Tell us we can fly on a 787-9, and we’ll take a trip! Well, sort of. We had a huge reason to fly all the way out to Long Beach: WE NEED COINS! We bought no coins to sell because we are still selling like crazy in the office. In fact, during the first 15 days of this month, our sales were so strong they reached record numbers for any February ever!
Our buying was pathetic. We actually bought two coins on Want Lists, but our total spending was way under the minimum $100,000.00 we had hoped for. The show started off extremely stressful for us. On Tuesday, there were few dealers present. We bought only 4 coins totalling $11,000.00 that day. That was a totally wasted day. It seems dealers cannot read. Most did not know setup was Tuesday, not Wednesday. At least on Wednesday, the room was full. Buying wasn’t much better.
We walked around several times. You could buy all the dreck you wanted. The one thing you could actually buy: Morgan Dollars. We simply didn’t have an appetite for them even though we bought two really nice ones. We really wanted other coins like Bust pieces, some Proof type, better gold, and even generic Saints. (We got lucky and bought one PCGS MS66+ Saint-NON CAC)!!
All we can do right now is ask everyone to be patient. We assure you, we will be aggressively competitive in the upcoming auctions. It’s the only way to get coins—unless you want to sell them to us! Every day we are scouting the coin landscape for NEWPS. many
We think the new Long Beach Show has potential. The public certainly attended. But we think the public was more interested in bullion-related items. Plus, the timing of this show was just plain bad. There are two big shows in the next two weeks (ANA Mid Year and Baltimore). We chose not to go to ANA because it is difficult to access, and we knew too many “sharks” would be there. We will be at the Baltimore Show and will bring our meager inventory.
GOLD
We are perpetual gold bugs. Take what we say as our opinion only.
It looks like gold may have had its correction. It was minor. Now gold seems to be inching its way back over $5,000.00. Our Wall Street friends are bullish and are buyers.
One thing we can say for sure: there were NO PCGS CAC MS 66-66+ Saints for sale at the Long Beach Show. Every time we offer any, they sell super fast. We saw only one MS 65 at the Long Beach show. We do still very much believe in gold coins, and we especially like MS 66/66+ Saints and all better gold.
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While we do suggest pairing your holdings and switching a portion into better rare coins, we still strongly recommend buying gold coins.
Call or email us; we can help you.
FROM A DREAMER TO THE PCGS HALL OF FAME
Laura Sperber is now a member of the esteemed PCGS Dealer Hall Of Fame. What an honor. It took over 50 years of really hard work, many sleepless nights, and lots of tears (yes, tears were shed). I thank PCGS for recognizing my work.
Here is a quick story of my past:
At 10 years old, I found a circ 23S 1C in change. Something mesmerized me about it. So I began hoarding circ Wheaties. In high school I was very active in sports and other things, but I always found time to learn about coins. My big highlight was getting the weekly Coin World. The very first real coin I ever bought at a local show (which I still have) was an H.10C in GEM Proof. Today it is a PCGS PR65, and I keep it in my desk.
In 1976 my path in life became clear. My softball coach worked down the street from Stacks in NYC. I begged him to get me their ANA catalog. He did, and I spent hours reading it over and over. Of course the ANA Show was in NYC, and there was no way I was going to miss it. When I arrived, I was blown away by what I saw. I was a wide-eyed teen who was totally overwhelmed. I remember going to the late John Love’s table and seeing a stack of DMPL Morgans. But it was at the Goldbergs’ table where someone let me hold the 1913 Liberty 5C—the one I’d eventually own (a small part of). From then on, I lived, breathed, and slept coins. I had a dream as big as anyone’s; I wanted to be a coin dealer. So I scraped up $9,000.00 and started.
What luck I had. A major local firm, Renrob, helped me a lot. I’d get coins from them and run them over to a store in Flemington. The owner of that store—none other than John Albanese. Who became my lifelong close friend (44 years now). A trivial note: JA and I are the same age too, which helped us bond. Then I started doing the major shows. My first major show was in the parking garage in the DC area (I forget the name of it). The first coin I ever bought there as a dealer was a 5C 1902 GEM Proof from Don Dugas for $400.00. I remember the coin vividly. I always wonder what holder it might be in today or where it went.
After I made a small fortune and lost it in 1980/81, I realized I needed help. I met my biz partner of 40 years outside of Coins after I took a short hiatus. He helped out a lot. We had some wild adventures. I still dreamed of one day making it to the top of the field. We both put in a ton of hard work. My big break came when Phil Flannagan became our customer. Phil was awesome. He allowed me to work my magic and build him a complete Bust Dollar set, including the 1804 Class III AU58. He was also a great mentor in business. Also around that time, I needed money. I had just read something: if you need money, speak to your customers. So I talked to a then customer, Bruce Morelan, in 1997, and the rest was history. I am proud I helped Bruce become one of the greatest collectors of all time. Because of Bruce, we bid on and won the 1794 $1 Specimen PR 66 CAC that at the time was the world’s most valuable coin ever sold ($10 million dollars) in 2013. Bruce helped us grow in quantum leaps. We never looked back from that point on.
One fateful day in 2002, we got a call about some coins we had on eBay. A woman called, saying her boss wanted to see several that were listed. On the third call I realized we needed to go meet this collector. It was Bob Simpson. What he allowed me to do for him is history. Along the way, I worked with hundreds of great collectors. Not all of them were of Mr. Simpson’s caliber—that never mattered to me. One thing I am most proud of: collectors like Shalor (wild Commems and Proof Commems) and the Naples Collector have worked with me for OVER 35 years! I have so many people who have been with me for over 25 years; all I can say is thank you. I love the coins I sell, and I love working with the people who collect them.
Forgot to mention one of my pain points. I fought hard (and still do) against coin doctors and the PNG (of which I do not want to be a member). The hurt of coin doctoring is deep for me. I was not afraid to fight, and I got in trouble for doing so a few times (notice I do not write about Hot Topics anymore?). I was so angry that few dealers seemed willing to speak out. David Hall threw me out of PCGS at least twice for being so vocal. Then a funny thing happened. There was a very expensive coin (about $500G) that had serious doctoring. He was pissed at me for being vocal about it. He found me at a show and took me to view the coin. He wanted to prove me wrong and shut me up. I was 100% right, and PCGS bought the coin back! More importantly, from that point on, I earned his respect, and we got along marvelously. In fact, when I started Legend Auctions, David Hall was probably my biggest dealer supporter. Thank you. David!
At this year’s FUN Show, PCGS hosted a dinner. I was tired and did not want to go. But they got me there. At the dinner they announced I was in the PCGS Dealer Hall of Fame class of 2026. I was stunned. I do thank PCGS for the honor. I have satisfied my dreams and am now in the same class as many of the great dealers I idolized as a young girl. WOW.
My health is much better now (for those who do not know, I had a kidney transplant), and I plan on staying a coin dealer forever. My dream now is only to keep building great collections and buying and selling the greatest coins. Nothing makes me happier than when I can place a great coin that is an “old friend” with a new friend. I pinch myself at the coins I have handled over the years. I cherish all my customers and numismatic friends. Building one of the greatest retail coin businesses was another dream I wanted to fulfill. I think I did pretty well with that one too.
NEWPS
Sorry, none this week. We will have a nice selection next week. Please email or call us to ask if we have anything new that might be for you.
Do look at our inventory now. We have some of the very best coins for sale—ALL PCGS CAC. With the appointments we have for the Baltimore Show, we know most of the coins we have WILL sell.
LEGEND IS BUYING. WHAT DO YOU HAVE FOR SALE?
Next Friday, we will have some NEWPS to offer. Stay tuned.
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