By Laura Sperber – Legend Numismatics Market Report
NEW ORLEANS IS A GREAT PLACE TO VISIT …….
But a LOUSY place to hold a coin show! Apparently someone in the ANA leadership wanted to have a free trip down to a beautifully rebuilt New Orleans. You sure can’t beat the city for its food, nightlife, culture, and you name it.
As far as coins shows go, this had to be one of the worst attended coin shows since Pittsburgh Fall ANA. Collector attendance was so light you could bowl up and down the isles and never hit anyone. Only about 1/4 of dealers who attend a summer ANA took tables. Far fewer “vest pocket” dealers attended. On Friday and Saturday, there were more Pages then collectors! We attribute this miserable attendance to the fact New Orleans simply is NOT easy to get to. And why would a collector want to attend when they can see the majority of their favorite dealers won’t be there?
Legend only sold ONE coin to a collector-and even then we had to take a trade. The dealer next to us who has lesser priced and easier coins to sell to the public at a show, did not break $10,000.00 in sales. It just did not matter what you had, this show was doomed (which is a shame because the ANA has many hard working good people who put on the show).
So this is NOT a SHOW to judge the show market by. However, you actually can make a judgement from the Stacks auction, just look at what the real “fresh” and nice coins from the “New England Museum” did. Look at the beautiful PCGS PR64 Cameo Coiled Hair Stella that brought over $500,000.00 or the extremely rare Templeton Reid Dollar that brought $280,000.00 hammer! The sale yet again more than proved the market for great FRESH coins is ferociously strong.
We can tell you, sales in our offices are at incredible levels. We are doing six figure sales off our web site, we’re getting a few Want List coins, and we’re building some great NEW collections! Our biggest concern about the market: supply. Take our word on it, only a month ago were were in a dizzying “dry period” and couldn’t find a fresh or exciting coin to save our lives. That is the ONLY thing that hurts our business. We don’t see the market slowing any time soon.
LEGEND SPENT A FEW MILLION
Like CSNS we managed to have one totally insane day-Wed. Wholesale selling was strong-really strong. Even our “super secret first shot pal” opted to pass on the show and do the PCGS Invite next week. So our sales did not start off with anything huge. We did constantly sell a coin here and there until the end of Thursday when the show really seemed finished. The dealers who did come clearly needed coins. Most in demand-better gold.
What made our show a success-we bought three HUGE MONSTER deals plus several killer single pieces. One is the ultimate in wicked coolness (however we are not allowed to publicly discuss it-it did include a UNQIUE coin), one is better gold (which we had to step up and really pay seriously strong premiums for), and the last was a killer Large Cent deal. You’ll see some seriously awesome coins posted on our web site over the next 3 weeks! We are still shaking our head how lucky we got here in our buying.
GOLD
Everyone wants gold. Collectors, dealers, cats and dogs (just seeing if you are paying attention). We saw practically NO PCGS/CAC GEM gold on the floor. Its a combination of huge demand and very little supply. The prices of PCGS/CAC gold definitely have the strongest premiums right now. We did see NICE PCGS NON CAC gold trade surpisngly strong too. The overall demand for gold is still that strong. We do NOT see this changing any time soon. It is our opinion the spot price of gold has come through its “correction period”.
WHAT TO DO
We have been encouraging people to build PR64-67 Barber Sets, CC Morgan Sets, or our favorite and best set: general TYPE in what ever metal you choose. The beauty of a Type set-NO pressure. You can put a great rarity in it, or have an MS67 1880S Morgan as your Type coin.
Collectors have proven forever they end up with the greatest returns. They don’t just buy wildly and they choose a good dealer to work with (you may not want to hear it-but that is so critical). You won’t find everything you need too easily, but right now, if you love the challenge of the hunt, you’ll really enjoy building your collection (more satisfaction).
LM AUCTIONS
Oh did we pick up some MONSTER coins for the July 18th sale. We will be posting more highlights here in a few days-we have to process so much!
AN AMAZING LARGE CENT DEAL
There will be 30 later date 1848-1955 PCGS MS65-66 Naftzger coins! Each coin was purchased direct from the sale and is still in its original holder! There is NOTHING that comes close to the quality and eye appeal of the Naftzger coins-NOTHING! Sorry, this deal is committed to our auction!
WE HAVE ROUND II OF THE MARSHALL CC MORGAN COLLECTION!
$1 1879CC PCGS MS65 OGH CAC
$1 1880CC PCGS MS67 CAC
$1 1885CC PCGS MS67 CAC
THE GRAND HIGHLIGHT:
$1 1893CC PCGS MS66-the FINEST 1893CC EVER graded! Back in a cooler market we paid $92,000.00 for this coin which we felt strongly (and still do) is worth $125,000.00+. It has been in the Marshall CC Collection ever since.
We have many more MONSTER highlights to come in the next week or so! Stay tuned!
