By Laura Sperber – Legend Numismatics

Long Beach is a funny kind of show. The past few years we have been complaining how the show is dying-and that was during one of the strongest and longest bull markets we have ever experienced. Today, with a clearly weaker market, the show is starting to thrive again. Even management made an announcement on Thursday that attendance was up by 30% over last year. Go figure…

Heavy Thursday pubic attendance definitely was the big surprise. It was the biggest crowd we remember seeing in 3-4 years. We saw many old friends. People we haven’t seen in years stopped by our table to chat or do some biz. Interestingly, most commented about the rise in the price of gold, the treacherous stock market, and the generally bad economy made them reconsider buying coins again. Also, they almost all felt that prices were reasonable again.

LEGEND HAD A GREAT SHOW

For us, the show action started Wed morning on a dealer to dealer level. The first two dealers we sat down and showed coins to bought well into six figures. By the end of set up we had sold a record 3 coins over $10,000.00 and 5 coins over $25,000.00! Wholesaling remained very strong for us through the closing of the show Thursday. We did a little bit on Friday and left early Saturday (yes, we are guilty-but we had been out in LA a full week already due to auctions). All the sales were a complete surprise as we had expected very light activity.

Selling for us may have been made easier by the fact we had many fresh, high grade, and rare gold coins from the extensive LV Collection of Gold Rarities we are exclusively handling. Dealers clearly wanted gold. All the coins over $10,000.00 we sold were gold rarities. Interestingly, none of the coins we wholesaled were “crackouts’ yet we were able to sell them for strong premiums.

Retail wise, our sales were good. There too, most sales were for better gold coins.

THE 2009 CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH

Of all the shows we attend, no other seems to have as many ‘gold bugs” as the Long Beach Show. This show they clearly came out in force. These collectors, investors, or whatever you like to call them are amazingly loyal to the gold market no matter where it is at. On Thursday of the show spot gold jumped to $960.00. The floor was just littered with “gold bugs” looking to buy. If you had any decent selection of gold (generics, rare pieces, whatever) you could have sold them! From our point of view, we did not see price as an negative or obstacle with the buyers. (more…)

Award-winning numismatic author Scott Travers and veteran financial journalist Jim Kingsland will present a detailed, three-hour public educational forum about buying and selling gold on Saturday, May 30, 2009, during the Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo in the Long Beach, California Convention Center, 100 S. Pine Ave., May 28 to 30.

Visitors to the three-day show will see both the “Gold River Morgan Dollars Set,” ranked number two on the PCGS Set Registry for date set circulation strikes, and see the “Wild West Collection,” a complete set of superb-grade Carson City dollars. A free gold coin door prize will be awarded to a lucky, registered visitor each day.

The seminar, “Gold: Hoping For The Best, Preparing For The Worst,” will be presented from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, May 30, in room 102-C of the Long Beach Convention Center.

“The gold seminar will be jointly conducted by Travers, an acclaimed consumer advocate who is the author of a dozen award-winning numismatic books, and by Kingsland, a respected Fox Business Network editor and long-time Wall Street journalist,” said Ronald J. Gillio, Expo General Chairman.

“With the renewed interest in gold because of the U.S. and world economic situation, this certainly is one of the most important and timely educational seminars we’ve had in the history of the Long Beach Expo.”

“This educational program will provide pertinent and potentially valuable information about the precious metals markets from mining stocks to bullion coins – such as the American Eagle and Canadian Maple Leaf – to gold estate jewelry and ‘scrap’ gold,” explained Travers. (more…)

Adams-Carter 1804 Class III $1 brings $2.3 million; post-auctions totals continue to climb

DALLAS, TX – At the end Heritage Auction Galleries’ Central States Numismatic Society Convention Platinum Night Auction on Thursday, April 30, the Adams-Carter specimen of the Class III AU 58 PCGS 1804 silver dollar lived up to its billing as “The King of Coins” when Bedminister, NJ collector John Albanese topped all others with a $2.3 million bid, including the 15% Buyer’s Premium. The total for the Heritage CSNS Auctions is currently at approximately $45 million with post-auction buys continuing at www.HA.com.

“There was never any question of whether it was going to be the top lot in the auction,” said Greg Rohan, President of Heritage. “Whenever you have an example of the most famous coin in the world it’s going to be a big night. In this case, at $2.3 million, it set a new world record for its class. Thursday night’s price made this particular 1804 dollar the seventh most valuable coin ever sold at auction.”

The Class III 1804 $1 received widespread coverage in the mainstream media in the days leading up to the auction, and the buzz in auction gallery was equal to the advance publicity. As coin collectors and curious onlookers alike watched the auction live in Cincinnati and on HERITAGE Live!, the company’s real-time proprietary online bidding platform, there was a collective hush as the coin climbed past $2,000,000 and spontaneous applause when this most famous of coins finally found its new owner.

While the Adams-Carter 1804 $1 grabbed the headlines, the overall success of both the rare coins and the rare currency auctions is the hidden story in the whole night.

“The total prices realized in these auctions speaks to the continued strength of the rare coin market when there are precious few places with such fortitude,” said Rohan. “Even if you take out the $2.3 million on the 1804 $1, you still have an almost $42 million auction; by any standards that’s a good return.”

Several other rare and pristine coins garnered their share of the overall value of the auction with six figure prices. Following are a few highlights:

1870-S Seated Dollar, XF40 PCGS , Ex: Ostheimer: The legendary rarest regular issue silver dollar ever coined at any United States Mint. From the Alfred and Jackie Ostheimer Collections.

Realized: $503,125. (more…)