Sorry, this is not a rant at anything. It is about a very serious issue we see clearly is holding back the market. Values and pricing and how the public perceives them.
Recently we had a major long time customer absolutely freaked out because he paid 50% more for his HIGH END PCGS CAC coins (high end because we only bought him the best). For a coin he paid $147,500.00-even knowing what we paid, he saw an auction record for a NON CAC coin for $105,000.00 and freaked out. We were in a major state of shock as his sudden behavior.
The coin he bought certainly was worth what he paid. Now he is demanding a full refund. We happen to know the non CAC coin was lower end. He looked at a pic in an auction catalog and thought it looked okay. He misunderstood what the published price was for. Unfortunately, that price stuck in his head.
We thought many people knew this was a huge two tier market price wise. We love to give an example of a $20 1904 PCGS MS66 selling for $5,250.00 while our WHOLESALE SIGHTUNSEEN BID is $11,250.00 for a PCGS CAC piece. If you just watch auctions, that market which is fully transparent and will confirm the difference and spreads.
If you are going to buy top pop PCGS CAC coins, know you are going to be paying as much as DOUBLE vs a NON CAC. This is not because of dealers pushing or fabricated marketing. It is pure demand far outstripping supply in QUALITY coins. A great example: we looked up an $1 1889CC PCGS MS64 CAC on the Grey Sheet. They have a “bid” of a ridiculous $80,000.00. We just paid $135,000.00 for a really nice white coin. We figured it based on the fact no others have been around, we knew what a similar piece traded for last year, and the coin was high end. The last PCGS CAC piece to sell in auction brought $117,500.00 BACK IN 2012! 8+ years of NONE being sold via auction and they show only an $80,000.00 bid? A magazine like Grey Sheet only goes off of bids. We sure don’t have time to report of bids or make bids on items like that. We buy coins as they are available. How many collectors won’t buy a really rare coin like this because they will believe the current market value is too cheap? This obviously has become a major problem.
For the average person it so hard to know what to pay. You really have to work with a good dealer who can explain the pricing. What may seem a bit high today, in reality probably is only market. Last week we SOLD a 25C 1854 W/A PCGS PR65+ Cameo for $60,000.00. Finest known. The piece was awesome. The coin in our opinion was worth every cent we sold for-maybe even more. At first all our customer saw was the dark and ugly NON Cameo pieces that had sold for $23,000.00. Then he saw other low numbers listed in various places. He was not sure if he wanted to pay what we were asking. After some research and our guidance, he couldn’t buy the coin fast enough. You always need to understand the quality too that you are buying. A darker CAC coin will still sell strong, but not crazy like a killer eye appealing one. Is paying the extra money worth it? Yes! You just don’t want to be in a one on one run up in an auction.
We are also not saying non CAC coin are junk. We like the bargains for the real near miss pieces (we buy and wholesale those coins), but the public really has no clue to which those coins are. Still, even if a non CAC coin is 80% there, that is considered a miss and the coin can NOT be valued strong at all. Learned that by being burned many times.
The point here is if you buy CAC coins, KNOW there is a strong premium in this market because demand so far outstrips supply its scary. Do NOT be shocked. This is NOT an overnight sensation that PCGS CAC coins are that strong in price. For whatever reason, others besides our longtime friend are just realizing this. We strongly feel the majority of price/values published are wrong.
Again, you need to work with a dealer who can prove out pricing and values. It’s the safest thing for you. PCGS CAC nice coins are becoming rare just for the beans! We know of NO PCGS NON CAC coins that are equal to CAC pieces. A rare exception is a fresh collection that has not been to CAC.
Last, the price of a coin does not matter in the separation of values between PCGS and PCGS CAC pieces. This is not an elite issue-it’s a total market issue. However, if you buy the type of coins we sell, expect to pay strong premiums vs NON CAC.
