POST ANA MARKET REPORT

BACK FROM THE DEAD

What a powerful title, but we mean it. Any dealer who buys and sells coins on our level simply lied about a good ANA show in their reports-unless the Utah guy cleaned them out or they had a special situation. Folks, next to the 1981 ANA Show when the market absolutely crashed (oh were we there), this was the crash of the ANA Show. Too bad everyone is in denial about it. There will always be good coins shows-like FUN and the PCGS Invitationals (we do MORE retail there then at an ANA).  This ANA Show was so poor it made a bad dream be good.  It was so bad it does not even deserve any obituary. We’ve put in our time trying to help the ANA, time to move on-unless they wake up and move it back to a central location forever like Rosemont Ill. They can not keep living in their own little world.

IS THE MARKET REALLY ALIVE AND WELL?

Um, heck yes-in our world!!! We wish the ANA Show never happened. We had done incredibly well the week before. Of course we did nothing at the show. However, from Saturday on when we started posting NEWPS-action happened! We had a MONSTER RECORD week. How? We had multiple inquiries on the $2.5 1838C PCGS AU58 that sold, the G $1 1875 sold, as did a chunk of our MS66 common date Saints. Mid week we sold a GEM Proof $20 Liberty. Friday after noon we confirmed the sale of a $20 1908S PCGS MS66+ CAC. Notice the trend? GOLD! Sorry, we can’t mention much more of what what we sold. We did sell the cheaper coins (below $7,500.00) as fast as we could post them. Our sales for the week from calls and internet sales were about $500,000.00 (we are not including any Want List coins). However, Thursday evening as we delivered the $1 1794 PCGS MS64 CAC to its new proud keeper, we closed an additional $2 million dollar plus sale of an amazing collection to him. Wanna know if there are replacements for the late Gene Gardner, Pogue, and the others who sold off their amazing collections in the last 3-4 years? There are several NEW PLAYERS-who have only been buying for LESS then a year (the Utah zillionaire leads the way with probably $90-$100 million spent to date since last July). Our customer on Thursday spent $5 million in a week  and has spent a awful lot since he started in January. We have 2 other new HUGE players like this (and that is just us). Each of these collectors are spending more per year then ANY of the huge old time guys-even adjusting for the time difference and values. We can assure you, if Bob Simpson did not have virtually everything he wanted, he’d be back up there spending as much as any one. Take our word on it, we are still selling him coins! It does not take many of these mega collectors to move the market and dry it up. In fact, we do not recall a time on our 40 year career where there were this many gigantic players around at the same time. Our crew has simple demands, ALL PCGS , ALL CAC, and they will happily pay for WILD eye appeal. Sounds nice, however all that stuff has been dried up by not only them, but that big black hole called the internet. Proof: have you ever seen an ANA group of auctions where there was only one superstar coin (the 1794 $1 we bought it)? No major collections surfaced at the show (save for the wonderful G $1 Proof set that the Utah guy bought-which was LESS then $1 million). And when there was something of some substance (but not close to even 80% all there), it was grossly overpriced and the head games to sell it were insulting to even the dumbest creatures alive. We predict in 5-10 years you will see the fruits of these giant collectots and the rise of mega collections the likes never before imagined.

IN DENIAL

Yes, the market is good in our orbit-maybe too good.  No one looked to the future to think where will we get fresh coins from? Making things even more complicated, we have a very broken value system with no where any one can look for even close pricing. With reactive vs proactive valuing happening and no coins around, that can be very bad for the market. Collectors really shut down during these summer doldrums until really special events happened (like our July Regency Sale). The ANA and its auctions was so chock full of retreads and dreck it brought the weaker coins down and kept people away.

The rubber band just has to break. When it does, it will be a HUGE positive up swing. Prices MUST rise for great coins to surface (unless they are estates or have certain circumstances like retirement,  divorce, etc). We think golds rapid rise could have a tremendous short term effect on the entire market as people seek out hard assets again. The great coins simply are NOT available today.

