THE PANDEMIC SURGE IS OVER
2022 was another good year. The entire numismatic world enjoyed strong business up through the ANA Show. Then BOOM! Activity fell off the rails. There was still trading going on, but not as furious as before ANA. Legend had a very successful and profitable year (our second best ever).
2022 ended in a very interesting way. There were still no great coins to buy and sell. You can buy all the dreck you wanted at too much money. Dealers were being nuked at PCGS. So many dealers actually started losing money. But then came the Bass Auction, which was both explosive and record breaking. No one can really explain why. Frankly, the coins weren’t so great quality wise, they were just rare. Legend can say our December had a spurt that reminded us of around ANA time. We sold 4 coins valued well over $100,000.00 each! We were shocked but happy the year ended on such a good note after struggling for 2 months.
The Pandemic surge of buying is clearly over. Clearly the rare coin market enjoyed a huge surge in demand-demand from many new buyers for the last 2 years. The deep black hole (as we call it) only got deeper. Prices in some cases (Proof gold) actually tripled. We doubt you’ll see much fury buying happen again save for the FUN sale. Normal collectors though will still have trouble competing because of the serious lack of coins. Even though auctions seem like the only place to buy, they are a nightmare as the competition is so intense. As we mentioned before, activity fell way off after ANA this year. It has NOT recovered. Do not necessarily think you can get sky high prices anymore for your commoner coins. That ship sailed out. We do expect rarities to continue to grow in value, just not at such an exaggerated pace. The 2 years of up up and away is finally over.
We are taking a wait and see attitude about our direction in 2023. Traditional retail is waning. It’s all about auctions. You can’t really go to a major show like FUN or even ANA and see a ton of cool coins offered for sale anymore. Great coins now seem to appear only in auctions. We’ve been debating whether or not we should even continue to keep taking tables at some shows. We shall see. One thing we will do for 2023 is keep adding NEWPS to this site every Saturday morning (show schedule allowing).
Our recommendation to collectors, stay the course. Just do not expect to see many coins come your way. Do NOT think too long about a coin-chances are it won’t last. And if you are going to buy from auction-remember it’s a competition. You’ll have to want a coin really bad to own it. And folks, please for the sake of keeping out of trouble, work with a dealer! It’s really NOT as simple as buying PCGS CAC…..
We hope to do a year end Market Report by next Friday. Stay tuned!
LEGENDS OFFICES ARE CLOSED UNTIL JAN 2ND. WE CAN BE REACHED VIA EMAIL DURING THAT TIME
COME VISIT US AT FUN! NEWPS WILL BE POSTED JAN 7TH.
LEGEND RARE COIN AUCTIONS
www.legendauctions.com
We thank everyone who helped make 2022 a banner year for LRCA. We set many price records and we know we had MANY happy customers.
In 2023 due to market demand, we will be starting weekly internet only sales (late Jan). The coins will be valued $250-$2,500.00 and EVERY coin will be sold with NO reserve. Our first sale is 131 lots. We’re ready to go!
Keep in mind, LRCA has two world class bourse floor trained dealers in house. They have helped exclusively build the Simpson, Half Dome, and Morelan Collections. Three of the greatest collections EVER. LRCA has the BEST team in the auction biz. Call or email to discuss your holdings. Of course they will be at the FUN show.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
