We have a winner!
As a matter of fact, we have a whole boatload of them from the second annual PCGS Set Registry awards that were announced Friday, July 11th. There were 17 major winners, two new additions to the PCGS Hall of Fame, and literally hundreds of additional winners in the various categories.
There is more than one related story to read if you want to catch up on all of the goings on, so visit the PCGS Set Registry "News" and "Awards" links or just click here to get started.
Rare coin market is everything you've heard -- and more!
It's hardly news that the rare coin market is on fire, but the best news is that there's no pre-ANA "dip" in prices or participation. "No one seems to be taking a vacation," says John Rothans of David Hall Rare Coins in Newport Beach, California.
"If I had to rank a top five hottest areas of the market I probably couldn't do it without expanding the list to eight or nine," Rothans continued. "Everyone in the world seems to be collecting full red Lincoln cents, Buffalo nickels, Walking Liberty half dollars and inexpensive Morgan dollars. The ultra-modern commemoratives in Proof 70 and MS70 are selling fast and are frequently gone before we can get a descriptive writeup on the web page. The earlier commems are hot, too, from the 50-piece type set or the 144-piece date set from 1892-1954.
"The most amazing aspect of the market has to be the relatively expensive items. I can come back from a major show with 30 to 40 pretty exciting pieces and a few days later Van [Simmons of the DHRC staff] is in my office telling me that he's thinking about going home for the day because there's nothing left to sell. It's not really that serious a situation, of course, but it is definitely the most active collector market in history in all price ranges."
ANA auction is now online!
The spectacular 2003 ANA auction from Bowers & Merena Galleries is now online. The sale is expected to be the largest single-catalog sale in B&M history and includes a large offering of currency from Lyn Knight Currency Auctions as well as the sensational rare coin selection.
There are three "million dollar" coins in the sale, with a Class III 1804 silver dollar (PCGS PR58) and a 1927-D $20 St. Gaudens in PCGS MS66 among the highest of the highlights. There is also a 1795 $10 gold piece in PCGS MS65 that is destined to attract serious attention from bidders.
"We are already swamped with inquiries about the coins in the sale from the first few days," said Raeleen Endo of the Collectors Universe auction team.
To view the lots 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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