Weekly Market Report: It's That F.U.N. Time of the Year as Rare Coins, Gold Bullion Flex Their Muscles

By Bruce Amspacher - January 7, 2003

1910-S Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle

News about the world of coins continues to be strong on every front. (Wait, that sounds like a weather report.) The rare coin market has mounted a three-pronged attack, utilizing consumer confidence as a springboard to unprecedented participation in gold, modern and classics alike. (No, that sounds like it belongs on the sports page. How about this, instead?) Ladies and gentlemen, the coin market is wondrous! (Yes, that third attempt seems to say it just right!)

The first report on 2003 is going to sound similar to all the reports from 2002, and that is precisely what we want. Good news is everywhere, from highly active bourse rooms to auction records to ringing telephones. Gold has passed the $335 price barrier and remained ten dollars or so above it for more than two weeks, with projections from analysts that $400 an ounce is quite possible in the not-too-distant future. Tax cuts were announced today and the entire numismatic world (or so it seems) is in Orlando, Florida, to begin the annual Florida United Numismatists (F.U.N.) show.

"The anticipation is tremendous."

"Tomorrow is the set-up day for the F.U.N. show but people are already doing business in the hotel lobbies, rooms and wherever else that can be found that's secure," said John Dannreuther, a veteran dealer from Cordova, Tennessee. "The anticipation is tremendous!"

Is there any reason to expect anything different from the recent past? "The fact that gold has gone up so such has sparked the market even more. Coins were already cooking, but now prices are moving, too, mostly upwards."

Mostly? "As a matter of fact," Dannreuther continued, "the $2½ Indians in MS63 overheated in the past two weeks and they're actually cheaper now than they were ten days ago. Almost everything else is higher."

John, can you sum it all up in ten words? "Everything's firm at the levels. Everyone wants to buy coins," Dannreuther concluded.

Kingswood "Lincoln Sale" is now online.

January 16th is the date for the "Lincoln Sale" from Kingswood Coin Auctions. This 966-lot sale is bursting with high-quality certified coins and currency. Here are a few of the highlights of this latest entry in the "alphabet" series of fine sales.

1856 Flying Eagle cent	PCGS PR63
1909 V.D.B. Lincoln cent	PCGS PR66RB
1909-S V.D.B Lincoln cent	PCGS MS66RD
1865 Three Cent nickel	PCGS PR66 Cameo
1864 Liberty Seated half dime	PCGS MS66
1831 Bust half dollar	PCGS MS65
1929-D Walking Liberty half dollar	PCGS MS66
1893-S Morgan dollar	PCGS EF-45
1922 Peace Dollar	NGC Satin Finish PR65
1860 $5 Liberty	NGC MS65 (Bass Collection)
1906 $20 Liberty	NGC PR65
1910-S $20 St. Gaudens	PCGS MS65
Alabama 2X2 half dollar	PCGS MS66
1905 Lewis & Clark gold dollar	PCGS MS65

To view the lots and/or to bid online at the "Lincoln Sale," click here.

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).