When we write a MARKET REPORT please note, we are discussing the current events of the coin market from our point of view ONLY. Other dealers opinions maybe be stronger or weaker depending on how they run their businesses. What we state is FACT, NOT fiction.

A CHANGE IN THE GOLD GENERIC MARKET?

Now that gold has calmed down a bit and backed off of $1,000.00 we see some important changes happening our customers need to be aware of.

The big telemarketers had switched from MS64/65 Saints to MS62/63 Saints a few weeks ago because they simply could not find enough of the higher grade coins. Now, with gold down the demand is still strong for 64/65 coins, but not as strong as it was. Plus, with all the dealers in the world trying to buy these coins and having minor success, the premiums being paid for 64/65 Saints and a few other larger size gold coins are falling. Our guess is they have come down a full 10% in the past week. Few dealers we spoke to were comfortable with the idea of MS65 Saints being BID at $2,200.00-even if it was the market.

We believe if gold continues to drop you will see even more decreases in the premiums being paid on certain larger gold coins. A friend of ours who is the buyer for one of the biggest telemarketers had told his company to stop dealing in higher graded Saints for at least week until things settled down. The guess is that gold will settle just above $800.00-for now. It is still widely felt that gold will rebound and shoot higher than $1,000.00. At this point we feel all the guessing is ridiculous. The markets are so volatile we just go by the day to day prices and do not try to plan or guess too far ahead.

Legend has also adopted a new policy. We have always paid as strong as possible for all gold coins. However, we will NOT quote ANY firm prices until the coins are in our physical possession. As for selling, no order on generics is confirmed unless GOOD FUNDS are in our offices. (more…)

Hot Topics from Laura Sperber at Legend Numismatics

For years we have stressed buy “the best quality you can afford”. Some people think we are wrong or crazy. Most people simply do not understand that statement.

“Buying the best quality you can afford” does NOT mean you have to go out and blow your wad on a MS/PR 68 coin. Our exact intent for that sentence is: if you seek an MS64 piece, do not just settle for allow end or so/so coin. Wait until you find the “right” coin that is the best for the grade. The optimum piece will have terrific eye appeal and technical qualities reaching almost the next grade level.

Over the past several years we have purchased many collections from educated collectors. Some were great, but many were near misses. These near misses did not yield substantial returns (some actually were in the loss category). In fact the majority of these collections could have had much better coins in terms of both quality and eye appeal if the collector had chosen to spend about 5-15% more.

Quality reigns supreme, especially in today’s softer market. When there was euphoria and uneducated collectors, the fine line between high and low end for the grade didn’t really much matter. Most people were just looking at numbers and believing they could get strong short term returns by buying a certain kind of coin. At times, the holder or the quality of the coin itself did not much matter. Today (especially as evidenced in the recent Heritage FUN sale), those “off” quality coins are selling for at least 20-40% less than they did only a year ago. Compare them to the “quality” oriented coins and you’ll see for the most part, those have held their values.

Do NOT be afraid to pay a premium for quality-it DOES very much matter and DOES come back in a positive way. Being a “price” or “sheet” buyer is rarely going to bring you the top quality coins. While its not practical to fully pay the next grade up, you should do some homework and look at auction archives and other current reports on the web to see what a possible comparable coin sold for. There is no scientific formula as what premium to pay for quality. (more…)