WE DIDN’T EVEN TRY
This week was supposed to be our “easy” week. The plan means we were only going to work half days and take Thursday off (we are closed Fridays). By the time we turned out the lights at 4 on Wednesday, we had sold $750,000.00! One coin we wish we could have cloned is the High Relief in MS64+ CAC. It’s amusing how it works; we had several people looking into it. Then once on hold, boom! We could have sold two more. We did manage to sell a PCGS NON CAC MS65, though. What surprised us was our average sale price of $45,000.00. That did not include a $195,000.00 better Saint we sold. All those sales for a week we pledged not to work too hard on exceeded our expectations! We have coins out at the small Las Vegas show, and it will be intriguing to see how hungry smaller dealers are.
Typically, early April is slow until after tax time. This year, there were no shows or auctions to complicate things. However, there does not seem to be a dip in the rare coin market. There has been a big dip in coin stores’ bullion business across the board. Those guys needed to catch up anyway. We have also heard that dealers who use the app are still in dire need of coins. They are the guilty parties for depleting the market of coins priced below $5,000.00. A few of them have graduated some collectors to higher-priced coins. GULP!
We have been warning for years: it does not take much new money to totally dry up the rare-coin market. Our worst nightmare has come true! The endless black hole is at its peak. And there is no sight of any speculative investors either. Now if only there were reliable price guides (it can never happen in our opinion).
A TIP ON LOOKING AT IMAGES
We’ll pretend we are radiologists for a minute. There is a way to read a coin image.
Do not become enamored by a coin’s “glam” shot. The image closer to reality will be the shot of the coin IN THE HOLDER. A bright-in-your-face image has enhanced lighting. We should point out, sometimes the coins in the holder look too dark—again, we look at those vs the “glam” shots. And yes, the PCGS images tend to be glam. Knowing these details can help you avoid disappointment.
Any site that allows you to magnify an area of the coin is excellent. You should use it and examine the coin closely. If you think you see fingerprints, avoid that coin. Or if you think you see gobs of a substance, ditto. You want to check the coin (especially if it is NOT CAC) for problems. This will save you significant money over time. However, nothing beats working with a reputable dealer who will vet the coin for you.
NEWPS
As previously stated, we are taking a relaxed approach this week. We had no coin of the week, and this week we have no NEWPS. That should not stop you from checking out our superb regular PCGS CAC inventory.
Coming next week: the Colorado Proof Collection. Included are mostly Barber 10C+25C and other misc. proof pieces. The highlights of the offering are a 10C 1910 PCGS PR68 CAC and a 25C 1893 PCGS PR68+ CAC. The color and quality of all the coins are jaw-dropping! The market has not seen such a group of SUPERB GEM Proof Type like this in a few years. We are thankful to have been able to buy it all! Stay Tuned!
Please email us if you have any questions
OUR OFFICES ARE CLOSED UNTIL MONDAY. WE DO CHECK OUR EMAILS DAILY. WE DO NOT CHECK OUR PHONE MESSAGES UNTIL 9 AM MONDAY
We are open for business via email only until Monday.
