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Rare Coin Market Report – December 2011 – Houston Money Show Report

By Vic Bozarth – Bozarthcoins.com

Dear Rare Coin Enthusiast,

December has always been somewhat of a ‘dud’ in the coin business. Don’t get me wrong, folks are looking for coins in December, but the majority of the action in the coin business in December centers around less expensive ‘gift’ items like silver rounds for stocking stuffers. In years past we have seen quite a few really lackluster months of December. Bolstered by the rebounding metals market in the last couple of weeks, even larger rare coin dealers are busy selling high end PCGS and NGC coins this December. Nowhere was that more evident than at last week’s Houston Money Show.

NASA’s days in Houston may be numbered, but the Houston Money Show is here to stay. This last week’s Houston Money Show was very well attended by both dealers and the public. PCGS graded on site. There were well attended seminars and the young numismatists in attendance were ‘everywhere’. What really impressed me the most were the number of dealers still in attendance on late Saturday. If there are buyers at a show on Saturday or Sunday dealers will stay!

I will be the first to admit my bias toward the Houston Money Show. Sherri, my wife and the ‘brains’ behind Bozarth Numismatics, is a Houston native and we moved to the Houston area over five years ago. In the last ten years, this show has gone from a relatively small regional show to a near major show. Ten years ago the Houston Money Show was held in an empty department store in a mall on the North side of Houston with questionable security issues. The Greenspoint Mall where the show was held is often referred to by locals as ‘Gunpoint’ Mall.

Fast forward ten years and this growing, well established, and remarkably well sponsored show is now held at the huge George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston. The GRB Convention Center is adjacent to both Minute Maid Ballpark where the Houston Astros play as well as the Toyota Center where the Houston Rockets play. Nice restaurants and great entertainment are available on a nightly basis and the show hotels are great. With thanks and a sincere ‘job well done’ greeting to the Houston Coin Club whose volunteers make this show work, we were thrilled with the business from Thursday through the end of the show Saturday evening.

The coin market in 2011 has really had some highlights. Both the Central States Show in Chicago in April and the American Numismatic World’s Fair of Money Annual Show in Chicago were stupendous. The rare coin market is building again. Yes, we have seen some weakness in several areas of numismatics, but the overwhelming demand for the 25th Anniversary Silver Eagles released recently was ‘off the charts’ and bodes well for more generic items as well as rare coins.

This year we have seen Morgan Dollars, one of the ‘generic standards’ of the rare coin business jump from $115 to $215 in MS65 before settling back to a more realistic $145 price level currently. Hey, $145 from $115 isn’t bad either considering that silver is two thirds the price now as when dollars peaked at $215 when silver was $48 per ounce. Coins are excellent value at current levels and astute buyers are reaping the rewards.

Recently we bought a really incredible hoard of collector date coins including ten 1893-S Morgans, six 1911-D $2.5 Indians, four 1889-CC Morgans, six 1908-S Indian Cents in high grade BU, and lots of other single or two coin groups of other key dates. All of these coins were PCGS or NGC graded and the overall quality was very high end with nearly 75% of the coins represented having CAC stickers. In 25 plus years as a full time coin dealer, I have never purchased ten nice 1893-S Morgans in one group. At both the Baltimore and Houston Shows, we reaped the rewards because THESE ARE COINS BUYERS WANT.

High end coins just aren’t available in quantity and the reasonable price levels won’t last. Yes, I have been repeating this ‘buy now before levels rise’ mantra quite frequently for the last year. Let me tell you what I see on the rare coin bourse floor. Over half of our sales are to other dealers who can’t locate these high end collector coins-they just aren’t ‘out there’ in any quantity at current levels. If dealers are buying coins like this, shouldn’t you? I’m just saying…..

Bozarth Numismatics Inc. is a full service rare coin dealer. We buy and sell PCGS, NGC, and CAC graded and approved coins on both our website bozarthcoins.com and via our eBay Store bozarthnumismaticsinc. We also attend ALL major coin shows and most large regional coin shows. Our 200 plus day a year travel schedule allows us to buy more nice coins than most other dealers. We offer free confidential want list services for those ‘hard to find’ items. We currently have roughly 1000 PCGS and NGC slab coins in our eBay Store and our ‘best’ material is added to our website listings at least twice monthly. Check us out!

Thanks and Best Regards,

Vic Bozarth-the Rare Coin Road Warrior.

Vic Bozarth
Vic Bozarth
Vic Bozarth is a member of the Professional Numismatics Guild (PNG), the ANA, the CSNS, FUN, and many other regional and state coin clubs and organizations. Vic has extensive experience buying and selling coins into the mid-six-figure range. Both Vic and his wife Sherri attend all major U.S. coin shows as well as most of the larger regional shows.

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