It seems like only yesterday that I was writing words for the November show. Now, three months and a few days later, Baltimore beckons.

In the meantime, the city was snowed under, literally, a few weeks ago. And, on one particular day it was 34 degrees where I hail from, the Stack’s office in New Hampshire, while in Orlando it was 32 degrees!

In a recent discussion with some dealer friends, everyone agreed that the Whitman Expos in Baltimore— March, June, and November—are the 3rd, 4th, and 5th hottest show tickets in America, behind FUN and the ANA. It is a cyber world, these days, with buying, selling, and auctioning coins in real time. This, plus that annoyance of air travel securities and delays, may mean it will be a long time before the all-time record attendance shows—ANA in New York City in 1976 and Philadelphia in 2000, each crossing the 20,000 attendance mark, will be challenged.

Returning to the present Expo, if you take a compass and draw a 300-mile circle around Baltimore, you will enclose half of the active numismatists in the United States. A 500-mile circle, would probably take in 70% or more. No wonder Baltimore is popular!

Another advantage Baltimore has is easy access. Amtrak furnishes comfortable connections to many different places (check the Acela service), Interstate highways are generally fast and the Baltimore-Washington International Airport is convenient, modern, and has a good on-time record. Coming here is always a pleasure. I am looking forward to this one being a winner too. Most important, I hope it will meet or exceed your expectations. Thank you for coming!