THE STACKS SALE
The entire sale was a gigantic display of the market’s strength. We’ll focus on Fairmont.
We knew from the second we saw the catalog; the Fairmont Collection was going to be a nasty sale. It had all the ingredients: better gold that has the highest demand today, the coins were super fresh, the coins had only been through PCGS once-at a time when they were tight, many of the coins were the finest or a twin to the finest that exist, they were in a collection (sort of), and these were darn nice unmessed with coins period. Add all that up and you end up starting out with an $3 1855 PCGS XF45 inexplicably selling for $6,000.00! Even if the coin was MS62 (which it clearly was not), it might not fetch that number. It was off to the races from there.
Fairmont is not one super skilled collector. It’s some kind of huge (and we mean huge) bank hoard from our understanding. But we strongly feel the Pedigree from this group is meaningful.
Numerous “beyond moon money” records were set or smashed with Fairmont this past week. What has happened in the short time since a dealer had a nice $5 1875 PCGS AU53 CAC they could not sell at $200,000.00 to now when the Fairmont coin sold for $480,000.00? It could be further proof that buying is shifting to auctions, crazed new money buyers have joined the fray, or are we in a full boom? The answer is unclear.
Thursday was like the morning after a disaster. We heard from so many collectors and so many powerful active dealers who represented people who got shut out. There were many coins we tried to buy at what we felt were super stretch numbers, only to have those numbers look infantile. A great example is the $10 1853-O PCGS MS61 CAC. WOW what a coin. We graded it smack MS62 even to bean. We were at $26,400.00 all in. It brought $51,600.00.OUCH! Who could have been the buyers of these coins? We suspect a fair amount sold to crackout dealers. They are good for paying 2 points higher. Then there is the new breed of well heeled collectors. They know what they want or need the coin and will pay what it takes. Its what we have been calling the deep black hole. You won’t be seeing most of the coins they buy for a very long time. Forgot to mention, in the $10’s and $20’s Libs you had two super whale collectors bidding for the coins they don’t have. We know in one rare instance, on the 1885-CC PCGS MS63 CAC, the super whale was underbidder and that coin sold for a whopping $264,000.00! The new breed of buyer is scary and we fell is disrupting the market.
While a Marylin Monroe painting is expected to bring $200 million in May, a grand total of $35 million or so for a coin auction is puny if you think about it. Legend does believe there are more NEW buyers in coins today then EVER. They kind of snuck up on everyone during the pandemic. Hence the crazy prices in Fairmont and beyond.
It wasn’t just Fairmont. Legend was the underbidder on the $10 1907 Rolled Edge PCGS PR67 CAC that brought $1,140,000.00. Ouch! Only 2 years ago we paid $675,000.00 for the Pogue PCGS PR67 CAC for which we recently turned down $1,000,000.00 for it. Coins below $10,000.00 brought crazed prices too. And then there was the SUPER Monroe PCGS MS67+ CAC with stunning colors. It brought a beyond Pluto money of $102,000.00! We’d like to know who were the underbidders!!! We were light weights and figured it for $25-$30,000.00. Wonder what the pretty MS 67 PCGS CAC Lafayette’s we placed are worth today? They used to be the kings of the series.
The Stacks sales clearly proved the depth and sheer strength of the coin market. Legend wishes we could have a time machine that would take us back 10 years not forward. Back then there were coins to trade. We could pass on a coin if it had the slightest imperfection we did not like. Today, there are so few coins available with gold especially targeted we can’t even blink or we’d lose the coin. We are concerned for our own future (no coins, no sales). It is our strong opinion, that the Stacks sales raised the entire market 10-15% which is a HUGE number. Again, NOT all areas are enjoying stunning growth or robust demand, but the areas that are-could be going strong for a very long time.
Do not hesitate to call or email us to discuss the market and your coins. We are here to assists and help you!
A REQUEST
Our request is two sided. It can help us and our customers. Our inventory-especially in gold is sorely depleted.
We’ve sold nearly a billion dollars in great coins in our 40 years in the biz. We absolutely need some of them back now-to stay in biz. We’ll pay you record prices for gold coins-the ones we need the most. Take your profits or get liquid now and sell us back these precious coins. No one ever gets hurt taking a profit! We are uncomfortable about the fact the market seems to have risen too much recently. While we hope it is sustained, it makes us nervous as to where the top is.
We need generic gold through better dates. We especially need GEM $10 Indians and Saints. If we sold it to you, we really need it back! Call or email us today! The new breed of crazed collectors won’t be so crazed forever. We also have a burning need for white CC Morgans in PCGS MS67CAC and all WHITE better date better grade Peace Dollars (like a 23S in PCGS MS65+ CAC).
Again, there are certain areas of the market-mostly Type that are not in high demand. We can’t pay too strong there. We will pay fair market.
NEWPS
Ugh oh, another week of NO NEWPS. Next week we will have some nifty coins including some of our purchases from the Stacks sales. Stay tuned!
LEGEND RARE COIN AUCTIONS
www.legendauctions.com
While the Stacks Fairmont Auction may have been a crazed “one off”, the balance of the sale was strong as well. We strongly advise bidders in our CSNS Sale to take note and be prepared. We have had record eye balls and strong bidding already. We expect many records to be set. Be prepared! Do not hesitate to speak to us to discuss any coin in the sale. This is NOT a market where you can look at published prices and try to buy below or at those levels. Know that new market levels are now set with every auction.
We are on our absolute final call for consignments for our May PCGS invitational auction to be held in New Orleans 5/26.. These are always exciting sales (this time we have Dale Friend and the Glorious Patterns part II). The market is in heat. Consign you coins now-the deadline is this Friday April 15th. You will be thrilled with the results!
Contact the BEST auction team in the biz at 732-935-1168. We are also accepting consignments for our July Regency sale to be held in Las Vegas July 28th.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, OR WISH TO ORDER, EMAIL US: legendcoin.com. WE DO NOT CHECK OUR PHONE MESSAGES UNTIL 9 AM MONDAY
