This was by far the BEST one we have EVER attended since they began about 5 years ago. No, its not because our Jose sat down and in a few spins won a 4800 quarter jackpot, no activity on the bourse was strong.

Grading wise, we were happy they held the line and there were no massive quantities of drecky generics made. In fact, most dealers who do make coins like that did not seem happy with their results. Maybe they need to change their rose colored glasses? Those days are over!

Selling wise we were shocked. WHOLESALE was strong, as strong as we have EVER seen it-in fact we were surprised. Another deler who was only there for a day claims he sold six figures (we do believe him). Dealers wanted to do business. It is a possibilty they saw this small show as a chance to stock up for ANA. There were only about 25 tables.

The public turn out was decent. You don’t get more than 50 or so collectors coming to these (especially with the temps at 110 outside). But each show we are seeing a different collector or two who are there to spend some serious money. This show, we sold two coins OVER $25,000.00 to collectors! Thats more than we can do at Long Beach these days! Even more to our surprise, we were able to BUY some really nice coins as well from the public. We look forward to the next show in Septemeber.

BACK AT THE OFFICE

Sales were strong. We had hoped to make it a week to catch up on our paperwok-NOT! We ran a little sale (did very well) and managed to sell some bigger Want List coins. Collectors now can see there is not a ton of exceptional material in the ANA and pre ANA Sales to satifisy their hunger. So they are now back buying off of web sites (so it seems).

We also did a totally surprise huge seven figure sale in matter of minutes. We will be announcing that sometime next week.

You will be shocked how strong the $1 million dollar PLUS market for coins is. Does it make a difference to the collector buying an 1879S MS65? in our opinion, YES! It shows confidence. ALL levels of coins buyers always seek confirmation of confidence. Plus, you will find dealers with strengthen their bidding on less expensive items knowing the top tier is really strong, or they may have sold a huge coin and have become flush.

THE ANA AUCTIONS

We have now looked at B+M and Heritage. If you wish representation, please contact us NOW! We will be pretty cranky if you show up at the ANA table and ask us then. ALL representation is on a first come first serve basis. There are some great coins in these sales.

Do not forget to check out the Simpson coins in the Heritage sale. We sold him virtually ALL the coins and most are of the top quality you have come to expect from us. NOTE: We did NOT send all the coins to CAC. If you need to know which did go, please contact us. We will give you an honest opinion of the coins. Pattern collectors, this offering represents some exceptional opportuntiies-do NOT miss them (and Mr. Simspon will not be bidding-how refreshing)!

THE DENALI PATTERN COLLECTION

WOW, this is some collection. We did get all the coins graded at the PCGS Invite. Even David Hall came up to us to say how blown away he was at what he saw. Due to time restraints, we are hoping to have some portion of the collection ready for offering by next Monday. We know the bulk will not be offered until either at the ANA Show or shortly after. We still need to figure pricing and reinventory the coins.

We will confirm the collection consists of a 2Cent set, a 3CN+3CS set, a 20C set, and the most comprehensive set of patterns from 1870 (not he 1870’s, just 1870) EVER formed. There are an incredible amount of 1-2 known R-8 coins and many FINEST KNOWN coins (including a MONSTER 1869 25C PCGS PR68 cameo J-894-which we believe is the FINEST known Standard Silver 25C). If you need top quality coins from any of these sets, stay tuned!

By Laura Sperber as part of the Legend Market Report

Legend has acquired the Denali Collection of Patterns. One of the most comprehensive collections of 2C, 3C, 20C pieces along with 1870 pieces. While we do know of several incredible Pattern collections out there, none are of the scope or size (this collection is OVER 350 pieces). There are many R-7/R-8’s (with the only other coin being in the Simpson Collection). We rank this multimillion dollar Collection second only to our Simpson Collection.

This collection was assembled by a long time friend and customer of Legend. Ironically, he built this collection before we ever started dabbling in Patterns!