Legend bought a ridiculous TINY amount of coins (so far UNDER $1 million its embarrassing) at ANA-a place where we normally spend $2-3 million. Our collectors are not hungry, they are starved. The worst scenerio for us is when someone is building a major collection and they can not find any of the coins they need. Fortunately our customers have some patience, or they find something else to start on or a lesser grade with less pressure.

We all need to be more vocal to ANY place where prices/values are reported. make them more realistic and up to date. And most important, make them clarify between WHOLESALE and retail. Then as value is seen across the board, coins might come back out. Right now we see more dealers just blaming the general market then looking for where the real root of the problem is.

It really seems to us the stop and start nature of the market on our level is more because everyone-including dealers are in denial about what having ‘no coins” really means. No one has a huge inventory of really cool stuff they can not sell for good money. We laugh as smart dealers try and get full price for non CAC coins because there is so little around (they know better they are just trying to jonz it for money). We’re positively NOT in a down cycle.

Not looking to hype anything, but if you are smart, you will know buying right today WILL produce substantial gains in the future. It will be a matter of HAVING the coin. Pay the extra money it takes relative to today’s price guides and buy the coin. Time will force this current market situation to work out to the positive side. Lack of supply today is a short term problem-you need not to be in denial it is a problem and be looking past that.

A NOTE  TO SELLERS

Read and learn please. Never forget it is the market that determines value. Just because there are so few coins around does not mean you can take a sloppy second tier higher ranked registry set and ask the moon thinking you will settle somewhere close to what YOU think is right. We saw this happen with TWO sets at ANA. The same goes for single coins.

Do not play head games. If a coin or set is for sale say so. Don’t play this bull crap game of well maybe BUT if I get a victim….Be realistic on price-if you seek the moon, then have the guts to put your coin in auction UNRESERVED if you are so bullish. If you do NOT know your coins value and are afraid of missing the last penny, then don’t hurt your reputation or the coin/sets value, place it in auction. Or, you should work with a capable and competent dealer who really knows the markets of what you are looking to sell. A simple presentation with smart honest answers and reasonable pricing always speeds a sale along in this kind of market. ALWAYS make sure you can justify your asking price too. Saying its a pop 1 or being emotionally attached to a set or a coin is NOT reality pricing.

We can not stress enough there are so many buyers seeking great coins today. If you are seller, do not waste their time or turn them off. Think before you offer. Don’t insult your buyers because you are too passionate or are too greedy. IT IS A SELLERS MARKET FOR BETTER COINS. 

HELP US! 

We are desperate. Our good customer the Hedgie is mad at us and is torturing us. We’ve built him the real complete #2 sets of $2.5, $5, $10 Indians and of course a complete GEM Saint Set (including a MS66 27D). ALL his coins are PCGS CAC.

He is now super mad at us for missing the $20 1907 WE PCGS MS66 CAC in the FUN Sale because we snoozed. He has growled at us for 8 months straight now. He even mentioned cement shoes and actually stopped in the middle of a boat trip and said get out to us (which we almost did because a Russian billionaire had is yacht less then a half mile away) …Today again Hedgie point blank said he is mad at us. Even worse we see him locally occasionally (don’t need his kids giving us the whammy eye).

We do not want Hedgie mad at us. Does anyone have a PCGS or even NGC CAC ONLY WE High Relief in MS66 or higher??? Our WHOLESALE sightUNEEN BID is $75,000.00 for a 66. Who has one-please???? We are paying strong today (don’t quote us moon money-these do exist). We’ll even throw in a free auction representation on one coin up to $50,000.00 in value!

This is a great example of a not so rare but impossible to find coin due to demand. Even with all our contacts we are shocked we have found ZERO HR’s. Please help us! UGH!

GOLD

We’re baack! Gold is more then alive. in fact, we have sold well over $1,000,000.00 in better gold coins in the last 30 days. Not everything makes our web site. As gold rises, collectors and the dreaded “I” word (investors) will be seeking out and fighting over nice gold coins. Already, bigger commoner generic gold has dried up. trying to find a Bust gold piece or a proof? Good luck!

