As we have been predicting, the market is coming back
By Laura Sperber – Legend Numismatics ……
AS THE SEASONS CHANGE
This is not only summer sliding into a cooler fall, but a cool time in the market morphing into a hot time! Collectors who saw nothing during the summer, stayed silent and went into hibernation seem to be back. The biggest problem? There is NO major show until Baltimore November 9-11 and then NO major shows until FUN. Ugh oh.
The PCGS Invitational is the only bigger show for October. We fully expect a BIG crowd–especially for our auction. We do think this show WILL bleed some dealers who would have gone to Baltimore two weeks later. Much to our surprise, we know several west coast dealers doing this show and skipping Baltimore. No one (collectors and especially dealers) has had any opportunity to buy decent-to-cool coins since Long Beach (the beginning of September), and even that was marginal.
IMPORTANT SUGGESTION: Attend the PCGS Invitational Wednesday or Thursday if you are dropping off coins. If you are going to look around, we strongly suggest Thursday ONLY. Friday typically is only an auction lot/grading pick-up day with most dealers leaving. Remember this is only a 25-table show. Legend WILL have our auction company items and all coins from our exclusive PCGS CAC inventory at two separate tables locations. The auction company will be happy to appraise your coins for free!
HOW CHEAP IS CHEAP?
Since 2010, prices have really been up and down with several severe spikes. Now that the ride has evened out and all the major sales are done, it’s reality check time. Where did all the coins go? If we had to guess, MAYBE (at most) only 2% of all Gardner/Pogue/Newman coins are still floating around. That is NOT a lot–as it is less then $5,000,000 (the combined auctions were close to $200,000,000). Go to any major show, at most you will only see one, maybe two coins from these collections (if even). Very few other “old time” collections have appeared in the last few years.
The deep “black hole” has left nothing but a small group of retreads to dominate the market. The biggest problem with the retreads is that many of these coins are dreck. So when they sell–especially at auction–the prices are lower. Because this happens way more than the better coins selling at higher prices, the price guides have actually hurt the better coins and the market.
Thus, the better coins (unless it’s an estate or such similar circumstance) are NOT coming out.
Great coins are selling too cheap now. We’ve been a forever fan of Proof Barber material. Heck, you can buy a 25C PCGS CAC PR66 Cameo for $3,250 and the coin will be really nice. Or you can buy a PCGS CAC PR67 3CN (a grossly UNDERvalued series in our opinion) for around $1,000! There are so many coins UNDER $10,000 (actually UNDER $5,000) that are (in our opinion) ridiculously cheap that eventually you CAN build a set of.
Do NOT buy coins today based on printed NONSENSE price guides quote. Recently we had dinner with two of the all time greatest collectors, Dr. Charles Link (who owns the only complete die variety set of Bust Halves) and our partner, uber-collector Bruce Morelan. Both were explaining to a new important customer of ours how they both never hesitated to “pay what it takes” to buy a coin or coins they hardly ever see or coins that had outrageous quality. Both of them said they had NO regrets with ANY of their purchases and know they could make big money on their coins. They wish they could buy more coins today while things seem too cheap.
At $1,000-$1,200 per coin (if you buy real PQ coins), why not build a superb GEM Barber Dime set? It’s only 24 coins! Or with gold being so low, build a handpicked Type set and pay a little more for the quality. Even on bigger and better coins – look at our $1 1885 PCGS PR68 Cameo – a coin 30+ years in the making, offer us $100,000 for another and there is no other to be had! Of course we recommend ONLY PCGS /CAC so you never have to worry about AT, doctoring, or overgrading.
Right now, cheap IS cheap enough. We’ll even concede there are some nice PCGS NON-CAC coins that are ridiculously cheap (we bought a stunning 1891 10C PCGS MS67 for $2,000 and a MONSTER toned 50C 1898 PCGS PR65 Cameo for $2,500)! As we have learned from the greatest collector we know, Bob Simpson, “buy today for tomorrow”. Do know tomorrow is NOT in two years; remember, coins have always been a LONG-TERM HOLD with short-terms swings.
