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Each year the "Biggest" Little Coin & Paper Money Show in New England is held at the Prospect Street School Gymnasium in Willimantic, Connecticut. 75 dealers, mainly from all over New England and the east Coast set up for the one day bourse. Please plan on joining us:
sHOW IS CANCELLED
Sunday, March 29, 2020
9 am - 3:30 pm
Prospect School Gymnasium
corner of Prospect and High Streets
Willimantic, CT
Have you ever felt the urge to attend a kinder, gentler coin show? Mansfield Numismatic Society's annual one-day event may just be what you are looking for.
Held in late March or early April each year, the show features a variety of material. The 75 dealers, drawn from as far away as Washington, D.C. and South Carolina, offer a mix of U.S. and world coins, U.S. and world paper money, and obsolete paper money, as well as a wide range of the odd and curious.
According to the club bourse chairman, what makes this show unique is its small-town, neighborhood location. Held at the local Prospect School Gymnasium, the event draws hundreds of locals, many of whom have been attending since the event's inception in 1973. The show could easily be moved to larger facilities, but such a move is not anticipated.
"This is a family fair event. We won't give up the neighborhood location," said Ferreri. He firmly believes that a majority of the show's appeal is due to its relaxed, hometown atmosphere. Moving to a hotel alongside the highway, where such annual shows are usually held, would inconvenience regular show-goers and tend to attract only hard-core collectors.
While seating and refreshments are available, don't be fooled into thinking of this as simply a quaint New England event. The show is well known up and down the East Coast, and collectors come from Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York City, to name just a few.
It isn't unusual for lines to form and for people to be let in two or three at a time. The Prospect School Gymnasium holds 250 maximum. In addition to dealers and displays, estimates are that at the 2006 show, 180 to 200 attendees were on the bourse floor at any given moment
Perhaps the surest sign of success, however, is that "the dealers like it. We see the same dealers year after year. They want to keep coming back," said Ferreri.
There is currently a waiting list for dealers who want to get involved. This is not surprising, since it's a challenge to become part of the show.
Ferreri likes to be familiar with dealers "what they sell, how they do business, etc. "before guaranteeing bourse space, which is at a premium. According to Ferreri, only one table has gone unsold in the 45-year history of the show. The Mansfield Numismatic Society currently has a membership of approximately 100.
If you are a dealer and would like a table on the bourse floor, please contact us regarding availability by clicking here.
To download a copy of the bourse agreement, click here.
To download a floor plan, click here.