This has been a great year for the rare coin market. The market actually started to get good last November. For the 30 days or so following the September 11 national tragedy, the rare coin market was at a standstill. No one was buying coins and the phones weren't ringing. But starting in November of last year, buyer demand picked up tremendously. It was like someone suddenly flicked the lights on. This buyer demand stayed strong last December. I remember thinking at the time how unusual it was to have such a good December, as this is usually the slowest month of the year for coins.

When January rolled around, market activity picked up even more. And the rest of the year the market kept getting better and better. The end result was a fabulous year for rare coins. Most coins went up in value at least a little in 2002. Many of the more popular series saw price increases of 15% to 30%. Many coins set new auction records this year. Classic coins are selling well, 20th Century coins are absolutely on fire, and the Modern (post 1964) issues have huge buyer demand. The coin market has a lot of momentum.

As to the future, things look really bullish. In the coin market, good years usually come in clusters... 1960 to 1964... 1971 to 1974... 1977 to 1980... 1983 to 1989. Rare coins didn't do that well during the 1990s. In fact, rare coins were the only major collectible that didn't experience major price gains in the 1990s. So you could say we're overdue. Now all of the internal market signs -- buyer demand, dealer supply levels, auction action, rising PCGS submissions, et cetera -- look very bullish. And the outside influences -- the stock market, price of gold, and so on -- are also bullish for rare coins. I believe 2002 was just the first year of a new bull market in rare coins and a minor preview of things to come. I think it's quite probable that we will see a really good coin market for the next three to four years.