Like the lovers on John Keats's fabled Grecian Urn, gold and the $400 price level keep trying to touch and continue to fall just short. Yesterday (November 17) December gold hit $399.90 before backing off and the seven-and-a-half-year highs are being tested again today. Meanwhile, platinum is soaring to levels that haven't been seen in 23 years as precious metals add more fuel to the already raging numismatic flames.
"There is incredible strength out there and I absolutely love the outlook for 2004," says Robert J. Riethe of Mainline Coin & Stamp in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. "There is still a fever pitch on the PCGS Set Registry coins and the number of new collectors entering the market is amazing."
What is selling the best? "You have to look at the modern coins as the market leaders," Riethe said. "To me 'modern coins' are anything post-1930 because I've been doing this for over 30 years. I just sold a 1940 dime for $5,000 and someone was looking over my shoulder telling me that it's too cheap. That shows how tremendous the competition is for the best coins in all series.
"Walking Liberty half dollars are outrageously hot, silver dollars are steady and gold coins are really good as long as the material is fresh. Overall, the market is 98% as good as it was at the peak two months ago, and when everyone gets their bills paid from the ANA auctions and the Ford sale and everything in between then we'll be roaring at even higher levels."
Heritage sale realizes over $10.5 million.
The "Signature Sale" from Heritage Numismatic Auctions realized over $10.5 million in its six sessions that were held November 7-10. The star of the show, the 1884 Trade dollar in PCGS PR67, did not meet the reserve although negotiations "with potential buyers are ongoing."
Here are some of the highlights from the sale:
| 1861-D Gold Dollar, PCGS MS63 | $52,900 |
| 1855 $3 Gold, PCGS PR64CAM | $75,900 |
| 1883 $5 Gold, PCGS PR65 | $48,300 |
| 1897 $20 Liberty, PCGS PR65 DCAM | $72,450 |
| 1921 $20 St. Gaudens, PCGS MS61 | $42,550 |
| 1879 Schoolgirl Dollar, J-1608, PCGS PR64 | $63,250 |
Bowers & Merena auction is December 4-6.
There are 2,600 lots available in the upcoming Baltimore Coin & Currency Convention auction from Bowers & Merena Galleries. "There is a marvelous selection of U.S. coins, Colonials, currency, world coins and Americana," said Paul Montgomery, Bowers & Merena President.
Highlights of the sale include:
| 1916 Standing Liberty Quarter | PCGS MS65FH |
| 1895 Morgan Dollar | PCGS PR66 DCAM |
| 1886 Quarter Eagle | PCGS PR64 |
| 1875-CC $5 Gold | PCGS AU50 |
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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