The collector is also a true scholar. In fact, since we started working on the acquisition of this set, we have learned MANY things about certain Patterns from him we never knew (like how the Mint tested dipping one side of a coin in silver, or how it made some dies, etc).

There are some monster wicked cool coins we never knew existed even though they are in the Judd book -like 793A, a 2C piece obverse with a 25C Standard silver reverse. WOW! We could go on and on.

ALL of the coins in this incredible collection are graded by PCGS. Grades range from VG 08 to PR67! Due to time restraints, we are hoping to have the coins inventoried by the end of the month (we have another major deal incoming). Our goal is to offer some coins starting at or immediately after the ANA Show.

If you have a Pattern Want list, make sure we have it, or subscribe to our email blasts (we are NOT spammers) to find out when these coins will be available. in many cases, this will be your ONLY chance to acquire a certain Judd number.

THE SIMPSON COLLECTION DUPLICATES-THE HERITAGE SALE

As you may know, Legend is the exclusive dealer for the Simpson Collection. This collection already ranks as one of the greatest EVER assembled. So we’d like to let you know whats happening with the collection.

Legend did indeed place a multimillion dollar consignment of coins from the this incredible collection in the ANA sale. No, Mr. Simpson is not slowing down or selling (you’ll certainly see that by the next few major announcements we’ll make). He actually needed more room! He is building so many sets that his boxes become cluttered. So he allowed us to outright buy a few coins, but his desire was that his duplicates be placed in auction so other collectors have the opportunity to finish their sets. The majority of the coins are UNRESERVED. We can assure you, the quality is all there and then some. His standards are amazingly high. Legend did sell him the majority of what is in the sale. So if you have any questions, please feel free to ask us about any coin. (more…)

By Laura Sperber – Legend Numismatics

The show turned out exactly how we thought it would be-decent but quiet. Most dealers we spoke to (on our level) did very little. Several left Friday. Yet we know of a few smaller dealers who had nice coins and did VERY well. Collectors did attend, but the usual gang did not show up in any group larger than one or two. Most attendees did not seem to be serious buyers. They came to kick some tires and chat. One dealer friend commented he’d have done better if he rented his coins out to the lookie loos each time they sat down. As usual, the Whitman staff put on a class act show.

WHY THE JUNE BALTIMORE SHOW IS A BAD BAROMETER FOR THE MARKET

The June Baltimore Show is the equivalent of the stock market making a major gain/loss on a lightly traded short day. We do have a serious comment/opinion: While we love the show, absolutely ranking ALL Whitman Baltimore shows as the BEST run, and love having them in Baltimore, having it two times a year might be better than three. The summer show is typically 1/3 the size smaller. Traffic is significantly lighter. For some reason, its always harder to get in and out of town in June (this year we were lucky the O’s were not home).

At this show, very few of the West Coast dealers attended due to close scheduling of the Long Beach Show. For the markets sake, we think a few shows have to give. The reason why we think one Baltimore has go is because of their own Philadelphia Fall show (which they need to move as well since it yet again follows on the heels of Long Beach). Hard for us to believe Whitman does not realize it is the same market. It stretches everyone thin by overloading shows-and this is NOT the time of year to do so. That definitely contributes to why the show was quiet.

We still can sell ALL the great coins we can get our hands on. We know other dealers in the same position. Just having show after show does not help the market if everyone is spent, tired, and needs time to refresh their inventories especially when the public wants to be outdoors.

WHEN DRECK RULES

WOW dreck can slow a show! We saw just about EVERY major dealer at one time or another actually walk the floor seeking coins. They ALL came back pretty much empty handed and shaking their heads. There were few fresh and nice coins in anyones display case. If you had the nice fresh material, it was sold instantly. So there really was nothing but either tired or dreck coins in a lot of cases. That equated to either huge losses or no sales. A few major dealers are now in weak cash flows and have too much dead inventory. But then we all kind of expected this between now and ANA (which means activity and rising prices will slow). Watch the ALL the ANA auctions for a serious amount of retreads.
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