Happy holidays from everyone at Collectors Universe! As the rare coin market enters the final days of 2002 excitement is in the air, not only because of the best year in numismatics in more than a decade, but also in anticipation of an even better 2003. The Florida United Numismatists [F.U.N.] show is on the early January docket and it's coupled with a blizzard of top-quality auctions.
Meanwhile, the gold market is making serious noise, with the magic "breakout" number of $335 an ounce being surpassed today [December 17] while the interest in certified gold soars.
"They're buying gold with both hands!"
"People are not only buying gold, they're buying it with both hands," says Richard Schwary of California Numismatic Investments in Inglewood, California. "The market is at the upside breakout point and the next two weeks will tell a lot about the confirmation of the levels. There's bound to be a little year-end sell-off due to profit taking, but the stage is set for higher prices. It's a very bullish scenario."
Where is the action focused? "In MS63, 64 and 65 PCGS gold. Mostly, people want $20 gold pieces. They're buying much larger quantities than in the past, and sometimes someone will come in an say, 'I'll take everything you've got.'"
Have the higher gold prices provided a larger supply of coins? "Just the opposite has happened. The days of calling someone up and buying 50 or a hundred pieces are in the past for now. Almost all of my purchases are in two, three and five coin lots. I'm certain that we're buying a large percentage of all the PCGS $20 gold that's coming out, but we're still turning over our complete inventory about four times a month."
Can 100 coins move the market? Definitely!
What about the $2˝, $5 and $10 gold pieces? "I'm absolutely certain that anyone putting together 100 eight-piece type sets in MS63 would definitely move the market upward," Schwary continued. "There is very little MS63 gold out there. I still feel that bullion is cheap at $335 and certified gold is still way too cheap. I look for much higher prices."
Is the customer base for gold growing the same way the collector base is increasing for rare coins? "I would say that at least a third of my customers in the past two months are brand new first-time buyers. That's a huge percentage!"
Only 15,999 lots to go!
Heritage Numismatic Auctions will offer 16,000 lots in nine separate sales in early January. Eight of the sales will be in conjunction with the F.U.N. show in Orlando, Florida, while the ninth is the auction of the Sid & Alicia Belzberg Collection of Canadian coins to be held in New York City. Here are a few highlights of these sales:
- 1856 Flying Eagle cent (PCGS MS66)
- 1864-L Indian cent (PCGS PR64RB)
- 1877 Indian cent (PCGS MS66RD)
- 1870-CC Liberty Seated half dollar (PCGS AU53)
- 1921-S Walking Liberty half dollar (PCGS MS65)
- 1854-O $20 Liberty (PCGS AU50)
- 1915-S Pan-Pac $50 Round (PCGS MS65)
Buffalo nickels among the highlights of "Rarities Sale."
January 7th is the day for the latest "Rarities Sale" from Bowers & Merena Galleries. This chock-full-of-goodies auction is online through January 5th, then will be sold in Orlando, Florida, in one exciting session. The Buffalo nickels alone make the trip worth your time. Here are a few of the many noteworthy treasures in this sale:
- 1913 Type One Buffalo nickel (PCGS MS68)
- 1916/16 Doubled Die Buffalo nickel (PCGS AU55)
- 1918/7-D Buffalo nickel (PCGS MS63)
- 1920-S Buffalo nickel (PCGS MS65)
- 1923-S Buffalo nickel (PCGS MS66)
- 1925-S Buffalo nickel (PCGS MS65)
- 1926-S Buffalo nickel (PCGS MS65)
- 1937-D 3-Legged Buffalo nickel (PCGS MS66)
To view all of the lots in the "Rarities Sale" and/or to bid online, click here.
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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