YEAH BABY!
We are so thrilled to be able to write a report about a major show after 18 months. Of course this wasn’t just any show-it was the biggest of the year.
The show turned out to be everything we expected. Dealer attendance was strong, collectors were not really there. Having wider isles (due to Covid) was nice, but it made the show look less active then it was. Covid and weather did keep people home. We think the buying dynamics of the coin business has changed to on line and online auctions.
KUDOS to the ANA for bouncing the PNG and creating “dealer day”. It made the show start out right-strong.
While it was not our very best ANA, we still did $1,048,000.00 (as of Friday AM) in biz ranking it among our top 5. Even more remarkable, we sold NO six figure coins. Here is how it went:
SUNDAY
Had a non eventful flight. Checked in and ran over the Hyatt. Ran over to see a dealer who usually has fresh coins. All good except we were behind a major crack out buying machine and we had to pick up just a few nice coins. Happens every time at these major shows. The guy in front of us bought 3 double row boxes, we spent $31,000.00 on 5 coins! Called it an early day.
MONDAY
Had a dealer who had to have first shot. He was at our table when the show opened. Sold him $60,000.00. Then saw another dealer and sold them $60,000.00. Later on a friend of ours came over and spent $73,000.00. We figured by the end of the day, okay, show over we can go home as our sales had been that strong. Our super secret stealth seller had done $750,000.00 by the end of Monday. WOW!
What sold? Mostly GOLD and silver-we had the DMPL’s that had been listed on our site. Collectors are seriously starved for true GEM DMPL’s (not the West Coast junk). Type was not what people were seeking. We knew from the first buyer we could get top dollar most coins-meaning the same prices we’d quote collectors.
At first we thought buying would be okay, Then after two strolls around the floor, we said ugh oh. One major wholesale dealer we had heard had only 3-4 double row boxes vs 20-30. We could not believe it when we saw that true in person! Plus, typically he has several big coins for sale, this show he had ZERO. Made for a bittersweet day.
We LOVED this ANA Dealer dealer day. Many people had thought it might be weak like the PNG Days-NOT! The day was well attended and lots of biz was transacted. Having a day like this can really help a show get off to a good start.
TUESDAY
Had our usual zoo crew breakfast. Tried to get our friend to buy, no luck. When the show opened, a collector from NJ was first to see us and bought two coins. one was our favorite-a the 50C 1807 PCGS MS63 (should have been a +). Then a few dealers stopped by and bought odds and ends.
Walked the floor again. Bought ZERO. Then realized hmm, the market really might have legs. There were few if any ooh and ah coins to seen. Of course the displays of coins not for sale were jaw dropping. Those displays actually became annoying when we had customers ask us to go buy the coins in them. We did take time to go see the Tyrannt Collection. All we can say is WOW! Some old friends of ours are in his collection (the biggest-the 1C 1793 Chain PCGS SP 65BN CAC). We are proud to have been a minor contributor.
By the end of the day, we had done an impressive six figures. We were starting to pinch ourselves the show was not a dream. Was it the market or just being away for 18 months making everything fresh? We’ll accept an answer of it was both reasons.
Went on adventure for dinner. Wanted to go to our fav resturant-Turlucks. We were denied entry for looking like the dead beats we are. So we waddled across the street and the even the valet of that resturant told us not to bother. Chicago is one refined place to eat! So we drove to our old stand by Bluefish a sushi joint then called it a night.
WEDNSDAY
Looked at the auction lots at 7:30 AM. Got a lot done. Took a big sigh that this was the final group of Simpson coins to be sold. We’ll miss them all!
Started off strong. Had the kitty (Black Cat) hanging with us and he found a coin he needed for his Type set and had us go buy it (a 25C 1839 PCGS MS66+ CAC). It really bothered us we missed it in our walking around. Then kitty got mesmerized by an monster MS68 1892 Barber half at the same table. That transaction totaled $128,000.00. Meow!
Still had dealers coming to the table buying here and there. By mid day we had realized we sold nothing to any collectors. Hmmm. Nor had any coins been brought to us. Our discussions with all our long lost pals was nothing but happiness to be at a show and optimisim for the show and bullishness for the market.
In the evening, attended a Legend Auctions event for the Chicago Bust Half Collection. It was very well attended and we know everyone had a great time. Crawled back to the hotel and called it an early night. Laura thanks the couple who followed her and helped her as struggled back.
Our super secret stealth seller broke $1,000,000.00 in sales! We busted his chops he didn’t do $2,000,000.00! Most important, he said dealers were not making any counters on prices. And as of today, Friday he was still selling away. He said dealers came back to him when they realized they could not buy anything on the floor.
THURSDAY
We knew we had a great show-we finally got our friend to buy breakfast! Ding Ding! The day started off great-a dealer came back to our table after putting a few coins on hold the night before. Boom! He spent $63,000.00-all gold.
