Numisfero continues Verona’s numismatic tradition
Very few people are likely to realise just how much passion and enthusiasm go into organising a coin fair. After all, the days when coin fairs resembled little more than flea markets are long gone. Anyone planning an international coin fair today must grapple with security protocols, the rising costs of professional stand construction, and the reluctance of many coin dealers to pay high prices for a stand. Large events in particular also involve a high financial risk, which coin collectors’ societies – formerly often the organisers of such fairs – can no longer shoulder. This means that more and more fairs are coming under the control of professional trade fair organisers.
This has both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, professional trade fair organisers are trained to minimise costs and draw up robust budgets. They know how to negotiate with trade fair bureaux and which stand builders are likely to offer discounts. On the other hand, they lack an understanding of collectors’ needs.
It therefore makes a great deal of sense for professional trade fair organisers and coin enthusiasts to join forces to design the coin fairs of the future. This is currently happening in Italy.
Why the Veronafil is no longer held in Verona
Verona is a truly legendary location amongst coin dealers. For decades, the Veronafil was regarded as one of Europe’s top-selling collectors’ fairs. Hundreds of exhibitors would gather in Verona twice a year to offer their wares to collectors. Similar to the Sberatel in Prague, Verona adopted a mixed-media concept, in which numismatics was complemented by stamps, postcards and other collectables.
The general public learnt of the difficulties faced by the organisers, the Associazione Filatelica Numismatica Scaligera, in May 2025, when its president, Enrico Meliadò, addressed exhibitors and visitors. Roberto Ganganelli wrote about this in the *Cronaca Numismatica* on 13 June 2025. He reported that the contract between the association and the exhibition authority had expired on 31 December 2024. The association had subsequently waited until 19 March 2025 for the new draft contract. Two months before the start of the spring event, the exhibition authority announced that the set-up costs had risen by 35 per cent. This rendered all cost calculations obsolete. The association considered and rejected the option of cancelling Veronafil. It felt a duty of loyalty to the dealers who had remained faithful to the event for so many decades. The authority set its increase at a still problematic 20 per cent – and the association recorded a painful deficit in 2025.
It is understandable that the Associazione Filatelica Numismatica Scaligera sought an alternative solution. This is where a professional trade fair organiser with more than 35 years’ experience comes in, who has been in charge of Veronafil since 2026. As mentioned, professional trade fair organisers have both advantages and disadvantages. They work with many partners. The Verona trade fair authority also had to learn this lesson: the 143rd Veronafil will therefore not take place in Verona, but in Bologna from 26 to 28 November 2026.
Bologna is also a fine city. It is situated further south in Italy, about an hour and a half’s drive away from Verona on the motorway or a good hour’s journey by the Italian Frecciarossa. This raises the question of whether the event will be able to take its clientele with it to the new venue or whether it will attract a new target audience locally.
Numisfero: A new fair at the old venue
Apparently, the Verona trade fair authority was not at all happy about the departure of the prestigious Veronaphil. How else could one explain the fact that there is now a new event for collectors, which will take place in Verona from 10 to 12 December 2026? Axcolta SRL – also a professional event organiser – is in charge. It has secured a partner in Abafil Milano, and in particular Annalisa Garretto, who not only has an excellent network within the numismatic world but also brings good ideas to attract a younger audience.
After all, Numisfero aims to be more than just a sales event. The aim is to put the community of collectors back at the centre, to nurture the next generation and, in doing so, to bring the entire world of collecting together at the exhibition centre. It is not intended to be solely about buying and selling, but above all about coin enthusiasts meeting and exchanging ideas. Based on this concept, it has been decided not to charge an admission in 2026.
What will be on display at Numisfero?
Although the new event no longer bears the name “[Verona]phil” but rather “Numis[fero]”, it does not intend to focus solely on numismatics, but rather to cater to many different areas of collecting. It is reported that the following collecting fields will have their own sections:
- Coins and medals – including all other forms of currency, legal tender
- Philately and postal history – stamps, historical correspondence and autographs
- Postcards and visual records of the past – including, alongside postcards, leporellos, albums, historical photographs and much more
- Contemporary collecting – more on this shortly
- Service providers such as grading, conservation and publishers
We are keen to see whether it will be possible to bring all these target groups on board and offer them an attractive supporting program. There is certainly potential for growth, as collecting has never been more widespread than it is today – even if young people tend to collect different things to their parents and grandparents. Collectable items range from (naturally, unused) trainers to Pokémon and Bratz dolls with an ‘unboxing’ experience. Whilst brands such as Pullip, Blythe and Labubu are causing one craze after another amongst young people, there is still no place where collectors of these items can meet suitable dealers.
The Italian tradition of a sophisticated collectors’ fair
Numisfero also sets high standards when it comes to its supporting program. A wealth of activities is planned, aimed at experienced coin collectors, but almost as much at young people. Annalisa Garretto sent me a brief overview of what the new fair will feature and how it aims to distinguish itself from a mere sales event:
- Conference arena: A specially designed stage where industry experts and academics will give lectures on a wide range of fascinating topics.
- Youth video competition: Broadcast live in the arena, this competition puts young collectors in the spotlight and offers an inviting platform to inspire the next generation and attract new faces to the community.
- Interactive workshop: Aimed at families and all generations, this workshop is dedicated to rediscovering the art of traditional handwritten postcards and Christmas cards.
- Exhibition tour: An impressive visual journey, presented on large-format panels, guides visitors through a rich historical and artistic narrative.
It will be interesting to see whether this new concept breathes new life into Verona, a venue steeped in tradition. The fact that the city and region have recognised the challenge is demonstrated by the Veneto Region’s decision, as early as the beginning of September, to classify the Numisfero fair as an event “of international significance”, as stated in the Official Gazette of the Veneto Region No. 119 of 4 September 2026. Whilst this does not yet constitute a commitment to funding, it does make applying for it considerably easier.
Competition or collaboration?
This means that two ambitious numismatic events will be taking place in Italy within the space of two weeks. I do not know the Italian market well enough to assess the prospects of the two coin fairs. I would therefore like to conclude this article with words I have borrowed from an experienced Italian colleague. Roberto Ganganelli assesses the situation as follows: “However, I do not wish to speculate as to which of the two fairs, Veronafil and Numisfero, will gain the upper hand. Firstly, because one can only wish the greatest possible success for both of these professionally structured and organised fairs (which, ultimately, is also the success of the entire sector). And secondly, because, like thousands of other enthusiasts, I am attached to the ‘Verona-Veronafil’ duo, but I am convinced that change and innovation are part of the natural course of things and that, in an industry like ours, which no longer experiences the heyday of past decades, the injection of new energy and skilled organisers can only be beneficial.”
There’s really nothing more to add: we wish both organisers satisfied exhibitors and enthusiastic visitors.
Text and images: Ursula Kampmann
