It has taken the bold step of making the fair free to both exhibitors and visitors.
The medals and orders, numismatics and jewellery auction house says the fair will go ahead as scheduled on Sunday, November 18, this year and Sunday March 17, 2019.
It will be run on a not-for- profit basis “to benefit the medal collecting community”.
Manager role
Fair organiser Mark Carter, who acquired Britannia in 2016 and has now sold it to DNW, will continue to manage the event as a consultant.
DNW adds that the key elements of the event will be free entry for collectors and any other interested members of the public and free tables for dealers, societies and all auction houses. Priority will be given to current stallholders but newcomers will be encouraged.
Pierce Noonan, managing director and chief executive officer of DNW, says: “The Britannia fair has been an institution, a hugely important feature of the medal-collecting calendar since the 1980s.
“As well as being a place for dealers to sell and collectors to buy, it has also performed a vital social function.”
Human dimension
“Contacts and friendships have been made and strengthened, information exchanged and knowledge enhanced.
“In an age when the internet threatens to turn everyone into armchair operators, I believe that it is crucial to keep this human dimension alive.”
Carter says the Britannia fair “has continued to be a successful event”. The only reason that he decided to pass on ownership to DNW was “the very large increase in the venue hire costs which would have resulted in my making a substantial loss per fair”.
He adds: “The fact that DNW is introducing the radical new regime of free tables for stallholders and free admission for collectors is to be applauded.
“I am most grateful to [the firm] for underwriting the very considerable costs of running this long-established event.”
Carter will continue to run his medal business and his other medal fairs at Aldershot, Stratford-upon-Avon and Yate.
