As always, the people from FUN put on one of the best shows. They did an exceptional job this year. Thursday and Friday the hall was packed. We wish to thank everyone who came by. At one time our table had 8 people viewing coins! Saw many old friends we hadn’t seen in a while. No question there were a huge amount of major collectors in the room. Outside of ANA, the FUN Show is a “must attend” event.
We arrived early on January 1st so we could ferret out good coins. Typically by the end of the first day we’d have spent well into six figures. This year, we had spent a whopping $4,000.00! In fact, the only coins we bought at the show were the few that collectors brought to us. We spent UNDER $100,000.00 total. The dealer’s boxes looked void of coins we thirst for. Finding a PCGS CAC coin was like finding a needle in a haystack. We weren’t impressed with what our “super secret seller” had, but as of yesterday he had sold to 50 dealers (a record) and was near $1 million in sales; his abilities totally impresses us.
Our sales were decent, pre-show. One major dealer even asked us if he could be #2 behind our regular first-shot dealer. He said we consistently have the nicest coins. He ended up spending well into 6 figures. Typically dealers like him would shy away if they do not have first-shot. We did wholesale two coins over $50,000.00. During the show, we did several retail transactions and were pleased. We did see an interesting trend of people trying to replace their NON CAC coins with PCGS CAC examples. Some, however, did not understand the price difference (especially on gold) can be huge. Overall, we rank the show as a c+, we certainly did not set any records. It’s kind of a myth that FUN is always a blockbuster because it’s the first show of the year. Clearly, it has become more of a collectors meeting forum than a trading show.
PCGS was on a tear. We submitted several super fresh and older holder coins. We weren’t looking for upgrades, just a + or two and a cameo or two. NADA. They left us scratching our heads. We know of several dealers who also got hammered on their submissions. So long as they hold the line, it will only make coins more valuable. Clearly, PCGS CAC coins (at least to us) were the most demanded by collectors.
GOLD
Although the price of gold seems to want to stay above $2,000.00, we are not seeing a ton of action in the generics and semi-generic areas. The bigger collectors now seem to be focused on Proof gold.
It’s funny, back home we all of the sudden were selling PR Type-especially Barbers. We thought we’d do the same at the show. Nope, we sold a ton of gold-mostly better gold. As we mentioned before, all of the NON CAC coins people wanted to sell were gold-mostly generics and semi generics. Clearly, there has been a shift in that market. Of course Early gold is holding strong.
We still like generics and semi generics. You should buy when others flee-which they are doing today. The premiums are almost non-existent. It is highly unlikely gold will crash anytime soon (in our opinion). Do not overlook this opportunity!
THE HUSAK LARGE CENTS
Being the “secret copper weenies” we are, we attended the sale and represented the biggest copper buyer out there.
Considering many of the coins were more recent purchases (in many cases we were in bidding wars with him), he did quite well. The one coin we got nuked on was the Ameri Chain PCGS AU58 CAC. There was really strong bidding on it. The coin sold for a whopping $348,000.00 all in!
The highlight coin we bought was the 1C 1796 Lib Cap PCGS MS65RB CAC. We paid $180,000.00 all in. We spent over $300,000.00 in the sale.
The sale itself was extremely well attended by collectors. The sale was also a strong reminder to us, why having major auctions NOT during a show is more helpful.. This event lasted a grueling 6+ hours and it was only 212 lots! We surrendered and left bids for the final coins we needed which was a good thing as we got blown out on 2 of the 5 coins we needed.
Clearly, the right Early copper coins remain in demand and have held up well in value.
CONGRATULATIONS RSD
RSD is already famous for building the #1 all time FINEST PCGS MS Barber 25C and PR Barber 25C set. He is now building the ultimate Type set. He already had coins like a $1 1795 Draped Bust PCGS MS65 CAC, 25C 1807 PCGS MS66 CAC (a real MONSTER) and a 10C 1807 PCGS MS65+ CAC that is mind boggling just to name two coins. Only the wildest eye appeal and best quality will do for him.
On New Year’s eve we completed a 1 Million dollar plus transaction to buy the $1 1878 TD PCGS PR69 Camoe CAC and possibly the FINEST PR Morgan-$1 1893 PCGS PR69 DC CAC. These are incredible monsters we had placed years ago. These 2 coins now join the MONSTER $1 1869 PCGS PR69 Cameo CAC. We expect to be displaying all 3 coins at the summer ANA show. We also did the impossible for him. We found a 25C Proof that was better than “baby Jesus” , a PCGS PR68+ DC CAC (widely considered the one of the all time finest PR Barber 25C). He by far has the all time FINEST PR + MS Barber 25C! One of the finest MS Barber Type sets we had on display was his as well (he owns the 50C 1905 PCGS MS68+). Oh yeah, he is young too! Legend is his exclusive dealer and he is a true friend to us.
NEWPS
We had bought some deals and other things in Dec thank goodness. . The highlights include:
10C 1892 PCGS MS68 CAC EX BLAY
10C 1914 PCGS PR67+ CAC POP 2
50C 1897 PCGS MS67 CAC POP 2
50C 1950 PCGS PR67+ CAMEO CAC
$1 1934-S PCGS MS66 CAC BLAST WHITE!
$20 1906 P, D, S PCGS MS64+ CAC (can be sold separately)
These are some pretty cool coins. In the case of the 1892 PCGS MS68 CAC Blay coin, it should be noted there are only 6 beaned by CAC for the series. We have placed 3 of them! So if you seek the finest, now is your chance. We all know Stewart Blay only bought the best of the best.
At risk of sounding like a broken record, there was so little to buy. Our goal was to buy coins UNDER $10,000.00. We bought maybe 4-5. That area seems to be a sweet spot for the market. We expect to have our show NEWPS ready possibly next week.
Also, prior to FUN, a long time customer sold us some magnificent PR Barber 10C-25C. Those will be appearing soon as well. Yes, the famous “Baby Jesus” 25C 1898 PCGS PR68+ DC will be posted shortly.
Always know, we pay more to buy the best coins with the best eye appeal-and we unquestionably work close. We’ve built so many great collections others could not or only dream about. We do it-one coin at a time! You will always get the very BEST quality and eye appeal from us whether it’s a $2,000.00 coin or a $100,000.00.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS CALL OR EMAIL US: legend@legendcoin.com WE DO NOT CHECK OUR PHONE MESSAGES UNTIL 9 AM MONDAY
