Jaded Professional Numismatist that I am, I sometimes need to be reminded what coin collecting is all about. I recently attended the first official meeting of the newly-formed 20th Century Gold Club and it left me feeling really good about the state of the hobby. It reminded me that coins are about more than upgrades, slabbing disputes, Registry Set battles and message board bickering: they are, more than anything else, about fraternity

The 20th Century Gold Club was founded by two prominent collectors of gold coins minted between 1907 and 1933. The club is by-invitation and it includes a number of the most serious collectors of American gold. The group is unique in that it not only includes these collectors but it incorporates prominent professionals who are Associate Members. The list of these dealers and researchers is extremely impressive and I was flattered to be included in a group that featured David Hall, Mark Salzburg, David Akers, John Albanese, Jim Halperin, Kevin Lipton, Todd Imhof, Mike Moran and Roger Burdette.

The meeting was held in Dallas and it was refreshing in that it wasn’t held in conjunction with a show. This meant that I was much more relaxed than I typically am at a show (if you’ve ever spent time with me at a coin show you know that I can be pretty intense and that I rarely have time for non-business chatter). It also helped that the meeting was held at a world-class five star hotel, was catered with incredible food (thanks to Heritage for the chow and the logistics) and that the weather in Dallas was perfect.

I thought one of the most interesting things about the meeting was the lack of agenda. All of the dealers were on their best behavior and no one was secretly passing out business cards looking for new clients. It was great to be able to chat with David Hall and not be worried about my latest round of PCGS grades. (more…)

By Laura Sperber of Legend Numismatics

In the past few weeks we have been offered more coins than normal from collectors. However, the majority of coins that are offered were recent purchases that people are coming to find out they can’t resell for a profit, or even close. Some coins came from auctions, some were even bought a year ago, no luck. We do need coins VERY badly, but we are not going to over pay for weak pieces. What’s going on here?

After every major auction you read how coins brought “moon” money and how we all can’t find anything anymore at shows. We dealers make it sound like there is no limit to how strong or how high prices are. It is all true, REAL coins are unquestionably bringing real money.

What is happening is there is now a huge and very real separation of quality. A year ago, it was acceptable to buy a coin that is 95% there for full ticket. Today, if you don’t have 100% full quality and eye appeal in coin, forget it, you most likely will lose money.

Gone are the days when you could buy out of sale and “flip” it to a dealer. The market has reached its saturation point on the lesser quality material. We strongly believe CAC expedited this gap (which was bound to happen any way). The sophisticated buyers either demand CAC stickered coins or they demand the coin be all there. Nothing less is acceptable today. The market-especially in auctions is proving that clearly.

Just because you get caught up in the spur of the moment and bid aggressively in an auction does not guarantee you that there will still be someone right under you. And if the coin has issues (low end, ugly, etc) you are plain old stuck. The grading service does not matter. (more…)

To know which asset class will appreciate in value, you have only to follow the money. When the stock market is gobbling up all of the available discretionary funds, you know that alternative investments, such as rare coins, are going to do poorly. On the other hand, bear markets in stocks cause net withdrawals, which in turn support the prices of alternative assets as investors seek better returns.

There have been numerous articles in the financial press that have talked about the resemblances between 1987 and 2007. The topic is of interest to us because of the absolute explosion of the rare coin market that took place after the stock market crash of 1987. The crash precipitated a stampede to alternative assets like rare coins and, in a little over two years, the market in investment grade rare coins went up several hundred percent even as the price of gold fell from $500 to $360.

Financial conditions today lead us to believe that the rare coin market is poised to duplicate the bull market experienced 20 years ago. Today, we’re hearing much of the same language that we heard in 1987, when Alan Greenspan said that the world was on the edge of a global financial collapse. In fact, Greenspan said that the current market turmoil is “identical” in many ways to that which occurred in 1987.

The stock market crash in 1987 and the credit market crisis in 2007 both served to reverse the flow of funds into stock mutual funds. According to the Presidential Task Force on Market Mechanisms, appointed by President Ronald Reagan to investigate the October 1897 market crash, skittish fund shareholders withdrew billions of dollars from stock mutual funds and added to the market’s fall.

Read the Full Blanchard Article Here

According to Merriam-Webster:

schol·ar, pronunciation: \’skä-l?r\ is:

1: a person who attends a school or studies under a teacher: pupil.
2 a: a person who has done advanced study in a special field
b: a learned person.
3: a holder of a scholarship.

By this definition, the list of scholars throughout recorded history is extensive. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the oldest continuously operating degree granting institution in the world is the University of Al-Qarawiyyin (Arabic: ????? ?????????) founded in AD 859 at Fes, Morocco.

From that time on, there has been a distinction between institution affiliated scholars and independent scholars. In some fields, the distinction is subtle and the degree of cooperation between institutional scholars and independent scholars is such that one could hardly distinguish the two. That was indeed the case during the formative years of the discipline we call archaeology. As institutional archaeology grew, the resource did not. Consequently, intense competition developed within and between these institutions for the access necessary to legitimize and sustain departments and the associated hierarchy of administrators, teachers and students.

Over time, cooperation with non-affiliated scholars became problematic as it spread the limited resource even further. Out of this, came a pervasive attitude of protectionism that to the rest of the world was perceived as academic elitism. During the latter half of the 20th Century, while cooperation between institutional scholars and independent scholars flourished in most other disciplines, a gulf emerged between these two groups of scholars in the area of cultural property. The codification of institutional views in the UNESCO convention of 1970 marked a turning point in the study of ancient cultures. (more…)

By Doug Winter of RareGoldCoins.com

Sure, every gold coin collector would love to have an unlimited budget. But few do. Is it possible to be an individual of average or slightly above-average means and still be a collector of U.S. gold? I contend that the answer is a resounding “yes” and I’d like to suggest a dozen collecting areas that are priced at $2,500 or less. My basic parameters are that each is undervalued, interesting to collect and they can be found with some patience.

Instead of focusing on specific issues (which, for the collector, can be like finding a needle in a haystack) I’m going to be a bit more general and focus on small groups or subsets of coins. Not every date within this group may be of interest to the collector (or fall within the parameters of affordability that we have established) but enough will qualify to make them worthy of serious consideration.

Along with the groups of coins, I’m including recommendations of specific dates that I like, suggested price ranges and grade ranges and collecting tips that will help the new collector decide if these areas are right for him.

I. San Francisco Gold Dollars

The San Francisco mint produced gold dollars for seven years between 1854 and 1870. This includes all three types of this denomination. For collectors in the $2,500 and under range, the best options tend to be the Type Three issues (1857-S, 1858-S, 1859-S, 1860-S and 1870-S). All five have original mintages of 13,000 of less (only 3,000 in the case of the 1870-S) and they are every bit as scarce as many of the more popular and expensive Charlotte and Dahlonega gold dollars from the 1850’s. The grade range that most collectors will be looking for is AU50 to AU58 and a five coin Type Three San Francisco gold dollar set would be a challenging but completable goal.

Collecting Tip: Many have been cleaned or processed at one time and coins with natural color and surfaces are far rarer than most collectors realize. Don’t be afraid to pay a premium for a pretty, original coin.

Recommended Dates: I personally like all five of these issues but I’ve always had a soft spot for the 1870-S given its low mintage figure and its status as the final gold dollar from this mint. (more…)