By Pinnacle-Rarities.com

There was no shortage of excitement during last week’s Long Beach convention; Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection after failing to receive a government bailout; Insurer AIG pleaded for $40 billion in assistance from the Federal Reserve.

With all of the extra money that the government is likely to be printing, inflation is almost a certainty. Metals prices reacted sharply, with gold making its largest single day jump on Wednesday (almost 11%) from $771 to $855.

The rare coin market, meanwhile, didn’t miss a beat, with a truckload of six figure rarities crossing the auction blocks, mostly in the Pre-Long Beach Goldberg Auction taking place September 14-16th. Below are a few of the impressive prices realized.

* 1793 Wreath 1c PCGS MS64BN $224,250
* 1796 Liberty Cap 1c PCGS MS66RB $690,000
* 1798 1c PCGS MS65BN $207,000
* 1803 Stemless Wreath 1c PCGS MS66RB $241,500
* 1807/6 1c Small Overdate PCGS AU53 $172,500
* 1794 Flowing Hair $ PCGS VF35 $192,625
* 1807 $2.5 PCGS MS65 $276,000
* 1873 $3 Open 3 PCGS PR65DCAM $212,750
* 1839-C $5 PCGS MS64 $172,500
* 1907 $10 Rounded Rim, Periods PCGS MS65 $230,000
* 1870-CC $20 PCGS EF45 $345,000

In Bowers and Merena’s preshow sale, an 1851 Humbert $50 Reeded Edge, 880 Thous., NGC MS65 brought a hearty $460,000. And in Heritage’s Friday evening session, a couple of key-date Saints brought hefty prices: $184,000 for a 1929 $20 PCGS MS66 and $161,000 for a 1927-S $20 PCGS MS65.

Despite what many are calling the worst credit crisis since the Great Depression, truly rare and high quality coins continue to trade at record prices. Although overall sales at the show were a bit sluggish, this has been true for the past several September Long Beach shows. There is still plenty of money chasing the serious coins. In fact, most of our clients feel more comfortable with their numismatic holdings than their other investments.

We are extremely pleased with our show purchases which include a varied assortment of elusive dated material from the Draped Bust, Capped Bust, Seated Liberty and Barber series, as well as a smattering of early and better-date gold, some beautiful Two Cent Pieces, and some gorgeous, high-grade Twentieth century material.

By Kathleen Duncan   Pinnacle-Rarities

The summer ANA, hosted in a various cities around the country, is the largest numismatic convention of the year. While dealers and collectors have come to expect an active show, no matter the market condition, this show exceeded the expectations of all.

The pre-show festivities began with auctions by Superior, Bowers and Merena, and Stack’s. The most notable of these was definitely the Stack’s sale, with prices realizing over $20 million. Their star performer was a sensational 1797 Draped Bust, Small Eagle Half Dollar, graded NGC MS66, claiming a robust $1.38 million.

PNG dealers began setting up tables Monday afternoon, and the festivities continued all week, with many staying until Sunday (a requirement for table holders the ANA is considering dropping). The show opens most mornings for dealers at 8AM and non-stop action continues until 7PM each evening. A typical day on the bourse means making hundreds, if not thousands of decisions each day, eating a hasty bite for lunch behind the table (sometimes conducting business simultaneously), having a late dinner at 8 or 9 PM or attending an evening auction… a bit of sleep and then repeat each day for the remainder of the week. By Friday the floor was notably quieter, as many (myself included) were ready to head home.

Heritage held the event’s official auction, realizing over $40 million in sales. Although many items fetched impressive prices, there were some bargains to be found, and a fairly high percentage of lots failed to meet consignor reserves. I don’t think this is a reflection on the market in general, but probably a result of a limited amount of available funds from the participants. Between the various auctions and the business done via private treaty, well over $100 million dollars in business was conducted last week. Below are a few of the Heritage prices that seemed surprisingly strong, even in this hot market. The first coin, the 1804 14 Stars dime, was purchased by the consignor for $161,000 in January of 2007 out of a previous Heritage auction, yielding an impressive rate of return. (more…)

By Kathleen Duncan for Pinnacle-Rarities

That is the question. The Collector’s Acceptance Corporation was founded by John Albanese, one of the industry’s top experts. His goal is to address the problem of low-end certified coins dragging down the bid levels. While PCGS and NGC do an excellent job, both have been grading coins for over 20 years. Inconsistencies are inevitable, resulting in coins that probably shouldn’t be in their stated holder. These problem coins are difficult to sell, becoming a large percentage of the available product on the market and suppressing bid levels. For example, if a Barber 50c in PCGS PR67 sells in auction for $5000, it probably is not a particularly pleasing coin, but CCDN (AKA the Bluesheet) picks up this bid. We would probably charge over $7500 for an attractive and properly graded PR67.

