Hundreds of collectors attended the bi-annual Paris Coin Show at the Paris Fairgrounds on Sunday, August 10, 2025.
The Paris Coin Show, formerly known as the Southwestern Ontario Numismatics (SWON) show, is a one-day event that has been running since the 1990’s and is always held on the first weekend of February, and again on the second weekend of August.
Organizer Jared Stapleton, who owns Metro Coin and Banknote and also runs the Toronto Coin Expo, acquired the rights to the SWON show from Ted Bailey back in 2017 and continued to keep it going year after year.
Stapleton said he was happy with yet another great turnout.
“We have about 50 dealers from around southern Ontario who have brought their goods here to show them, sell them and buy stuff from collectors as well,” he said. “This is, as I say, Canada’s best one day coin show and we’ve had a really great turnout today. Of course, we’re grateful to be here in Paris again, we love being here and it’s a great little town that’s a pretty central location for southern Ontario so we’re happy to be back at the fairgrounds.”
Throughout the event, both amateur and serious collectors alike, spent their time perusing through the thousands of collectible items on display, or chatting with the on-site auctioneer.
“We have Brian Bell from Geoffrey Bell Auctions and so if you have really valuable items, you’d want to talk to him and put it in the auction, which is in relation to the Toronto Coin Expo, because you’ll get a lot more eyes on it that way,” said Stapleton.
From silver bars to special edition and commemorative coins, historical banknotes, books, war medals, and more, there was no shortage of items to browse, and guests of all ages came prepared with lists in hand so they could search for items to help fill their collections, often sitting with one particular vendor for an extended period of time.
“Every collector is unique and special. We have people that will collect coins, people who will collect paper money, and people that will collect tokens. We also have people here with gold, silver, and even militaria too,” said Stapleton. “That’s all part of the numismatics hobby but it’s really specialized for the individual. For example, I collect banknotes, and that’s all I really like, but my friend over here collects one cent coins only and so everyone is different, but that’s stuff you can find here today.”
Coin collecting (also known as numismatics) is frequently referred to as one of the oldest hobbies in the world, often drawing people for several different reasons. For some, it’s the thrill of the hunt, for others it’s the beauty in the design and the history behind the items, and for many, it’s all about the memories and the way it connects the generations.
Paul Harding, owner of Classic Coins and Banknotes in Cobourg, recalled how he first began collecting.
“At a bowling league when I was a kid, there were two prizes left at a table and so I picked a coin set over the lawn darts. I took it home, showed it to my dad, and he said he would put it with his coins, and when he took them out, I was just thrilled by all the different styles of coins,” he said. “Eventually I decided to make a business out of it and I’ve been actively selling coins and such for about 25 years. I’m actually a chef by trade so I was doing it part-time but I went full-time with my coin business about nine or ten years ago.”
As far as what he gravitates toward, Harding said he likes to collect Canadian chartered banknotes, but that he also specializes in ancient Greek and Roman coins.
“And everything in between,” he said with a laugh.
Harding said this was his third time as a dealer at the Paris Coin Show, and that overall, he’s always happy to attend.
“I think the show is great,” he said. “There are a lot of really good dealers, it’s really well attended and it’s fairly central to a lot of major places so it’s easy to get to.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