We took another walk around the floor seeking coins. Was able to buy an amazing 1C 1914-D in GEM MS 65+ Red CAC. Was offered two Proof GEM $10 libs, but we were $10,000.00 apart on the prices-one each. Then was looking for a dealer when another dealer a the table (sharing) said I have something you need to see. It was an incredible J-1444a Sailor Head in gilt graded PCGS PR65 Cameo CAC. A stunning coin. Took it back to the table and called the kitty over. That was a quick purchase! It was the best and coolest coin we bought the whole show.
Did even more sales. Biggest sale of the day: $3 1863 PCGS M566+ CAC, $60,000.00+. We had many people looking at the 1863 during the show. We knew it would sell. If you had better gold and if it was priced within reason, it sold. With that sale, we broke $1,000,000.00 in sales for the show!
Finally made it to Turlucks. Had delicious dinner. The manager treated us to desert because of not allowing us in a few nights before. We were all exhausted.
We LOVED the fact there were no auctions that would last until all hours to attend. We do believe it also helped coin sales on the floor.
FRIDAY
Started the day with our friend moaning we nicked from for breakfast the day before. Was quiet day. Many dealers had left. Collectors trickled in. It was a quiet day to start. Can’t give a report of anything else.
While trying to recall most activity at the show, we realized a few dealers did not attend. How things have changed. Before it was unholy to miss an ANA show. We admit it was hard to get on the plane for this show (even though we had been to two PCGS Invites).
Also, PCGS held the line and was tight. That is great as we had been concerned they might loosen up for revenue purposes.
SHOW SUMMARY
The 2021 ANA was a great show for us. Left with a positive vibe of the market. Again, some Type was lagging, but we did sell a coin or two. For the first time ever: this show we blew out NO “old friends” as we sold them for top dollar. It is our opinion, overall in many (but not all) areas prices inched up 5-10% at the show. While we expected selling to be strong, we also expected we could buy a few coins. That did NOT happen. We were willing to pay the prices most of the time-we just saw very few Legend caliber coins. It was Legends worst ANA buying show ever. We spent only $200,000.00. Typically at a major show like ANA, we buy a few single coins worth more then that. Hopefully we won’t get too nuked out of the auctions next week. We do expect those to yield many price records and confirm the markets strength for true quality coins.
Just confirmed: our super secret stealth seller sold an all time record $1,558,000.00 at the show! He said even Saturday was crazy (he sold $175,000.00). An FYI: we call him “our” stealth seller because he hangs with us a lot. He takes coins from many people and walks the floor. Best biz model of anyone.
At this point in time, our only concern about the market-LACK OF COINS-NOT Covid shutting things down. Lack of coins could create lack of interest and maybe a snow ball effect. We shall see. Until that happens (if at all) we are in one seriously strong market!
GOLD
Ooops it went the wrong way. Give it time. We can factually say, for one of the few times ever, that the drop in prices only accelerated the hunger for gold coins-all kinds of gold coins. In fact we unhesitatingly say BETTER gold coins increased in value by 5-10% at the show.
Numismatic gold-including generics, seems to be on a pure supply and demand pricing, not tied into what spot is doing.
NEWPS
We went an entire week of ANA and did not even buy 20 coins. Most painful-Legend Numismatics has only ONE Saint in stock as of this writing (see the NEWPS). We would not buy what we wanted. Still, these are some great FRESH coins:
1C 1905 PCGS PR67RD CAC
50C 1891 PCGS MS67 CAC
$2.5 1802/1 PCGS AU58 CAC-SOLD
$10 1803 SMALL STARS PCGS MS61 CAC-SOLD
One of the coins we had listed as a NEWP (we send out a mass email on it Wed) is a 1C 1955 DD PCGS MS64+ RD CAC. What a killer coin. For some reason its not now listed as a NEWP. We sold all the other mass email coins from the show.
Of course we tried hard to get something for everyone. Stay tuned for more NEWPS in the next week! We priced the coins based upon what we paid and as many of you know, we work close.
LEGEND NUMISMATICS CAME HOME WITH MUCH MORE CASH THEN COINS. WE ARE BUYING GOLD, BETTER GOLD AND ALL BETTER COOL COINS. WHAT DO YOU HAVE? WE WILL BUY AN ENTIRE COLLECTION TO GET THE COIN OR TWO WE WANT!
Remember, we are out of the office until Monday. Email is the fastest way to reach us.
LEGEND RARE COIN AUCTIONS
www.legendauctions.com
Our Regency sale #47 is live. We got over $1 million in bids in the first 24 hours and jumped to $2 million in the next 48. Several impressive bids are already on the books. For sure this sale is generating a tremendous buzz.
The team met with many people during the show who have impressive collections. Stay tuned for some major sales before the year end. If you have coins you wish to place in our highly successful boutique sales, call or email us. The team will craft the best plan for you.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR WISH TO ORDER, EMAIL US: legend@legendcoin.com. WE WILL NOT BE CHECKING OUR PHONE MESSAGES UNTIL 9 AM MONDAY.
