Hi all I am in Brisbane Australia and have only recently become interested in pm. I have had a casual interest is coin collecting since boyhood but never really took it seriously. So far in the space of a week I have managed to spend way too much money on a variety of gold and silver. While I like coins I do not like the wilderness that is out there ready to eat up newby collectors. Anyways I hope to be here for the long term and keep stacking for many years. Cheers
Welcome. It can be a bit confusing when you start stacking. Have a good think about why your stacking and what you want to achieve. Read as much as you can and check out the FAQ section at the bottom of the forum, this is a great place to start.
Hi there, Brisbane has a couple of coins clubs if you are into that sort of thing, ANS and the QNS. A good place to network and ask questions. I can probably dig up some details if you are not already aware of them, and if you are already a member then I have probably bumped into you at one of the meetings. Welcome to Silver Stackers.
Well generally they can be a bit on the dull side as most seem to be run as if they were a business meeting, with minutes and treasurer's reports and the like. However if you can stay awake during that, (and most clubs try and minimise the time spent on this, it is all part of the requirements of being incorporated so they tell me) then the rest is usually pretty interesting. Firstly the demographic is 99% male, so not a great place to pick up women. The average member is coming up to retirement if they are not already retired, at mid-40s I am one of the younger members. There will usually be a theme to the night, exhibitions, racing, animals, dictators etc. and the members will all bring in some coins or banknotes, medals or tokens which fit this theme, some make a real effort to be original, others not so much. The member will then show the item around and give a bit of background on it. Most of the clubs are getting hold of some decent display equipment so a tiny coin can be displayed on a big screen using the document cameras, rather than physically passing it around. Then members will also bring along their latest purchases, same sort of thing, they show them round and talk about them, how they fit into the collection, how much they cost, where they found it etc. Sometimes there will be an auction, sometimes a guest speaker, sometimes a quiz night. Some hold a raffle to generate funds for the club, some produce commemorative medals to sell to members. Members usually bring along items to sell or items that they want to know more information about. There is usually a library of donated books and back issues of the magazines etc. Most clubs issue a newsletter once a month, club news, members submitted articles, research papers, adverts, articles from the net and that sort of thing. Great places to go if you want to know some obscure info that you haven't found out about on the internet, also good if you are looking for a particular item, many members don't sell on eBay or use the forums so not everything that is known about coins is on the net, particularly if you are interested in local interest items such as QLD medals etc. Usually they are in the evening so a light supper (tea and biscuits) are included. Dealers are often members and offer special discounts to club members. By volunteering through the club you can get free access to the Brisbane ANDA show, you might have to stand in the car park for a bit directing traffic but it is not very demanding. You can go along to most of them as a visitor without having to sign up for anything. I give talks at them on my particular area of interest, Community Currencies, and we had a talk from the curator of the Surveyers' Museum at the Gabba a while back. I mostly go along because you get to see a whole load of stuff, a lot of it really expensive, that you wouldn't usually bother looking for online or even know that it existed. I joined up a few years ago and now I am fairly deeply involved in the running of the club but it is only once a month so not a bit drain on my time.
I tend to go to the Redcliffe meetings as they are closer Australian Numismatic Society Queensland Branch Postal Address: PO Box 78, Fortitude Valley, QLD 4006, AUSTRALIA. Email: [email protected] Internet: www.The-ANS.com/ Meetings: 7.30pm on the third Friday of the month at Trinity Centre, 9 Church Street, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. Gold Coast Coin Club Email: [email protected] Meetings: 2.30pm on the second Sunday of the month, Southport Library, Southport. Queensland Numismatic Society Inc Postal Address: PO Box 431, Lutwyche, Qld 4030, AUSTRALIA. Email: [email protected] Internet: www.qns.org.au Meetings: 7.30pm on the first Friday of the month, Metropolitan Senior Citizens Centre, 9 Church St, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. Redcliffe Coin and Phonecard Club Postal Address: The Secretary, 10 Barramay Street, Manly West, QLD 4179, AUSTRALIA. Telephone: (07) 3396 6855 Email: [email protected] Meetings: 7.30pm on first Tuesday of each month at the Woody Point State Special School Hall, 85 Georgina Street, Woody Point (Hall entrance and car park via View Street). Phonecard collectors meet at 6.30pm, general meeting starts at 7.30pm.
Thanks again Jislizard. Hmmm. I will have to think about it. I live in Logan and none of the meets is near me. Fortitude Valley might be OK as I can park in that area.
There is free onsite parking at all the venues but I don't usually get down to the fortitude valley ones unless I am presenting or demonstrating new equipment etc.
