Weekly Market Report: Double Eagles Soar in 'Dallas Bank' Sale; Generic Gold and 20th Century Coins Strong

The big news this week is the sale of the "Dallas Bank" collection, an auction of more than 600 gold coins assembled by Texas collector H. Jeff Browning before his death in 1979. The sale, conducted jointly by Sotheby's and Stack's, took place in New York City October 29-30. Here are some of the highlights:

As the coins were uncertified in the sale there is no more information available on the grade of the coins at this time. All prices include the 15% buyer's premium.

What is happening in the world of generic gold? This highly active market generates a lot of interest in uncertain times, and prices soared after the September 11 tragedies. We checked in with Brad Rodgers of the Numismatic Emporium in Woodland Hills, California.

"Premiums have rebounded to what I consider to be their median worth," Rodgers said. "The panic buying of the first few days after the disaster has cooled to a reasonable level, but there's still a lot going on."

What coins are doing the best? "The high end $20 St. Gaudens. MS65 coins went up $250 per coin and have maintained those levels. MS66 coins are up $450 and holding steady. The MS64 coins jumped from $395 to $500, but they've backed off to around $440."

And the other generic issues? "The MS65 $20 Liberty never moved in price, but the MS64 pieces are up. The other coins are about the same. The future looks strong on these coins because there's no overhang on the market. The supplies are low and everything seems to be a good value."

Is that Brad the optimist or Brad the market analyst talking? "I might be the wrong person to ask. I admit that I think that everything is a good deal. You can buy commercial unc $20 Saints and Libs for $300 to $325 a coin. That equates to about $100 per coin in 1980 money. Of course, that's a difficult concept to get across to a lot of people, but I think it's important." Note: The term "commercial unc" refers to uncertified gold coins in AU55 through MS61 that all trade at the same price.

Action in 20th century coins of high quality and low price continues to sizzle. "We are selling huge quantities of Lincoln cents, Buffalo nickels, Mercury dimes and Walking Liberty half dollars in MS65 or better. The semi-key and key coins are also doing well in MS64. As long as the price is under a $1,000 a coin there's tremendous interest," says Dale Williams of collectorUSA in Bozeman, Montana.

How huge is huge? "Three inches of invoices in the last week," Williams said. "In addition to the coins mentioned earlier, anything unusual that collectors seek is selling quickly."

Such as? "I just sold a 1901-S Barber quarter in Good-4. The coin was $400 or so over so-called retail, but another dealer told me that I still sold it way too cheap. There's tremendous interest in affordable coins and items for the PCGS Set Registry.

"Another great thing about this market is that the economic slowdown hasn't hurt it. Coins were hammered in the two previous recessions, but this time coins are not only doing well, they're doing great!"

Collector coins, such as this high quality 1936 Buffalo Nickel, are in demand