We see nothing but short term upside for most gold coins. Our suggestion: build a Gold Type set. +Remember you can put rarities or common coins in a Type set, it is your choice. Or a build a Lib set MS65, 66, 67, 1900-1908 depending on series.These coins are still too cheap. $5 Lib and $5 Indians seem the most ‘off” in price today.

NEWPS

We yawned at most of our competitors NEWPS from ANA. Not only were they boring, but most were non CAC. Folks, remember, in this day and age, why wouldn’t a coin go to CAC especially when it will sell for more with the bean? Other wise, what most dealers are selling can be the equivalent to mystery meat. Sure, our coins cost a fraction more, but no one can dispute the absolute REAL quality and eye appeal we offer. Even if people can not agree with CAC grading, the one thing CAC does provide, you will NEVER buy a doctored coin. That alone in our opinion more then justifies the price.

We have an outstanding offering this week. The highlights are:

1C  1863 PCGS PR66 CAMEO CAC

10c 1908 PCGS PR66 CAMEO CAC (you really have to see this coin in person)

25C 1896 PCGS PR68 DCAMEO CAC

$2.5  1829 PCGS MS64+ CAC

$10  1888 PCGS PR65+ DCAMEO CAC

We work overtime to create this outstanding and interesting offering. We strive to have something for everyone. EVERY coin in our inventory posting has been verified for its high end quality and strong eye appeal by the principles of Legend Numismatics-the same people who have built many of the worlds finest HOF collections on the PCGS Registry and today represent the biggest collectors. Even if its a $1,500.00 coin, we are going to make sure it is the best of the best!

Do not forget to check out our regular inventory listings. We have some great coins that have been overlooked and deserve great homes!

OKAY, WE CHANGED OUR MINDS. WE WILL HAVE 4-6 NEWPS TO POST THIS WEEKEND (AUG 19TH) FOR SURE, THIS WILL BE OUR LAST OFFERING OF NEWPS UNTIL WE RETURN FROM  THE LONG BEACH SHOW SEPT 9TH. 

ALL NEWPS ARE NOW POSTED -ENJOY

LEGEND RARE COIN AUCTIONS

www.legendauctions.com

Okay, we’re pulling off the gloves-especially when it comes to our Premier Sessions Internet Only Sales. Our last sale which ended August 10th was another huge success (actually the scope of the success was totally unexpected by us). The real buyers love us and it shows in our prices realized.

We do not understand why people think the competition out there in Monthly and weekly auction houses do better then us-they do NOT.

First, there is NO Internet ONLY auction company where every phase of the sale is handled by a real bourse floor credible coin dealer who is NOT a sales person or “auction director”. We’ve been grossed out by these companies not only NOT knowing how to grade but being enablers of coin doctors. Further, why would you want to sell a better coin in a commodity factory that offers $100.00 widgets by the hundreds each sale? Do you think they have the real client base you seek? NOT!

Even in this last “off time” sale, we had a who’s who of buyers bid. Even better SEVERAL winning bidders were from out side the US. Over 90% of our sales are to collectors or dealers representing collectors. We can tell you, we love trolling the competition to buy-because the coins are so cheap!

If you have coins OVER $1,500.00 per lot ($10,000.00 total) you should give us a try  in our Monthly Sales. We are building them to be mini Regency sales with out the catalog. It is our goal to have happy buyers who never question the quality they are getting. Our motto: “A happy buyer makes for a happy seller”. Last, along those lines, why in the world would you consign to any Internet Auction that has no descriptions? We think that is poor and reflects on what they do NOT know (which is how to grade coins). Pictures can be deceiving  as we all know (all LRCA coins are either PCGS imaged or done by a photographer/collector with 20+ years of collecting know how).

We are in our final phase of accepting consignments for our September Premier Sessions Sale. We will have the auction on display for viewing at Long Beach. What other Internet Only Sales bring the entire sales to major shows? Try us, our auctions ARE different and are better!

Legend Rare Coin Auctions has no desire to be the biggest of anything-only the VERY BEST!

To discuss consigning, please contact Greg Cohen: greg@legendauctions.com (Julie is on vacation next week).

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