By Laura Sperber - Legend Numismatics

Whew, what a show! It by far blew away our expectations. The show itself did the trick, as many collectors appeared, not just the locals, to shop and BUY the coins they needed. Even though GOLD is strong, generics or that area did not drive this show. This is one of the few major shows we have attended in the past year where BOTH retail and WHOLESALE were strong for us.

The attendance of both dealers and collectors was far greater than what we had anticipated. Even PNG day was active. Part of why also may have been the fact there were no major shows in the past 3 weeks (which does seem like an eternity). Most important, everyone’s attitude was upbeat and no one complained about the timing of the show (it wasn’t on top of a show, no religious holiday, tax time was over, etc).

As with all the shows this year, this show was especially dry of great coins. Sure, there was lots dreck around, BUT (big BUT) it seems more collectors were willing to step up and pay strong for real quality. People are appreciating great coins again and they clearly are rising to the values they deserve to be at.

We saw many collectors complain about their hunger for coins. You can’t go out and buy GEM Bust material, great Type, or even something like a GEM better date and higher grade Peace Dollar. There was one dealer we know who was trying to buy for the 5 GEM Morgan sets and who knows how many GEM Saint Saints he is building. We also saw someone who represented a substantial investor trying to spend a few million (yes million) but were totally stymied by lack of coins. Then there were the smaller collectors who always buy a coin or two at a major show telling us they couldn’t find anything. Mark our words prices WILL rise soon.

The CAC market is super strong. We have already seen clear-cut extreme demand and in just about very case, prices are at serious premiums. Every dealer we spoke to who handles CAC told us they sold most of what they had in the beginning of the show. The skeptics and boo birds who tried their best to hurt CAC now are clearly seeing it is a true force in the market and is unquestionably growing each day. (more…)

In my last blog, I predicted that the Central States show in Rosemont would be active. How did the show turn out and what are my current impressions of the market? Read on for all the answers…and more.

After a lack of shows for over a month I knew that there would be a strong demand for nice coins and I was right. Every dealer I spoke to at the beginning of the show told me that they literally had to be three places at once to get a shot at the fresh coins that were available. For someone like myself who does coin shows without assistants, partners, lackeys or go-fers it can be very frustrating to try and buy coins, view auction lots, answer emails, make phone calls and more - often all at once. I can’t ever remember a time when I’ve had to work harder to buy!

I arrived in Chicago on Tuesday and began buying literally as soon as my plane touched the ground. Wednesday was PNG Day which meant that only a limited number of the table holders could set up. I got to wear some spiffy clothes and I got to focus exclusively on wholesale business which, for better or worse, is what shows are really about right now (I’ll explain a little bit more about this statement in a second).

There were a few very interesting deals that broke at the show. I was able to buy some nice early gold coins from an outstanding collection of pre-1834 gold that a West Coast dealer was selling. This was the sort of deal that usually sells at auction (all the coins were in old holders and many were significantly undergraded) and I believe that virtually the entire deal sold to the first three or four people who viewed it. I also heard about a neat collection of Bust Quarters by die variety that sold (I was able to buy a few leftovers from the dealers who handled it) and I was impressed that the collector who owned it didn’t place it in auction. (more…)

Pattern coins and the precious metals markets are the topics of the next two, free Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG) “Share the Knowledge” educational seminars. They will be conducted, respectively, by PNG member-dealers Andy Lustig and Richard Nachbar at the Central States Numismatic Society convention (CSNS) in April and at the Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo in May.

A complimentary light lunch will be available for audience members at both PNG seminars.

Lustig of Nyack, New York is a co-founder of The Society of U.S. Pattern Collectors. He will present “Collecting Pattern Coinage” starting at 11 a.m. on Friday, April 18, 2008 in room 42 of the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, 5555 N. River Rd., Rosemont, Illinois, the site of the 69th Annual CSNS Convention.

“Patterns are some of the rarest coins struck by the United States Mint. The series has more than 2,000 different prototypes for American coinage including patterns, die trials and experimental pieces. This half hour seminar will provide an overview of the series, historical background, collecting strategies and a superb slide show of great rarities,” Lustig said.

The annual spring PNG Day will be held in conjunction with the CSNS show on Wednesday, April 16. Collectors may obtain free, printed PNG Day invitations from PNG member-dealers. An online membership directory is available at www.PNGdealers.com, or call PNG Executive Director Robert Brueggeman at (760) 728-1300. (more…)