Apparently, St. Damien's foot is fleeter than international mail service.

Nearly 1,000 coin and currency enthusiasts attended yesterday's 46th annual Hawaii State Numismatic Association coin show at the Hawaii Convention Center, many intending to bring home a limited edition commemorative coin honoring the newly canonized Damien.

Instead, they were greeted with a message from Alii Coins and Currency, the local coin dealer handling the sale, that the shipment from the Royal Belgian Mint had not arrived as promised.

The coins were to have arrived in Honolulu on Friday (nearly three weeks after Bishop Larry Silva hand-delivered a relic of Damien's heel back to Hawaii). The revised ETA has them arriving tomorrow.

Serious collectors were, of course, undaunted. Alii Coins and Currency took nearly 400 advance orders for the coins.

The show itself featured about 40 exhibitors buying and selling a wide variety of collectibles, from rare and vintage coins and currency to military medals and patches to Japanese matchbox covers and casino chips.

A mixed crowd of hard-core collectors and curious drop-ins meandered through the wide aisles of display cases, some searching for good deals on long-coveted rarities, others toting Ziploc bags full of coins for professional appraisal.

Jeannie Fogarty, 70, of Honolulu was impressed with her first visit to a coin show, marveling at the breadth of collectibles and the history they represent.

Fogarty said she and her husband have a small collection of foreign coins which they hold as keepsakes from their travels.

"There are so many people here who take an interest in these coins and value their age and rarity," she said. "We're not collectors, but it's fun to see."

Roughly half of the exhibitors were from the Mainland, including Jerry Martin of Texas, who found lots of sellers but few buyers.

"It's not a good selling day," he said. "And the buying is mostly dealer to dealer."

M.F. Kendrick, who organized the show for the Hawaii State Numismatic Association, said it's difficult to predict what buyers will want on any given day.

Kendrick, 75, has witnessed a steady decline in coin collectors over the years, a trend he attributes to the wealth of competing interests and the rise of credit and debit cards as a replacement for hard money. He noted that Hawaii now has only two coin clubs, down from a high of 12.

Kendrick said his own interest in coin collecting began when he was selling newspapers at the old Hickam Air Field main gate during World War II and a customer gave him an 1866 nickel.

Intrigued, Kendrick studied up on the coin, igniting an interest in collecting that has followed him his entire adult life. Kendrick still has the coin, as well as an uncirculated version that he purchased for $400.

While the number of young collectors is relatively few, those who continue the tradition do so with aplomb.

Jeffrey Riberal, 24, of Kalihi, spent his day perusing the showcases for Silver Eagles. By mid-afternoon, he and his girlfriend, also an enthusiast, had spent an estimated $1,200 enhancing their collections.

"None of my friends are interested in this stuff, but I enjoy it," he said.