THE FUN SHOW

EXHAUSTING

This was a very complicated show. Activity only came in waves and was NOT strong overall for us-however we heard dealers who were selling coins for under $10,000.00 were doing very well. Do not read into that-we still sold several five figure coins and many GEM coins but activity in our types of coins was still off (we believe that is because of the auction). Our total sales for the show were just under $700,000.00. Our super secret stealth seller did not break any records (last year his FUN Show was insane). So far from what we have heard he did well overall. We came home very disappointed and worn/burnt out from the show.

THE FUN SALE

This is really where all the action was. The outcome of the sale totally blindsided us. Due to the stock market and other factors we never ever thought the really good coins would sell for what they did. Stupid us, we originally expected the 1885 TD to sell for $2.5 million hammer (just 2 weeks ago). We expected to spend $6-8 million in the sale (we did sober up on the 1885  last week). Look at how much we actually spent and how much we lost on (actual numbers from the auction co):

Collectible Winning Max Bids (with BP) Winning Bids (with BP) Losing Bids (with BP) Your Total Bids (with BP)
Coins Item(s) $964,002.00 ($1,156,802.40) $950,001.00 ($1,140,001.20) $5,373,126.00 ($6,447,751.20) $6,337,128.00 ($7,604,553.60)

The 1885 was in those numbers at $3 million dollars-the 1884 was not included. We had prepared for weeks for this sale. We are embarrassed to say Legend Numismatics got shut out on ALL of the Trade Dollars. The 1884 did go to a Legend customer-but we were representing someone else and could not work w/him. We were the under bidders on the 1885 for another customer. It is our strong opinion that it was a tragedy separating the 1884 and 1885.

THE MARKET

The results of the FUN Sale in the end are not surprising (we stepped back and thought about it). There is no euphoria happening. Its is the absolute severe lack of coins that has crippled people like us (which makes it more dangerous as the Wannbes are sucking up dreck for their customers acting like the coins are nice). Our total and ONLY buy for Legend out of the sale-the $2.5 1834 Capped NGC AU53 CAC (only happy point, we paid $115G hammer vs our high bid of $125G).  Normally we spend $1-2 million for ourselves. For sure this time we were competing against collectors. Many times we could not even get our hands up!

The market was totally dry of “Legend quality” like coins-even dreck firmed up slightly much to our surprise. That still does NOT mean you should be a price buyer and buy the stuff. As we mentioned before-the wannbles are loading up on the stuff. Folks the lack of coins will only get worse as grading finally is being fixed. Remember the “better” coin market overall is small. When there is no supply prices are forced to move up. This current market is displaying the power of the new and real players more so then any market we have ever seen. Hopefully the price guides will see this and acknowledge it.

Besides being a big failure in the auction, we found only 2 coins on our Want list-one a 10C 1893 PCGS PR68 which will be included in the new #1 Registry set of Proof Barber Dimes. The second coin was a coin we needed for YEARS. It was an $10 1908D Motto PCGS CAC (pop 1 CAC) which we proudly placed in the #2 $10 Indian set -the Hedgie set. We were very grateful to have been offered both coins. When Legend can’t find any coins to buy-that is a serious problem. Just 45 days ago it was a HUGE buyers market. Now, you have to pay the full price to buy what you need. If you are a price  buyer and want to buy REALLY nice coins-stop now, the next person will buy it and place it into the endless black hole for coins!

We do predict a “quiet” time between now and our auction at the end of the month. Its no secret auctions draw the top buyers when there are neat coins. Due to the large number of “major player”  registrants already we know the upcoming Regency sale will be VERY strong. IF (and ONLY IF) fresh nice coins are made, the Baltimore Show will be the next hot bed of activity for buying and selling. We do NOT expect Long Beach to be strong. That is just OUR opinion.

NEWPS-ROUND I 

We are lucky we had bought a small deal of gold ($5 + $10 Indians) right before the show (most of which we forgot to bring home for Round I). A few of the coins are posted now-next week many more will be. This week we just dove into a box and pulled out random coins for our NEWPS. As you can see, even though we feel we bought very little, we did buy a few neat coins!

The highlights are:

50C 1808 PCGS MS67 CAC

$5  1908 INDIAN PCGS MS66+  God luck ever finding a better one-especially CAC!

$5 1914S  PCGS MS64 CAC

Those 3 coins are not too shabby. We also found 3 remarkable CC DMPL’s! FINALLY!

ROUND II will be really exciting. Until we post those, enjoy these NEWPS and our regular inventory.

Folks, we know you love auctions, but there are MUCH better coins you can buy from people like us-at FAR BETTER PRICES.

ALL THE ROUND I NEWPS ARE NOW POSTED

LEGEND RARE COIN AUCTIONS

www.legendauctions.com

We sincerely wish to thank every one for stopping by and lot viewing with us. There seemed to be many happy faces and kind words after collectors finished. As usual bidding is already off to a very strong start.

Now that the big guys had their day, its time for us little guys and some great coins! We suggest you prepare now for our sale. Its not far away. If you need terms, phone bidding or any assistance at all, contact us now.

Also, we are nearing FINAL Call for consignments for  our March Regency Auction. We already have the Young collection of PR barber Type and several matched original Proof sets (yikes. Oh yea, we’ll throw in the 1893CC PCGS BNM 65+ CAC! Yes, a GEM Proof 93CC!

If you have any questions about the auction please reach out to : Julie Abrams: julie@legendauctions.com, Greg Cohen: greg@legendauctions.com, and Jessica Berkman: Jessica@legendauctions.com.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR WISH TO ORDER FROM LEGEND, EMAIL US:  legend@legendcoin.com. WE DO NOT CHECK OUR PHONE MESSAGES UNTIL 9 AM MONDAY.