Coin Universe Weekly Market Report - July 5, 2000

By Bruce Amspacher - July 5, 2000

South Carolina statehood quarter now available in clad proof.

This is a three-day week for much of the world of numismatics, but that doesn’t mean that things aren’t happening. The big news for collectors is that all five of the statehood quarters are now available in clad proof, even though the silver proofs won’t be out until later this year. How is the quality of these eagerly anticipated coins?

“It’s too early to say for certain what the norm will be,” said Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) president Richard S. Montgomery, “but the first groups of coins we’ve been seeing for certification aren’t as deeply reflective as the 1999 proofs, plus the cameo contrast isn’t as heavy on many pieces. Of course the next 10,000 examples may turn out to be wondrously contrasted. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Another new item into the marketplace is the Sacagawea proof dollar. “The first examples that we’ve seen for certification have been beautiful,” Montgomery said, “even though the contrast is usually light and the coins have an unusual texture to the fields. There’s undoubtedly going to be a lot of demand for these coins.” The Leif Ericson Millennium commemorative dollars are another modern issue of note. Proofs and uncirculated examples are being released with prices pegged in excess of $30 each for either format when ordered directly from the U. S. Mint. Also offered in conjunction with the dollar commemoratives is a similar coin from the Republic of Iceland. For more information call 1-800-USA-MINT.

Steady as She Goes

The rare coin market in general continues to firm up in all areas. Several major dealers commented that generic gold had “found a bottom” and that interest is currently the strongest that it has been in three or four months.

“Dealers are gearing up for the annual ANA convention in Philadelphia,” said John Dannreuther of John Dannreuther Rare Coins, Inc., of Memphis, Tennessee. “Lots of people are looking to buy, and there are many willing participants at current levels.”

The strongest area of the market? “It continues to be so-called collector coins,” Dannreuther said. “I know you’ve written about it every time in the Weekly Market Report, but in order to be accurate you have to be redundant, at least in this case.”

The End of an Era?

When the Harry Bass, Jr., Collection is finally dispersed, it may be the last of the “old time” collections to come on the market for many years. Bowers & Merena is scheduled to auction Part IV of the Bass holdings on November 20-21, 2000. “I was discussing the Bass sale with David Akers [a well-known dealer who auctioned the John J. Pittman collection] and we were hard-pressed to find where the next major collection for sale would come from,” Dannreuther said. “Today there seem to be more significant collections being built than being sold.”

It’s true. The magnificent holdings of F.C.C. Boyd, Brand, Garrett, Pittman, Eliasberg, Trompeter, Byron Reed and now Bass have been partially sold or completely dispersed. The torch has been passed, and with it many of the greatest coins in the world.

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).