Weekly Market Report: Baltimore Show to Feature Bowers & Merena Auction This Week

By Bruce Amspacher - March 13, 2001

For the third time in four weeks there's a major coin show and a truly remarkable auction on the schedule. This is the week of the Suburban Washington/Baltimore Coin Convention, and it's being held in conjunction with the Bowers & Merena Galleries auction of the Cabinet of Lucien M. LaRiviere. This huge auction features 3,716 lots and will be offered over three days (March 15,16,17).

There are numerous highlights to the sale, including the following gold coins:

1839-O $2½ Classic Head PCGS MS64
1866 $3 Gold PCGS MS65
1871 $3 Gold PCGS MS65
1861-C $5 Gold PCGS MS61
1795 $10 Gold PCGS AU55
1891-CC $20 Gold PCGS MS61
1909 $20 Gold PCGS Roman Finish PR64
1931 $20 Gold PCGS MS64

The Bowers & Merena auction also offers 56 lots of US Pattern coinage and 40 lots of Mint errors. To bid online, click here.

It's a record! 1913 Liberty nickel sells for $1,840,00!

The ANA "Money Show" in Salt Lake City was completed last week and a new price record was set for the world-famous 1913 Liberty nickel. The Eliasberg specimen, believed to be the finest known example, fell under the hammer for $1,840,000. That price includes the 15% buyer's commission. This price ties the record for the second-highest price ever paid at public auction for a US coin and breaks the old record of $1,485,000 for a 1913 nickel. For a related story click here.

PCGS certifies Lexington commemorative in MS67

It took more than 15 years for it to happen, but PCGS has finally certified the first Lexington commemorative half dollar in MS67. "This was the most exciting coin that we certified at the Long Beach show," said Richard S. Montgomery, PCGS president. "The coin is absolutely incredible."

The Lexington commemorative half dollar is notorious for being a "problem coin." Many examples have been abrasively cleaned to remove the residue from the wooden boxes of issue. Other pieces exhibit poor luster, a weak strike on the reverse, excessive marks and other problems.

"I've looked at Lexington commemoratives for decades," said the dealer who submitted the coin to PCGS. "Nothing else has ever come close to this one." The coin was sold immediately for a price in excess of $20,000.

Market continues to show growth, strength

"The ANA 'Money Show' proved that the rare coin market is pretty good. I like it," says John Dannreuther of JDRC, Inc., in Memphis, Tennessee. "I believe that the Long Beach show [late February, 2001] was the turning point. There's an attitude of cautious optimism and we seem to have reached a psychological bottom."

Are prices going up? "Prices haven't shown a significant rise yet, but coins are selling well at current levels. Even the five-figure coins are beginning to sell. A few weeks ago I had 14 pieces of Proof gold in stock. Now I have two pieces. That's a significant turnaround," Dannreuther concluded.

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).