We’re not just talking about the market; we’re talking about the fact that all of us here finally broke and said enough! And took a full week off. Of course we hit Hawaii. In our opinion, it is one of the most beautiful places on earth. If you have not been there, you are missing out on just pure beauty and peacefulness—even on Oahu.
We could not help ourselves; we managed to visit with 2 collectors (one actually flew in from Kona to buy a coin), and we visit the other every trip. This trip he was heavy on remaining us; he started dealing with us in 1989! You do the math. We thank him for his generous hospitality as always. He is not alone in being with us that long. What is our secret? We don’t lie, we work closely, and we sell great coins. Others make claims; we are the real deal!
The ANA really needs to hold a midwinter show there. We know many collectors are on the islands. How many West Coast people really are going to go to Virginia Beach? Hawaii is a destination for sure. Last, what were the chances Greg Rohan from Heritage was staying at our hotel on his vacation at the same time as us? We had no clue he was going there. Crazy, huh?
THE COIN MARKET
You’re hearing this a lot from us: we had an unexpectedly strong month. Well, that is what happened in July.
We expected to lose money or break even. Nope, we only worked 3 weeks and MADE money. Keep in mind, our gross sales are in the millions. July did not skip a beat.
We sold a lot of gold. No generics. Collectors are buying the few pieces that pop up (PCGS CAC, of course). We saw hardly any CACG pieces. We are building several gold Type sets, and we can tell you finding coins is near impossible. Even with generics, we had 3 $20 come in the other day. LSS needed one and was shocked when she could not find one because GH immediately took it for one of his customers. We’re all over the dealer systems bidding for large generic gold. So far we have bought zilch—even as the highest bidder. And of course we are, as always, trying to buy better gold, like GEM $10 Indians and Saints. We also badly need Early Bust gold.
Apparently, the days are over when the big black hole that all the great coins are being sucked into takes a break. These streamers on the apps are not just doing a few thousand dollars in biz—they are doing MILLIONS. They are responsible for bringing in so many new people to coins. Most of course are uneducated and are being burned. We hate to see that. But a few are smart and are slipping through and have entered into the mainstream. marketplace. That is why we can’t find the coins we really need. If you asked us to build you a GEM $10 Indian set or a GEM GFH Standing 25C set with all PCGS CAC, we’d say it can’t be done. Think about this: even PR Type w/pops of less than 10 CAC is nothing. The big real world wants to buy coins these days—that is an awful lot of people for so few coins.
It is our strong opinion that because the price guides report so poorly, collectors won’t sell into the rising market. They do not know the real value of their coins. It does kind of make us look good when we sell their coins for prices they never expected. Do note: to buy the coins you need, you have to pay beyond sheet levels for sure.
The coin market right now is showing ZERO signs of the summer doldrums. We think this massive bull run will continue at least through the end of September. Typically, the first few weeks of September right after the ANA are slow. We are not so sure it will be this year. The demand for coins is so large we can’t see how it can be filled in a month.
We still say that for today, the best way to work the market is with Type sets and partial date sets.
We could use Bust Halves BEFORE 1830 PCGS MS65 PCGS CAC only. NO dark coins
Got any AU 53 and higher Bust Dollars? Prefer no 1799.
Legend badly needs 4-5 PCGS CAC ONLY MS66/67 High Reliefs. Any have?
We also need MS 66-67 CC DMPL’s PCGS CAC ONLY MUST have deep mirrors.
Got any Bust gold? Need 3 1795 $10 in AU and higher
Our Want list is back over $20,000.00! Must be PCGS CAC or CACG.
We need that many coins; can you help us?
NEWPS
Somehow we managed to find a few really nice coins. Of course all are PCGS CAC. Look at these highlight coins:
H.10 1831 PCGS MS67+ CAC
10C 1836 PCGS MS67 CAC Old blue tag
50c 1895 PCGSS PR68+ CAC Simpson
$5 1913-S PCGS MS64 CAC REALLY RARE!
$10 1909-S PCGS MS64 CAC
Of course there are several other really nice coins. NO BS when we say we highly doubt the majority of the coins we have posted will come home from ANA. We had a few people thinking about “baby Jesus,” and poof! Sold! It’s a different market, people…
You can now order again using a credit card. New buyers MUST furnish verifiable references.
The Collection Of A Lifetime
Big mistake mentioning it early on. When we first saw it all laid out on a table, we were blown away. These are incredibly cool, matched original sets. There are over 360 coins. In our minds, we figured we could have them all prepped in less than a month. Dang, what were we thinking?
The problem arose with the NGC sets. What a nightmare we have had crossing them. Only 2-3 sets crossed completely. But then there were clear-cut upgrades they missed. PCGS was also brutal (ask anyone how tight they have been recently); we did not chase many upgrades (as witnessed by the older blue tag holders). And then there is CAC. What a nightmare. All we wanted to do was make the sets collector-friendly. Last we checked, we knew how to grade.
We expect to have 1862-1886 ready at the ANA show—possibly even the week before. We are dealing with getting back one set at a time. Most are due back in a week to 10 days. We have not yet decided what we are going to do with the zebra (mixed PCGS NGC sets). The 1864 set is in for reholdering at NGC. The holders were in poor shape, which made the coins hard to see. So that set may not make the show. We’ll give you a hint on the set: 3CS PR68, 10C PR 67, 25C PR 68, 50C PR68, $1 PR 68…
Legend has always considered matched original proof sets as the last frontier of numismatics. We strongly suggest you try to add these great sets to your collection or box of 20. Some of these sets were direct from a cornerstone of a bank. We sold the 1866+67 sets to the collector. Those were from the famous deal that broke in 2001 involving sets from 1856 to 1915. They were from a Virginia family whose descendants purchased each coin at the Mint and kept them until 2001. These sets have never been on the open market before! The sets are incredible, too.
The 1892-1915 sets will come out around the end of September. Fingers crossed.
If you have any questions about this collection, please email Laura directly at laura@legendcoin.com. Stay tuned for availability.
You must stop by our ANA table and view these sets! We will NOT break up any. Don’t even suggest it. These sets may be the last time you’ll ever see such a group assembled.
LAST CALL FOR ANA COINS!
We are getting lots of coins on consignment (we just got an NGC Peace Dollar set and a $5 partial CC set). It’s the right time to sell. We can work magic-so long as you are realistic.
Or do you have coins to sell? If so, contact laura@legendcoin.com. Images are helpful.
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