As we have mentioned in recent Market Reports, NEW collectors are popping in. They want quality. Think about this: the supply was already dry BEFORE they started collecting. That is why as any great and especially new coin pops up in auction, you can not buy them for less then “moon money”. Change your thinking, being a price buyer today will NOT yield you major success down the road (although you will have some). Buy the best quality you can afford and don’t wince on the price. Things are too cheap today!
NEWPS
We’ve done our best to offer some stunning fresh coins, mixed in with a small group of “old friends” at lesser prices (our new controller says we have too many coins). There are several great low-pop Proof Morgans. Highlights are the exceedingly rare $1 1885 PCGS PR68 Cameo CAC SOLD (the first one to be made ever for PCGS ) and the $1 1902 PCGS PR67+ CAC pop 1. If you are building a top-pop set, this probably will be your only chance at these!
Some other great coins now posted include:
- 25C 1820 SMALL O PCGS PR64
EX NORWEB - 50C 1811 SMALL DATE PCGS MS 65
- $1 1935 PCGS MS66+
…Just to name a few of the 20+ NEWPS we are posting this week. There should be something to fit all tastes and budgets. Take our word on it, we worked really hard to find and then buy the nice coins we have. It helps that we have 40 (yes, 40) years of bourse floor experience and contacts. NO OTHER FIRM THAT WE ARE AWARE OF SELLS ONLY HIGH QUALITY PCGS CAC COINS ONLY TO ITS CUSTOMERS. We do that for YOUR protection.
ALL NEWPS ARE NOW POSTED
NOTE: When we list a coin and say “WE HAVE POSTED THIS COIN AT OUR BEST PRICE”, we mean it. Usually we are working super close and we feel the coin is priced super reasonable. Typically we wouldn’t even be able to discount $25 or $50 since we are working that close. We do NOT make discounts on these coins for any one! Our mark ups are unquestionably among the lowest in the biz – and NO ONE supplies the quality like we do!
LEGEND AUCTIONS
www.legendauctions.com
BOOM again! This time it was off to the races for our October Premier Sessions Monthly Sale. Within 24 hours of posting we had well over 100 bidders and six figures of bids! You will find these internet-only sales to be mini Regency Sales. Unlike other firms, all the coins are described by two world-class full-time numismatists. Just like in the Regency Sales, we do REJECT many coins. And one thing Legend Auctions is not: we are NOT enablers to the guys cooking up the AT colors or the coin doctors.
The October Premier Sessions Sale closes at 10 PM Thursday, October 12. We expect really strong bidding, so be ready!
LEGEND AUCTIONS OCTOBER REGENCY SALE
TRIPLE BOOM! We now have several hundred registrants–including over a hundred NEW players. In only a full week live, we now have well over $4,000,000 in HAMMER bids. This sale clearly will have record prices and record numbers for our firm. If you need to set up phone bidding, need to discuss terms, or have questions, please contact us now.
Do not forget, this week we are shipping all the coins out west. In conjunction with PCGS Public Grading Day, we will have a full lot viewing in Santa Ana at the Holiday Inn (for more information see the PCGS web site or email Greg Cohen at [email protected]. Of course we will have full lot viewing at the Philadelphia PCGS Invitational. We are open Tuesday October 24 after 2 PM by appointment only.
Use our experts for FREE representation in Legend Auctions. Here is what one very happy customer said to us:
“To anyone who truly gets it, you’re rep fee is one of greatest bargains going. More like a gift, actually.”
Our experts are the same numismatists who have been the biggest buyers from Pogue, Newman, and Gardner representing some of today’s biggest collectors. Can’t beat that!
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.
* * *
Legend Rare Coin Auctions (LRCA), based in Lincroft, NJ, is a boutique-style rare coin auction firm.
Connect with Legend Rare Coin Auctions on social media:
