Reno coin dealer and Carson City coin specialist Rusty Goe captured the NGC-graded MS-64 1871-CC gold double eagle for $414,000 in Heritage’s Central States sale held in Chicago, IL on April 17. Goe, the author of two books on the Carson City Mint, and the president and founder of the Carson City Coin Collectors of America, reported that his purchase established a new price record for this specimen.

Goe said that he unsuccessfully bid on this coin at Heritage’s Pittsburgh ANA (American Numismatic Association) sale in August 2004. At that time, the coin was in an NGC MS-63 holder, designating that its grade (or condition) rated 63 out of a possible 70 points. Thirteen months later, in September 2005, at an Ira and Larry Goldberg Pre-Long Beach (Calif.) auction, this same coin (now upgraded to 64 points on the grading scale by NGC) failed to meet the consignor’s reserve price of approximately $400,000.

Market conditions have radically changed in the two-and-a-half-year period between the Goldberg’s sale in 2005 and now, said Goe. “Carson City gold coins are on more want lists than ever,” says Goe, “especially low-population examples.”

The 1871-CC (mintage: 17,387) is the second rarest date in the “CC” gold double eagle series, and Goe estimates that no more than 260 - 270 examples (not including damaged pieces) have survived. The combined population in all grades (number of coins professionally certified) between PCGS and NGC is 264, although Goe points out that resubmissions (repeat submissions) of the same coins account for a least a small percentage of that total. Only the 1870-CC date (only 3,789 struck) is scarcer. Goe says that no more than 65 to 70 examples of the 1870-CC date exist, and that the minimum price for a low-grade piece is $225,000.

In Mint State (or Uncirculated) condition the 1871-CC is extremely scarce, with none in this range graded by PCGS, and only five specimens listed in NGC’s census report. Of NGC’s Mint State total, two are listed as MS-60; two are MS-61, and one is MS-64. (more…)

Sorting Out Sub-Categories in the Field of Professional Numismatists by Rusty Goe

The term coin dealer evokes about as many images as does the terms car dealer, hardware dealer, book dealer, or just about any other avocation with which the word dealer is associated. There is no one-description-fits-all for the label of coin dealer. Just as in any profession there are different degrees of separation between those coin dealers at the top of the competency chain and those at the bottom.

Consider for example the computer industry. If a person tells you he’s into computers; is he at the level of Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, or is he an assistant on the Geek Squad at Best Buy? Likewise, when you consider 2008’s crop of presidential candidates, do Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckaby seem to be on equal footing with Dennis Kucinich, Mike Gravel, Fred Thompson, Ron Paul and Bill Richardson?

So it is in the world of professional (or semi-professional) coin dealers. Some are front-runners, some are consistently solid performers who will always deliver, but never sit on top of the heap, and some are perpetual wannabes. (more…)

Collectible coins and currency are on many shoppers’ lists this holiday season. In all price ranges, too. Thanks in part, for this unbridled enthusiasm in the field of numismatics, can be attributed to the unprecedented media coverage directed at the hobby over the past couple years. Not to mention the flurry of TV commercials recently launched by the U.S. Mint, appropriately themed “The numismatist on your gift list.”

Most of the coins and pieces of paper money which will find their way under the Christmas tree or next to the Hanukkah menorah will not be the break-the-bank variety. Yet, some fortunate numismatists, perhaps in the Bill Gates or the Oprah Winfrey families, just might be surprised by an extremely valuable coin or two presented to them by a generous relative. (more…)

Headlines of $30 million rare coin transactions flash across crawlers streaming news on TV broadcasts. Blurbs such as these provide a breath of fresh news to viewers who have grown weary reading the endless drivel concerning Britney Spears, Barry Bonds, and O. J. Simpson. But what is the average TV viewer with no prior knowledge of the rare coin market to make of announcements about multimillion-dollar coin deals?

It would indeed be difficult for a person outside the hobby of coin collecting to comprehend why anyone would pay so much for small discs of metal, with numbers, letters, and images imprinted in relief on them. Those individuals inside the hobby view the upward trend in prices as a long overdue phenomenon. For it has always been acknowledged by those who call themselves numismatists, that rare coins tend to appreciate in value over time. But for a period of approximately twelve years, between 1990 and 2001, the faith of these diehard coin collectors was severely tested. Now, however, their patience has been rewarded, and rare coin prices are ascending at a rate comparable to Alex Rodriguez’s rising popularity. But why is this occurring? What awakened the sleeping coin market out of its decade-long slumber? There are reasons; and in this brief report I will mention the most significant of them.

From 1990 through 2001, the rare coin market, also referred to as the field of numismatics, experienced a severe bearish environment, which resulted in plunging values, tapering off into a lengthy plateau period, in which coin sales were sluggish. The recent rebound, which began around 2002, is a normal cyclical reaction to this bear market. Prices had declined to the point that many buyers who had been sitting on the sidelines decided that the deals were too good to pass up. This, along with a variety of factors, triggered the market we are now experiencing. Here are a few of the more obvious causes to consider: (more…)

A twenty-cent piece from the Carson City Mint dated 1876 is for sale in an auction in New York City in October( Stacks) ; and the estimated sale price is $250,000. Author, and Carson City coin expert, Rusty Goe says that the bidding will be fierce for this special piece.

“It is one of only 18 or 19 examples known,” says Goe and it “is one of the most celebrated coins in the history of coin collecting in the United States.” So, why is this particular coin so special, and what makes it so valuable? The answer to both questions says Goe, is “the increasing popularity of the Carson City Mint.”

Collectors are obsessed with coins from this legendary Nevada mint, primarily says Goe, because there are just enough of the coins to make a game of it, but not so many as to ever flood the market. Additionally, the Carson City Mint operated during what is referred to as America’s Gilded Age, evoking romantic sensations of nostalgia.

The mint is also associated with Nevada’s historic Comstock Lode, one of the greatest mining discoveries of all time, and also the Old West era, with its images of stagecoaches, Ponderosa ranches, Mark Twain, and gunslingers. (more…)