The rare coin market has rolled into October with excellent momentum and a fuller-than-usual agenda. The New Silver Dollar Show is scheduled for action in beautiful St. Louis, Missouri, on October 17-19. The "old" silver dollar show started out in a pig barn on the Ohio State Fairgrounds in the early 1980s, moved to Houston, Texas, and found a home in St. Louis for several years. This revival will be the first of its kind in about a decade.
There's no question that the red-hot market of 2002 is still gathering steam. "Interest in coins remained strong throughout the Long Beach show and all of the auctions," said Tom Caldwell of Northeast Numismatics, Inc., in Concord, Massachusetts. "It is really difficult to buy what you want in this market."
PCGS Set Registry coins remain market leader.
Well, Tom, what's selling the best these days? "Early coins remain hot in all grades, whether they're for the entry-level collector or the most advanced. Key dates and better dates in the most popular series are in high demand, and the Indian cent market is booming again after a brief slowdown.
"The explosion of interest in the PCGS Set Registry is absolutely incredible," Caldwell continued. "I hear that there are more than 4,000 sets registered now, and the competition for the most popular series has led to some amazing prices, especially in the past year."
Anything else? "There are some new players in the Pattern market. It doesn't take many collectors in this area to clean out the inventories of everyone and move the prices substantially. Patterns had been quiet for a time, but no more."
Gold, key issues and dollars large in "Kearsarge"
The Kingswood Coin Auctions "Kearsarge Sale" closed on October 3 with resoundingly positive results. Here are a few of the many highlights of this sale:
- 1894/94 Indian Cent (PCGS MS64RD) - $4,945
- 1858 Three Cent Silver (PCGS MS66) - $4,198
- 1935-S Buffalo Nickel (PCGS MS67) - $4,715
- 1916-D Mercury Dime (PCGS MS64FB) - $14,375
- 1918-S Mercury Dime (PCGS MS65FB) - $5,175
- 1853 Arrows & Rays Quarter (PCGS MS64) - $4,140
- 1936 Washington Quarter (PCGS PR66) - $3,342
- 1959 Washington Quarter (PCGS PR68DCAM) - $1,035
- 1795 Flowing Hair Half Dollar (PCGS EF45) - $5,635
- 1908 Barber Half Dollar (PCGS PR67) - $4,600
- 1880/79-CC Morgan Dollar (PCGS MS65) - $1,783
- 1880-S Morgan Dollar (PCGS MS68) - $3,200
- 1886-S Morgan Dollar (PCGS MS64DMPL) - $4,025
- 1900-O/CC Morgan Dollar (PCGS MS66) - $5,750
- 1854 Type Two Gold Dollar (PCGS MS64) - $15,813
- 1876 $3 Gold (PCGS PR65DCAM) - $22,080
- 1838-D Classic Head $5 Gold (PCGS AU50) - $6,498
- 1853-C $5 Liberty Gold (PCGS MS64) - $25,530
- Missouri 2X4 Half Dollar (PCGS MS65) - $5,399
"The auction went fabulously," said Cassi East, Director of Auctions for Collectors Universe. "The Kingswood sales continue to grow in a positive direction. We were delighted to hear from so many repeat customers and see the strong prices in all areas of the market."
Bruce Amspacher has been a professional writer since the 1950s and a professional numismatist since the 1960s. He won the OIPA sportswriting award in 1958 and again in 1959, then spent eight years in college studying American Literature. This background somehow led him to become a professional numismatist in 1968. Since then he has published hundreds of articles on rare coins in dozens of publications as well as publishing his own newsletter, the “Bruce Amspacher Investment Report,” for more than a decade. His areas of expertise include Liberty Seated dollars, Morgan and Peace dollars, United States gold coins, sports trivia, Western history, modern literature and the poetry of Emily Dickinson. In 1986 he was a co-founder of the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS).
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