Weekly Market Report: Gold Coins Heat Up as ''Extremely Healthy'' Market Continues to Expand and Diversify

By Bruce Amspacher - May 14, 2002

1907 High Relief St. Gaudens Double Eagle

Gold! The precious metal is back in favor in all forms, including bullion and numismatic rarities. The spot price is above $300 an ounce and has maintained that level for several weeks. Meanwhile, numismatic gold is selling well in all areas, whether it's rare dates in circulated grades or high-quality Mint State type.

"The new book on the S.S. Central America coins is flying out the door," says Gordon Wrubel of Bowers and Merena Galleries in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. "There's a tremendous renewal of interest in the coins and gold bars from this famed maritime disaster." The book Mr. Wrubel is referring to is A California Gold Rush History, a brand-new 1,056-page tome written by renowned numismatic author Q. David Bowers.

"There's also a companion video to the book entitled Gold Rush Money that is narrated by Charlton Heston," Wrubel added.

Rare coins are selling well in almost all series.

"The rare coin market is extremely healthy," Wrubel continued. "The phones are ringing and the eShop is highly active. We are selling lots of gold, and that includes everything from a Gem High Relief [a 1907 $20 gold coin designed by Augustus St. Gaudens] to circulated gold dollars. Rare date circulated gold is in demand and so is high quality Mint State type, especially MS66 Saints."

What about silver, nickel and copper coins? "The modern issues are doing extremely well. There's a lots of interest in our SRQ [Set Registry Quality] program. Lincoln cents, Roosevelt dimes, War nickels [Jefferson nickels with 35% silver content struck during WWII] and Washington quarters are especially hot. You can add Franklin half dollars to that, too, in both MS64FBL and the non-full bell lines pieces in MS65."

Silver dollars? "There are two segments of the Morgan dollar series that are doing remarkably well. One is key dates in circulated grades. Anything up to AU58 is impossible to keep in stock. Another area is the common dates in MS64 through MS66."

Kingswood "Holderness" sale glitters.

The "Holderness" sale from Kingswood Coin Auctions was completed on May 9 with impressive results. The auction featured 812 lots of PCGS-certified coins and 107 lots of United States currency. Here are some of the highlights:

1858 Small Letters Flying Eagle Cent	PCGS MS65	$5,137
1943-D/D Lincoln Cent	PCGS MS66	$3,450
1916/16 Doubled Die Buffalo Nickel	PCGS Fine-15	$6,325
1892 Barber Quarter	PCGS PR67DCAM	$7,476
1872-S Half Dollar	PCGS MS64	$4,025
1859-O Seated Dollar	PCGS MS64	$6,613
1881 Morgan Dollar	PCGS MS65DMPL	$4,893
1914 $2½ Indian Gold	PCGS MS64	$5,175
1862 $3 Gold	PCGS MS66	$33,350
1907 Wire Edge $10 Indian	PCGS MS64	$27,600
1876 $20 Liberty	PCGS MS64	$20,700
1925-D $20 St. Gaudens	PCGS MS64	$14,950
1935-S Small 34 Boone Half Dollar	PCGS MS67	$7,021
Grant Star Half Dollar	PCGS MS66	$10,350
1854 Kellogg $20 Gold	PCGS AU58	$7,711

"The consignors expressed absolute delight with the results of this sale," said Cassi East, Director of Auctions for Collectors Universe. "Even in this extremely strong market many of the prices were unprecedented."

The next Kingswood auction, the Intervale sale, is scheduled for June 20th and lots will be available for viewing at the Long Beach Coin & Collectibles Exposition from June 5-8.

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).