By Laura Sperber – Legend Numismatics ……
STATUS QUO
Can’t say anything dramatic is going on. We had a very good sales week. We’re becoming spoiled by so many people buying coins on a Saturday a few hours–or within minutes–of the NEWPS being posted. Last week, we sold nearly $180,000 from the web site by 9 AM Monday (the biggest coin was the monster 1885 $1 PCGS PR68 Cameo).
Taking a quick breather, we sat back and looked over our business. No question we have one of the very best customer bases in all of coins. Great, right? No! We looked at who is collecting what – and the fact is that we can not find coins for them. Look at the famous $20 1907 HR WE PCGS PR66 or higher need for “Hedgie”. One year, two years ago, we actually COULD find a PCGS CAC piece in the grades we need. Now, all we get is a headache from being called worthless by Hedgie. We are extremely concerned now about our future.
It’s weird, there are so many coins out there, yet the coins we need (and we really do have a $20,000,000+ Want List) we can NOT find. There are even fewer coins available today for us to buy in general at shows just for stock. We freaked ourselves that our business could actually shrink! You better believe every one of our good suppliers got a very nice phone call from us this week.
Freaking ourselves out aside, the fact that we see supply as just not there WILL play a huge role for collectors who bought right in the last four to eight years. All it takes is prices to move up, then the flow of coins being available should increase. As we have said before, we do have and see substantial NEW collectors entering the market. While it may be an eternity for us, the timing of a market upturn won’t be too long for the majority of collectors (also assuming they bought right and bought quality coins).
It’s critical to note one thing: because you bought coins, say, in 2010-2012, that does NOT mean by any stretch that your coins are worth more today. We can never stress enough – coins are a LONG-TERM HOLD with short-term cycles. Be patient, price improvement is happening slowly, especially since the coins are simply not there. The rubber band has to break soon.
On Legend’s level, this is certainly NOT a shrinking market. To make it clear, we do find really rare coins; however, we’re a bit spoiled and would like to find more then we currently are!
NEWPS
Wow do we have some wicked cool coins this week. Since there are no shows, we got a few packages from dealers needing cash. You’ll notice we have great quality pieces that are not at crazy auction money. We finally got back a few pieces from imaging that we bought from collectors, too.
The grand highlight this week: 50C 1830 PCGS PR62+ CAMEO CAC. Our entire careers we have been madly in love with Proof Bust Halves. We’ve only owned the Eliasberg NGC PR68 1832, and a 50C 1826 years ago. These rank to us as some of the neatest coinage we’ve ever seen. So when a longtime collector offered us this coin recently, we did not resist for a second!
Next up, 50C 1853 A/R PCGS MS66 CAC. This coin also came directly from a collector. He is switching his collecting sights, but boy does he ever have seller’s remorse (this was one of his fave silver coins). Finding one of these is impossible.
The 10C 1923 PCGS MS68FB CAC, to us, is heaven. If we did not have a new Controller to keep us in check (bummer), this wonder GEM would not be in our NEWPS! Here too, we bought this coin from a longtime customer who is concentrating on another area. He was also a major buyer of Northern Lights toners, so you see the eye appeal and quality he craves.
Everything else is still better than most NEWPS anyone else will post. Not only do both principals of Legend screen every coin, but ALL coins we offer to our customers are CAC ONLY. We are all about protecting all collectors and really selling the VERY BEST coins.
So look over our NEWPS, we have many great coins. Also, look over the coins we have in our regular inventory. There are many coins we scratch our heads as to why they have not found good homes quickly. We will work hard to get you into those coins. Call or email George at [email protected].
ALL NEWPS ARE NOW POSTED
LEGEND AUCTIONS
www.legendauctions.com
A hearty THANK YOU to everyone who just participated in our October Premier Sessions Sale. The sale did well, although the over all total sales was slightly down due to a weaker offering. We assure you, we are working overtime to secure the very BEST coins for our November Internet Only Sale. We are still accepting consignments. All coins MUST BE OVER $1,000 and in a group worth at least $10,000. We are firm at offering hammer to the sellers as our buyers fee is still only 10%. We have made these sales mini Regency Sales. You better believe they VERY MUCH do attract the bigger players!
THE OCTOBER REGENCY SALE
Stay tuned for a major announcement concerning our December Regency Sale!
WOW has activity been off the charts (eye balls to the site are at all-time records – with two weeks to go)! We just completed a very successful lot viewing in California in conjunction with PCGS Public Day. We plan on doing that again for any future auction not held in Las Vegas. We are also now looking into holding private lot viewings in NYC for the Vegas Sales (we are hoping to have one for December).
We are not sure whether it is our sale or the market, but two weeks out and we have over 100 brand new bidders (people who have never bid in our sales before). We also have several collectors with substantial bids in excess of $100,000 – and they are telling us they are only getting warmed up! WOW!
A heads up, this auction (like all Regency Sales) is not a good sale mixed with dreck. Most of the coins sold are high end for the grade and have great eye appeal. We rejected about 20 coins for this sale. Legends customers participate with great enthusiasm. So if you are a low-end price buyer, don’t waste your time here.
Already we have a strong list of phone bidders. Contact Julie Abrams ([email protected]) TODAY to get you name on that list. Or, if you think you will need terms, TELL US NOW, we cannot do so after a sale. We will help you any way we can. And if you have questions about any coins, Greg Cohen ([email protected]) will honestly look at it and advise you.
FINAL CALL FOR CONSIGNMENTS
- November Premier Sessions – consignment closes Oct 30
- December Regency Sale – consignments close Nov 6
- December Premier Sessions – consignments close Dec 4
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR WISH TO ORDER, YOU MAY ALSO EMAIL US AT [email protected]. WE DO NOT CHECK OUR MESSAGES UNTIL MONDAY 9 AM.
For more information, please visit www.legendauctions.com.
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Legend Rare Coin Auctions (LRCA), based in Lincroft, NJ, is a boutique-style rare coin auction firm.
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