By Laura Sperber – Legend Numismatics ……
THE BIG WEEK
We just saw a sales report for the first three weeks of September.
Somehow, we have done $2,000,000.00 in sales to collectors. That was kind of shocking as we thought we did not do much so far.
We can admit when things are quiet.
We even predicted that after ANA this would happen for about thirty days.
We are now confident that our huge Regency Sale coming up later this week will do extremely well and the market will be back in a heartbeat.
Plus, we have some good sales in progress.
YET ANOTHER TOP SET IS BORN
We’ve been putzing around with Proof Barber Dimes for some time.
For a while, we were building Simpson, Law, a set for a gentleman from Boston (probably a former Pats fan by now), and the kid “RSD”. The finest sets and all have sold!
But RSD, who has now completed his world’s BEST EVER Mint State Barber quarter set, decided to start Proof Barber dimes. So, we purchased the Laxdive set, which is currently #2 on the PCGS Set Registry. Many people consider this set to be #1, since it is 100% CAC-approved.
RSD has the drive for sure and is determined to make it the #1 All-Time Set. Even better, he is young and plans to hold his coins for some time. Legend Numismatics is proud to be tasked to assist. We LOVE building world-class collections. This is in our blood and NO ONE does it better… NO ONE!
If you have any FINEST-KNOWN PCGS CAC-Approved pieces, contact us. Sorry, No NGC pieces and CAC is a MUST!
PRICES TODAY
Yikes! Pricing today is more screwed up than ever.
We see too many buyers not understanding that you have to generally have to overpay to buy a great coin.
With supply being so limited, it’s like a shark feeding frenzy when a great coin comes around.
The stuff that isn’t so great can sell for as much as 50% less.
You can look at published prices in price guides but most are wrong.
Our preference is still auction prices realized, but those are not always correct. On rare occasions (this just happened to us), we bought a coin paying what we thought was a ridiculously cheap price of $3,500.00.
As we were cataloging it, we found out the coin just sold for $2,600.00.
You have to know that both prices are totally ridiculous as this coin simply fell through the cracks. You can not always assume that the auction price is correct.
There are many times when you’ll have to pay way ABOVE.
We recently paid $10,000.00 for a coin that had another sell for $8,500.00 at auction.
First, here too, the coin at auction sold for too cheap and it was not as nice as the one we had. We’re comfortable with what we paid. We also know that you do rarely see any examples of this issue at this level in PCGS CAC.
So, when buying, first look at the coin and then the numbers.
A VERY high-end coin is usually not worth what the last one sold for. In this market, especially if the coin is low pop, be prepared to pay as much as 25% more. If its a monster, all previous pricing is null and void.
Paying top dollar is the ONLY way you get top quality coins.
The safest and best way to figure out pricing is to work with a bourse floor-trained numismatist.
That is what it takes to know how and where the market is.
If you insist on going it alone for higher grade SUPERB coins, don’t try to bottom fish. It happens, but only on rare occasions do really nice coins fall through the cracks.