Are some coins worth 50% more than others in the same holder?
Yes. One of CAC’s goals is to establish a market for those premium quality coins and post bids for coins with their sticker of approval. PCGS and NGC are of equal value, if CAC approved.

Should you purchase CAC coins exclusively?
No. This would unnecessarily limit your buying options, as only a small percentage of the coins graded by PCGS and NGC (the two services CAC recognizes) have been submitted. Also consider CAC is offering an opinion, just like PCGS and NGC have done. If you had different numismatic experts grading at CAC, would different coins get approved? Absolutely. A particular mark or variety of toning may disturb some numismatic experts and not others. Grading is exceptionally subjective, and collecting is a highly personal experience. There is simply no substitute for viewing the coin in hand.

Should you send your coins to CAC?
Maybe. If you are planning on selling them at auction, it’s not a bad idea. Due to the number of online and phone bidders, a CAC approved coin may realize a higher price than an equally nice non-CAC one. This seems especially true of NGC material. If you are planning on selling them privately, not unless the dealer you work with will pay more for CAC approved coins. For most dealers this is not the case. If selling is not in your immediate plans, reassess the market in the future. If CAC is a dominant market factor, their policies or stickers or any number of factors may have changed. (more…)

By Kathleen Duncan for Pinnacle-Rarities

More coins that is. To sum up the show in one sentence: there were few nice coins to purchase at reasonable levels. The market is looking extremely strong for anything that is rare and/or unusually nice. We bought little in auction, although had reasonable success buying from our wholesale network, but could definitely use more inventory. If you have bought from us in the past, and are thinking about selling, please give us a call. (For that matter, even if you haven’t bought from us, give us a try on the sell side!) We certainly have more want lists to fill than at any time we can remember.

Prices in Heritage were extremely strong, especially for the old holder collection representing 1 and 2 point upgrades. If you take a look at auction prices, you will often see different examples of the same coin and grade sell within a large trading range. Collectors have become savvier and less frequently fall prey to focusing on the plastic instead of the coin itself. Even if a coin is in the ‘wrong’ holder (a MS64 that should be a MS65 for example) it will most likely bring the ‘right’ money. This is good news for collectors who have been focusing on high-quality.

Although the market is exceptionally robust, there are still some bargains. Silver commemoratives, late date Walkers, Three Cent Nickels, and Shield Nickels, as well as some Seated and Barber material continue to provide solid investment opportunities. As always, we strive to focus our inventory choices on high-quality rarities representing solid value. On that note, among our new purchases is a beautiful, high-quality collection of Proof Liberty and Shield nickels, including an 1877 PR67 Ultra Cameo and several nice PR68 Liberty nickels. Check out our inventory page for our current selection of these and other fabulous new finds.

By Kathleen Duncan for Pinnacle Rarities

Although it has been increasingly difficult to acquire nice rarities in the past several months, we were presented with some fabulous material through our dealer connections at last week’s Central States Convention. We were pleased to get first opportunity on a blockbuster collection of early Proof Seated Halves, two heralding from the 1997 Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. collection.

Another favorite purchase was a beautiful condition census 1798 Draped Bust Dollar (ex. Phil Flanagan) in PCGS MS64 condition. We also were the successful bidder (on behalf of a client) on the 1802 Novodel PR65 Cameo Dollar from the fabulous Queller collection, in our opinion the nicest coin in Heritage’s $45 million sale, although only the second most expensive: The 1804 Dollar in NGC PR62 condition broke the record for the third highest price paid for a coin in auction, realizing $3,737,500.

The pre-convention sale held by Bowers and Merena showcased some high-end collections of Washington quarters and Buffalo nickels bringing similarly high-end prices. A 1926-S NGC MS66* brought $322,000, which is an auction record for a 26-S Buffalo nickel and the first to surpass the $300,000 level. A 1932-D 25c PCGS MS66 brought a healthy $143,750. We had the pleasure of handling this same coin in the mid 90s for approximately $20,000. Our client turned it around in 2001 for a tidy $90,000, a good example of the staggering price increases for certain Key dates in the past decade.

While most areas are experiencing strong demand from collectors, prices on Silver Commemoratives are still quiet on all but the’top pop’ examples. Other series that present excellent value are Three Cent Nickels and Proof Liberty nickels. Outstanding value continues to exist within the Barber and Seated series, Walking Liberty Halves, and Peace Dollars. But finding the coins is another matter. We did not, however, have any trouble finding quality coins to purchase in Chicago, so enjoy browsing our newest selections.