years. To say the coin show was amazing would be a huge understatement.

Many observers commented that the 2026 FUN Show seemed more like a sports show or Comic-Con convention. Rare coins were finally having their day in the sun! This activity continued throughout the week, and we were selling coins as they were being taken from the showcase late Saturday afternoon. Luckily, we continued to buy coins during the convention and were able to keep the showcases from being empty.

Over the years, many world and ancient dealers have discovered the FUN Show. In the past, the New York International Numismatic Convention conflicted with the FUN Show, and most of those dealers chose to attend the NYINC event. Now, the NYINC is a week later, and those dealers no longer have to make a choice. This year, the ancient and world section was very large, and they all seemed ecstatic with their sales. We were able to buy some amazing ancient coins from a German dealer.

The Certified Collectibles Group (NGC and PMG) created an impressive display for the FUN Show, with information about all of the collectibles categories they certify. I love the comics and other samples they had at their booth. Maybe that's a category of collectibles our company should explore! The NGC booth was slammed with activity from start to finish.

Other large companies also had impressive booths, including an unlikely new entrant into numismatics: Walmart. They were signing up dealers for their online platform that has hundreds of millions of monthly visitors. It will be interesting to see how dealers fare selling on Walmart's online platform.

[The show] broke all records for FUN show attendance going back more than 70 years. Many dealers told me the show was the BEST show they ever had. Our company also set a new sales record for a single show. The FUN Show has long been considered the bellwether event of the year and a sign of things to come. If that is the case, 2026 will be very, very special!

It's been a long time coming, but I agree that rare coins are finally having their day. The internet and online competition forced consolidation among the larger players, and their new bulk enabled technology investments to up everyone's game. Grading services, and the availability of information and online discussion forums enabled generational change, and there's no going back. Of course, gold and silver prices have always driven coin markets, and some of the recent surge will subside in time. But it's a new world (and has been for a while, whether you noticed it before or not). -Editor

To read the complete article, see:
Jeff Garrett: 2026 FUN Show Report (https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/14876/jeff-garrett-fun-show-report/)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
(https://www.coinbooks.org/v29/esylum_v29n03a16.html)