THE SHOW
As always we say congrats to Mary Counts and her team for putting on yet another successful show. As an ex show promoter we know how hard it is to make everything work together. Good job guys!
A NOTE: We apologize for not posting a Market Report or NEWPS last week. This week is late due our delayed leaving the Baltimore Show. Everything is okay and from this point on we will be back on schedule. Yes, we are still trying to slow down, but demand for us is so strong we really can’t right now. A heads UP though, we are starting to wind down finally. You probably won’t notice it until the Spring. The inquiries as to why nothing had been done last week were heart warming-thank you.
SHOW ACTIVITY
A month out we thought this coin could be a good show. The market had been extremely choppy recently so as we grew closer we lost a lot of our optimism. Like most other dealers looking to close out the year, we had many coins to sell (lots of “stuff” from trades, lesser deals, etc). A lot of West Coast dealers do not make the trip which made things just a little tougher. Our “super secret stealth seller” could not help us this time as he was limited with what he could bring. So we figured ugh oh, we’re going to get slammed bowing stuff out.
Mid way through the show we were shocked at our sales numbers. Not only were they strong, but we were having a highly profitable show. We had more retail traffic come to our table-with many people actually buying coins. At Baltimore shows its usually slower. For what ever reason, our type of collector actually attended. In fact at one point, we had 4 people sitting in front of our table who’s combined collections easily exceed $50 million! We only see that at an FUN or ANA.
We started off very slow. Our Super secret buyer was light. Next in line tho was a very aggressive major player-he bought far more then we expected. By the time the show opened, we had sold nearly $250,000.00-mostly better gold. On Friday we double checked our numbers again-and sales and profits grew even stronger. However, we had not blown out what we intended. So we sucked it up and took some really nasty losses (if we had done this earlier in the show our losses might not have been as severe). Still, we left the show at a slight profit (which was totally unexpected). We still have to see how much we sold collectors vs dealers. Wholesale might not have been that strong.
Many of our fellow dealers told us they had weak to bad shows. Apparently, “stuff” is experiencing very weak demand. There is no real wholesale on bigger better coins-simply because they are all either in auction or are not even available. And unless someone has a home, many dealers cash flow are weak from the tight grading this year. Of course our super secret stealth seller sold nearly $600,000.00. We did not ask how many checks he had to hold. The Stacks sale did not shatter any records. There were few coins for us so we did not buy much or try too. We did add the superb J-10 PCGS AU 58+ CAC for $360,000.00 to the Black Cat collection. We had expected that coin to sell for $400-$500,000.00 hammer! MEOW on the price. We’re allowed to catch a break.
Our take on the show-good for us with a weaker underbelly. We sold a ton of better gold. We even sold a few five figure Type coins (including a beautiful PR Large Cent) to collectors. Still, we did have many coins we did not sell that we wanted to. Could not even get offers on some (all NON CAC).
With so little great coins around retreads, dreck, and stuff just are not exciting to anyone. Prices of coins like those have drifted down and seem to not be stopping. Of course there is no end to the strong demand for CAC coins, so those coins are not only stable, but seem to be on the rise. Example: a 5C 1910 PCGS PR68 Cameo CAC sold for $45,000.00 all in at the Stacks sale. That is crazy money! Buy right and the market WILL take care of you.
Overall, the market is very choppy. Even nice non CAC coins are being lumped in with dreck and are selling too cheap. Meanwhile, the top 10% of of coins are enjoying a very robust market-if you can find the coins. Our sales back home are super strong. We think the rest of the year will be one hug buying opportunity.
THE FAR EAST EAGLE COLLECTION
Legend Numismatics is proud to announce we have placed this magnificent #1 PCGS all CAC set of Proof $10 Indians (built exclusively by Legend) with another Legend customer (he wishes to be anonymous). The price was well in excess of $1,000,000.00. The new owner loves the coins and is honored to be able to become the new custodian. He will continue upgrading the set if that is possible.
Our long time customer who assembled the set did so with a huge love for the coins and an extreme passion to create the #1 set. He was patient but firmly had to own the very best. He does own some spectacular coins in his other collections to which he holds the same standards. Absolutely he is still in a strong collecting mode.
The most fascinating thing about the seller-he really is from the Far East! We’ve been asked recently, how world wide is the U S coin market? We can tell you, its very international!
We’ll never forget when he flew in to check out an ANA Show-especially the auction. While we were getting bored he sat there like a wide eyed kid in a candy store. Legend is honored he allowed us to build this unequaled set and build another great collection he is now putting more efforts into. We enjoy his visits to the US and we always try and see him. He has become more then a good customer to us, we consider him a true friend (us not making an 18 hour trip over water for a visit does not mean we like him less).
Even if another coin or two should ever be added, the Far East Eagle collector will always be the heart and soul of this magnificent collection.
NEWPS
We’re back to the smaller offering due to a beyond severe lack of great coins to buy. The Stacks auction had really nothing for us. No one was getting back their submissions at the show as the back log was huge. Many dealers were moaning how CAC was not stickering their coins (wonder why?). As you all know we will not take alter our strict standards just to sell a few extra coins.
This weeks highlights include:
3CS 1869 PCGS MS66+ CAC
$10 1856-O PCGS AU53 CAC
$20 1885 PCGS MS61 CAC
We promise every coin we post will as good or better then most other dealers top listing! Try us!
Also, check out our regular inventory, sometimes things simply are overlooked-we have many great coins!
Next week we are finally going to post the Grayson Collection. Its more of a group of coins then an actual collection. The owner has been assembling this group since 1999! Not all the coins are CC and we will list a few as the quality and rarity are still tops. This week we are going to post a single coin-a remarkable H.01 1800 PCGS MS63+ BN CAC as a small preview.
ALL NEWPS ARE NOW POSTED
LEGEND RARE COIN AUCTIONS
www.legendauctions.com
Lot viewing at the Baltimore show was huge. In fact we basically shut down our sister company Legend for most of the time to show lots! Yet again, we have produced a very popular sale.
CLOSING TONIGHT (10/28) AT 9 PM EST-A GREAT PREMIER SESSIONS SALE
**A special lot viewing for our November 15th Regency Sale will be held this week in California at the offices of PCGS on Thursday 10-5. For more information, please contact Jessica Berkman: jessica@legendauctions.com or Greg Cohen: greg@legendauctions.com
WE ARE CANCELLING OUR NOVEMBER PREMIER SESSIONS SALE AND MAKING OUR DECEMBER SALE A HUGE FINAL ONE. Next year, we will be doing Regency Sales every other month starting in January. Our January Sale already has two fresh collections with more being added shortly. It will also be held in Beverly Hills as a PRE Long Beach Sale January 27th. We will have a big announcement about something special we are doing there shortly. We are still accepting consignments.
In the mean time, we are expecting a large turn out and lot viewing the San Antonio. So make your plans today! As expected from us, this is an exciting quality oriented sale.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR WISH TO ORDER, EMAIL US: legend@legendcoin.com. WE DO NOT CHECK OUR PHONE MESSAGES UNTIL MONDAY 9 AM,
