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The history of the World Money Fair

It all Started with the Silver Crisis in the Sixties!
When precious metals experienced a historic price boom in the mid-sixties, coin collecting started to attract greater interest worldwide. According to the law formulated by the English financier Sir Thomas Gresham (1519-1579) “Bad money drives out good money”, coin clubs were founded everywhere, inviting their members to collector meetings and recommending to accumulate or “hoard” coins as a stable investment, if their metal value exceeded their face value.

In Munich in 1971, the then editor-in-chief of the international specialist magazine “Münzen- Revue” A.-M. Beck, together with seven organizers of European coin bourses, founded OEMB, the Organisation of European Coin Bourses. Among the association’s fundamental targets and regulations were the coordination of event dates and admission conditions, mutual support, a marketing union and common standards regarding the rejection of forgeries or imitations at bourses.

From a coin bourse to the World Money Fair
The first international event organized according to the OEMB guidelines was held on January 22, 1972 in Basel. The event stuck to the concept of classical coin bourses, same as all other events in the following 10 years, of which the Basel Bourse proved to be the most popular in terms of attendance. While general interest in numismatics and the number of powerful coin collectors continued to grow year by year, a fundamental defect of a mere coin bourse became apparent. What had hitherto been missing was direct contact between international mints and the strong European collector market. The time was ripe for an integrative concept of a trade fair as a professional forum for presentation and marketing, a platform for worldwide dialogue, a top-class marketplace, but also as a meeting space where experts from mints and the supplying industry could communicate with each other.

The Royal Canadian Mint ventured to take the first step!
On the occasion of the 10^th anniversary of the Coin Bourse in Switzerland, on 31.01/01.02.1981, the Royal Canadian Mint was the first state mint of the world to take part in an international coin bourse. Besides showcasing their coin assortment, the Canadians provided general information about their country, presented the work of their mints and, in front of a keenly interested audience of experts, demonstrated the process of minting a coin. It was an outstanding success, and in the following years further state mints and coin distributors enrolled for the first international specialist fair dedicated to numismatics. After the USA and Portugal, in 1984 the GDR was the World Money Fair’s guest of honor, followed by China, Mexico and many other countries from all over the world. Today, more than 50 nations participate in the world’s biggest numismatic fair.

Showcasing coin novelties
Interest in the yearly press conferences where coins, numismatic novelties and technical innovations are presented has been growing steadily. Today these events are attended by around 500 guests. Meanwhile, the Media Forum, as an integral part of the World Money Fair has become established as the leading marketing platform for coin producers and the supplying industry. And since the Technical Forum was launched in 2005, the Fair also comprises an independent conference section open only to professionals of the minting industry.

From Basel to Berlin!
From 1972 to 1998, on the way from a classical coin bourse to becoming a European coin fair, the Basel event was a pure family business. By setting up a public company in 1999, the basis for further development was laid. The World Money Fair has established itself as a neutral and international trade fair of numismatics in Europe, aiming at collectors, dealers and coin.

By moving from Basel to Berlin, the World Money Fair has positioned itself in the heart of Europe’s strongest coin market. Berlin’s Estrel Convention Center provides a perfect venue where the international visitors are invited to take part in an ambitious combination of presentations, conferences, meetings and trade, professionally set up on spacious, generously designed floors. Every year, over 270 international exhibitors and about 13,000 visitors make use of this unique fair program to exchange views and experiences, to trade coins or feel the fascination of the medieval craft performed by historic and modern engravers and coiners.

2011 – a Very Special Year!
On the last weekend of January 2011, the World Money Fair celebrated its 40^th anniversary. We welcomed many long-standing and also recent companions  to Berlin. Now we are looking forward to many more successful events, hoping that you will join us again!