THE FEBRUARY LONG BEACH SHOW

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AN UNEXPECTED GREAT SHOW-ALMOST LIKE OLD TIMES

We can not believe how intense this show was. For us, we had a really strong show. In fact, it was our BEST show in 2-3 years (but no where near any record levels)!

It was like a projectile from outer space hit. While overall attendance was good, there actually was some retail to be done. In fact, early Wed, we actually sold a $20,000.00 coin to a collector!  What a way to start a show. Keep in mind, this show had some serious attractions-the Ship of Gold, the Tyrant Collection, and the Super Collection of PL Morgans. It was a refreshing sight to see and deal with collectors again.  After all was said and done, we even sold TWO six figure coins to collectors. It felt like the Long Beach Shows we used to enjoy 20 years ago!

Wholesale was off the charts. Prior to the show hotel room selling was red hot. We made many “old friends” go away at strong prices. Most amazing was the fact our “super secret stealth seller” leaned over to us Wed AM and said, I’ve sold at total of $800,000.00 so far. He ended up selling just about $1,000,000.00-which by far was his best ever anywhere. For a single guy who does not carry expensive coins and goes table to table that is amazing. It more then proves demand from the rank and file dealers is huge. While it was perplexing to us how he did it-we had second shot with his coins and could only buy $20,000.00 we were not surprised. He sold well over six figures for us (great job old man)! The floor was a dry as dry could be of coins. PCGS did their silly little special to cross things at a small fee-and then slammed the door shut on everyone (although word has it towards the end of the show they were crossing things-probably because of so many complaints). Plus, they were extremely tight all around. Virtually no one made any coins.  In an a shocking move, the largest wholesaler in the biz did NOT bring any coins to sell (we suspect they were that low). Coin dealers need to make a living, so they bought whatever was offered regardless of price in many cases. We unhesitatingly proclaim the market at the Long Beach Show was 10-20% better then FUN-which was a very good show.

Buying was the worst disaster ever.  Here we go again with no real new wicked cool coins going into March. We had well over one million in bids in the Long Beach Auction and spent only $400,000.00. Of that number-two coins we went back and purchased after the sale for strong profits. The only big cool gold coin we bought at the show-a $20 1857S PCGS MS67 CAC Ship Wreck piece was sold to a Want List customer. We posted a $2.5 1914 PCGS MS64 CAC yesterday as part of our NEWPS, wish we had 3 more-ditto on the $20 1876S PCGS MS63+ CAC! In fact, we’ve already sold several NEWPS and it is only Saturday afternoon. The markets pent up demand is now being felt across the board.

An interesting phenomena is happening. We’ve seen this in our own auctions and now saw this big time in the Long Beach Sale.  More and more collectors of the better coins are now playing to win. That is something we had always done when we are out to build great sets. The $10 Libs in the sale were proof. The 1842O PCGS MS63 CAC brought a staggering $288,000.00. The 1897O PCGS MS67 CAC brought a staggering $264,000.00 (and we thought our measly $175,000.00 hammer bid would buy it). The 1886 PCGS MS64 CAC brought and unimaginable $31,200.00 (which makes the 1874 $10 PCGS MS64 we bought for $28,800.00 look like a steal). This kind of strength actually was not just limited to gold. We had to pay $10,801.00 for the wildly colored 1871 50C PCGS PR65+ Cameo CAC. Yet we lost out on the killer 50C 1909 PCGS PR65 Cameo that brought $4,320.00.  We even got clocked on a 1C 1907 PCGS PR66 RB CAC which brought $4,320.00. The competition is now fierce. Before we would say these coins all brought “beyond moon money”. Today, we are firm in our opinion these are simply “market” prices. Again, this applies only to the better high end higher quality coins.

One coin of particular interest in the sale was a $10 1840 PCGS AU55 CAC. There was NO question it was grossly UNDER graded. It happens. The intensity of the sale and the attraction of the $10 Lib was so strong the coin realized $33,600.00 all in (a regular AU55 is worth around $5,000.00). The price realized is now current market for a 61/62 coin. Plus add in the fact ALL early $10 in UNC in the 40’s are grossly UNDERValued to begin with. The final price is no surprise to many of us. Yes, there are a few very rare coins out there like this that are that UNDER graded. The buyer got one heck of a coin!

If the price guides weren’t so pathetic, we would be at the start of a very big bull market. When coins haven’t sold since 2012-2014 or so and there is no up to date pricing, many collectors simply can’t figure what to pay and they don’t bid because the prices started off higher then they understood. We think so many people have become fed up with not buying coins they are breaking out and just buying the coin. Each day more and more people are coming to realize they have one shot and one shot only to snag their prizes. The market is no where near any euphoric state, but it is VERY strong for good coins.

