By Kathleen Duncan - Pinnacle Rarities

The new breed of collector wants the coin regardless of price. I envy them that luxury, but hope they are not made complacent by their equally exuberant under-bidders. The extremely strong prices for the Husak collection of large cents is understandable. These coins are truly rare and may not surface again for years.

Some of the other items experiencing extremely spirited bidding, however, are replaceable. These coins, or their equivalents, have sold recently for far less.

Here are three examples from the recently concluded Heritage Long Beach sale:

1867 25c PCGS MS63 $86,250

It has a PCGS population of 3 with 2 higher. Greysheet is a misleading $1,500 (wake up guys!), but I doubt there are any dealers who would have bought this coin for more than a quarter of the price without having a ready buyer. (more…)

Market Report By Doug Winter -CoinLink Content Partner

One of the consequences of the soaring gold market is the evaporation of the Market Premium Factor (or “MPF”) for certain semi-scarce dates in the St. Gaudens double eagle series. This scenario presents the savvy collector with what appears to be an interesting short-term opportunity.

The term Market Premium Factor was invented, as far as I can tell, by my friend the newsletter writer/publisher Maurice Rosen. It refers to the premium that a better date coin sells for versus a common date. If a common date in a series is worth $1,000 and a slightly better date sells for $1,200 it has an MPF or 20%.

There are a number of reasons why the generic double eagle market is currently as weak as it has been in recent memory. With gold blasting through the $1,000 mark, the gold content of a $20 Lib. or a Saint is enough that it becomes a sizable outlay of cash for the typical collector or investor; especially if being purchased in bulk quantities. Many new collectors and investors who are purchasing gold are buying modern U.S. mint products and eschewing older American gold. And many of the large-scale marketers who sold vast quantities of $20’s in the past are turning their focus to areas of the market where the profit margins are greater.

In the wake of the Great Saint Malaise, some dates that were formerly accorded market premium factors of 10-30% are suddenly selling for generic prices or just a bit more. These are the coins that, it seems to me, are good value right now. (more…)

After reading a recent post by Nathan Elkins on the American Numismatic Society discussion list, I had serious concerns that I might be suffering from a severe case of delusion or dementia. Mr. Elkins proposes to orchestrate a panel of archaeologists to discuss “Contextual Numismatics” at the 2009 AIA meeting.

Granted, I have only been a professional numismatist for 41 years, but I rather thought that I might have heard most of the terminology used in the field. So, I hopped over to that repository of all human knowledge, Google, and searched for the term—hoping to bring myself up to speed. Ouch, not a single hit.

Just to make sure my browser was working, I searched for something everyone has heard of “Ilkhanid Coins”. Bingo, 648 links. Ok, one more “Russian wire money”, 489 more links. Contextual Numismatics? — Zip. This, I thought, ought to be a lively discussion panel. Perhaps I was unfair to search a general resource for an academic term. So, back to the browser I went and pulled up the American Numismatic Society web site. Searching for “contextual numismatics” I found zero documents. Finally, I tried the Archaeological Institute of America web site: “Your search yielded 0 results.”

The term is apparently unknown to anyone but Mr. Elkins. It should be interesting to see how the discussion goes when the subject is undefined and unknown. (more…)

As a first-term governor for the American Numismatic Association, I have been involved with making a number of decisions that were complicated, necessary and sometimes not without controversy. The guiding principle that the entire board follows has always been that we will do what is right for the association and its members.

Choosing a new executive director was one such decision that we made during the recent National Money Show in Phoenix. The Search Committee had done its job by narrowing 37 applicants down to six persons who were interviewed in Chicago and then to two finalists who were interviewed by the entire board in Phoenix.

From my perspective, two attributes were critical. Did the individual have a good background in numismatics, ideally from both a collector and dealer viewpoint, and did the individual have a strong background in business (particularly finance and personnel aspects)? Frankly, I wasn’t sure we would be able to find an individual that filled both of my wishes.

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Douglas Winter Market Report - Baltimore and Pheonix

I love the Baltimore show. Unlike some conventions that feel like they are in a death spiral, you can clearly sense that this show is fresh, healthy and on the upswing. And this year’s first edition was excellent.

The only negative about this show, at least for me, is the epic day-long schlep that entails getting to Baltimore from Portland. If anyone reading this would like to exchange trips on their private jet for U.S. gold coins please feel free to propose a trade immediately.

I spent two full working days in Baltimore. The first, a Thursday, was essentially a wholesale-only day. As you will probably guess, the usual “it was hard to buy and easy to sell” mantra held to form. Except that this time it was exceedingly hard to buy and really easy to sell. Every dealer I chatted with, even those with reputations for exageration, confirmed this. In the world of nice, interesting coins it’s as dry as the Mojave on the bourse floor!

My second day, a Friday, was more of a retail day. From the opening of the show until the end of the day I had a constant stream of serious buyers at my table. Most walked away with a new purchase or two and most seemed very enthusiastic about the show. (more…)