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This weekend many citizens of Thessaloniki will open their drawers in search for forgotten drachmas, Greek, but also foreign coins or bank notes, left over from a trip to Europe or another continent.

And not because they know something more than other Greeks about the monetary future of the country.

It is just that this weekend the second largest Greek city, and more specifically the “Mediterranean Palace” hotel, will hold the 21st exhibition of collectors' items “Card Collect & Syllectica”, which has been held without interruption for 17 years.

Participating in the exhibition will be twenty-five retailers who will offer shoppers cheap or expensive old banknotes, collection edition phone cards, coins and banknotes from around the world and of course national and commemorative coins.

"The pearl in the crown" this year will naturally be bonds (those without coverage, of course). Everyone will want to see them because they are maybe the only bonds these days that can sell like hot cakes!

In the showrooms you will also find other collectibles: stamps and old postcards, brooches from the Athens Olympics and many military decorations and medals.

Silver thaler

In the exhibition in Thessaloniki you can find coins from the time of Otto of Greece (a silver thaler from 1833 costs 350-400 Euros), copper-nickel coins from the Second Greek Republic (1924-1935), collector edition Euro coins minted in different countries of the Eurozone, such as the commemorative 2-Euro coin with a discus thrower on the back side, minted in Greece on the occasion of the Olympic Games in 2004.

"Until today about 1,000 different coins have been minted from different member states of the Eurozone. Now their selling price does not differ much from their nominal value, they are cheap, but it is believed that in less than ten years their price will rise significantly ", said Danos Danilidis, press officer of the exhibition and also a collector of phone cards.

"Certainly, from a statistical point of view, it is certain that among these 1,000 coins some rare specimens will appear that will drive up the prices," he adds.

Although at first glance it seems absurd, difficult economic times such as the one we are living in right now, favour this type of markets. The reasons are three and they are quite diverse, although they have a common origin. On one hand nostalgia for bygone eras, periods of prosperity and growth, on the other hand the need which led to the sale of a collection, and of course, investing in a valuable object, which over time will eventually increase its value! Investors have always existed in all ages and in all markets.

15,000 collectors

Today in Greece there are between 10,000 and 15,000 coin collectors. "What people need to know is that in order to become a collector of coins and notes you do not necessary need to have a fortune. Many collectors are young people. The important thing is for one to begin gathering a collection, and later he can slowly build it up in accordance with his resources and interests," says Danilidis.

“There are always people who want to sell and those who want to buy. It should be noted that those wishing to sell their collectible coins, or other objects, may come to the exhibition and turn to the retailers, who may be interested", says Danilidis. "At last year's exhibition I sold some coins and banknotes, which I had left from my travels in Europe, and earned 120 Euros", says he about his personal experience.

Its place and value on this exhibition finds also another object made of plastic that looks modest, but can cost a lot. Phone cards, this recent but now out-dated symbol of the modernization of the Greek telecommunications company OTE, has lost only its functional role. The collectors' interest in them remains intact.

The first phone card was issued in a circulation of 30,000 units in 1992 and depicts the Vergina Sun (the times of fierce disputes of Greece with neighbouring Macedonia regarding the name of the former Yugoslav Republic).

"This specific phone card was the first that I bought for my collection. I started in 1998 and I now have about 7,000 phone cards. The cost of the first phone card with the Vergina Sun on it today reaches 200 Euros", says Danilidis.

On the collectors market a phone card can have a starting selling price of 0.30 Euros for phone cards issued in circulation of 200,000 units or more. But it can reach up to 850 Euros, a sum which will be asked for for cards of “Patmos” and "Meteora ", issued in a circulation of only 2,000 copies each.