QUALITY IS EVERYTHING

We still shake our heads at what we see happening so we feel compelled to repeat this critical message. With millions of coins graded your always going to have as much a 5% that are bad. That is an awful lot of coins. When the market is this strong and no coins are around, all that is left is the dreck to really mess things up (pulling prices down). Collectors need to know that while they may be buying a coin cheap-some times cheap is not cheap enough. There is a reason as to why CAC coins can sell for DOUBLE.

We can not stress enough, that even if you are desperate for a fix, do NOT buy a coin just to fill a hole with an inferior coin. You will end up losing money. ONLY buy the final coin you need. And if a coin is not CAC, ask why. The best line we ever heard was a dealer said “he does not believe in it”. WOW, you’d think that would red flag. ANY dealer worth their salt today will have sent a coin in as clearly they bring he most money. You can always ask a sale be dependent on a coin stickering. If the answer is no from the dealer-walk away!  Last (and we can not stress this enough) CAC will guarantee you will not get a doctored coin. That alone to us, is huge-you have no clue what we see for sale out there.

Our motto has been “buy the best you can afford” and “there is no substitution for quality”. This has held true since we were baby dealers over 40+ years ago (ouch)!

To us, quality is not just buying an MS or PR 68 coin. Its about buying even a GEM AU piece. EYE appeal is a critical component of quality. When buying a Proof coin, the clarity of the mirrors is the real key (so many people do NOT look for this). We have always bought the very best for the grade-and we have always paid more to get it. In the end, over the LONG TERM, this formula DOES make you money. Also know the long term is not 2-3 years, it is MUCH longer. Beware of lesser coins-even if they have a sexy pedigree. You are NOT getting any bargins!

NOTE: Dreck to us has nothing to do w/the value or the grade of a coin. Its about the QUALITY and EYE Appeal. We’ve seen High Reliefs in MS64 that were pure dreck and stuff like a PR65 Barber Dime that was worse-puke! You can’t have retoned Morgans  or Indian Cents no matter what the grade. All those are dreck to be avoided. We use the term because it grabs attention and makes people stop and think.

NEWPS

Here we go again. We could not find many coins at all to our liking. Price was not going to be any issue. Well it sort of ended up that way-we got seriously skunked in the auction. But then we were buying to resell and can’t play to win to stock a coin. We did manage to come up with a few cool coins:

25C  1895 PCGS PR67+ DCAMEO  CAC

$1 1900 O/CC PCGS MS66+ CAC

$20 1876S PCGS MS63+ CAC

We tried our hardest to buy coins for all tastes and budgets. We were so frustrated by what we could not find.

Do not forget to check out our regular inventory, we do have some great coins that need great homes!

Legend is BUYING! What do you have-especially in PCGS /NGC CAC gold (sorry, we do not need commoner coins)?

ALL NEWPS ARE NOW POSTED. ENJOY! 

LEGEND ARE COINS AUCTIONS

www.legendauctions.com

BID TODAY! Our Premier Regency Sessions Sale closes starting at 9 PM Est tomorrow. We assure you, this sale (which was handpicked by Laura Sperber) is far from the typical Internet Only slop sales that are ending at the same time. We rejected many coins -who else really does that? NO ONE. We strive to make these monthly sales “mini” Regency sales. They are not high priced dumping grounds. We run good sales with no gimmicks. Bid or consign with us, you WILL see the difference.

OUR PREMIER SESSIONS INTERNET ONLY BUYERS FEE IS 10%. 

If you have any questions or need help with the current sale, contact Julie Abrams: julie@legendauctions.com or Greg Cohen: greg@legendauctions.com

As of 5 PM Est Saturday Feb 24th, this current Premier Internet Only Sale has hit an all time high for registrants and active bidders! Thank you! 

NEXT UP 

We are in the final stages of accepting consignments for our March Premier Sessions  Internet Only sale. We have some really great stuff already consigned.  And when we say great, we mean interesting coins of REAL quality.

Don’t forget our May Regency Sale. Space is filling up fast. This will be our biggest sale ever (possibly 750 lots). We will have the first session Wednesday May 16 consisting of nothing but Dollars 1795-1935. We have the PFM Morgan Set (a complete PCGS Registry set of white Morgans) and the Crow River Set of GEM PCGS Peace Dollars as anchors. Of course we’ll have a monster toner or two and some other really cool Dollars. We assure you, EVERY coin in this sale is hand picked!

We have already been consigned monster single coins: a killer 25C 1916 PCGS MS67 FH  (no CAC)! A monster 50C Rhode Island 1936S PCGS MS68 CAC. We’ll be discussing what is in this sale starting next week-we’ve been a bit swamped.

Again, contact Julie Abrams: julie@legendauctions or Greg Cohen: greg@legendauctions for more information.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR WISH TO ORDER, EMAIL US: legend@legendcoin.com. WE DO NOT CHECK OUR PHONE MESSAGES UNTIL 9 AM MONDAY