Weekly Market Report: Long Beach Show is '85% of Normal' as Auctions and Bourse Activity 'Hum'

By Bruce Amspacher - October 8, 2001

Commemoratives, like this Oregon Trail, are back in a big way

The final Long Beach Coin & Collectibles Exposition of 2001 is history. Highly active auctions and a crowded bourse floor put to rest any speculation that coin market might be in temporary limbo due to the tragic events of September 11. “As one dealer put it, there wasn’t a buzz, but at least there was a hum,” said John Dannreuther of JDRC, Inc., in Memphis, Tennessee.

What was humming? “Cheap coins and collector coins,” Dannreuther said. “Coins under $2,000 were especially strong, with commemoratives showing that they are definitely back in a big way.”

Long Beach attendance about 85% of “normal.”

The auction rooms and bourse floor weren’t jammed to capacity at Long Beach, but estimates placed the attendance at about 85% of normal. “Things were far better than we anticipated,” said Bob Korver of Heritage Numismatic Auctions in Dallas, Texas. “Some of the bidders in our October Signature Sale were holding three or four paddles as they bid for others who couldn’t make it, but the Internet bidding was as active as ever. We sold a lot of $10,000+ coins.”

Here are some of the highlights from this sale:

1844 Liberty Seated Dime	PCGS MS65	$31,050
1847 Liberty Seated Dime	PCGS PR66	$25,300
1853 Arrows Liberty Seated Dime	PCGS MS68	$14,950
1876-CC Twenty Cent Piece	PCGS MS66	$138,000
1918/7-S Standing Liberty Quarter	PCGS MS64	$24,150
1870-CC Half Dollar	PCGS AU50	$16,675
1921-S Half Dollar	PCGS MS63	$16,100
1854-D $3 Gold	PCGS AU55	$20,125

Some of the other coins in the Heritage sale did not fare as well. The unique 1873-CC No Arrows dime did not meet the reserve price, and some of the other Liberty Seated dimes sold for shockingly low prices despite being of extremely high quality and rarity. Some “less than highlights” include:

1841-O Liberty Seated Dime	PCGS MS65	$3,680!!
1843 Liberty Seated Dime	PCGS MS65	$2,990
1849 Liberty Seated Dime	PCGS MS65	$3,105
1854 Arrows Liberty Seated Dime	PCGS MS65	$1,840
1858 Liberty Seated Dime	PCGS MS65	$1,610

1922 “Plain” cent stars in Superior sale.

The “Pre-Long Beach Sale” from Superior Galleries of Beverly Hills, California, set the pace for the show and auctions that followed. “There were many more mail bids and much more Internet activity than usual,” said Steve Deeds, senior numismatist of the Superior staff. “We had a strong book and coins valued at $5,000 and less sold extremely well.”

Some highlights from this sale include:

1787 Massachusetts Half Cent PCGS	MS66BN	$13,225
1912 Lincoln Cent	PCGS MS66RD	$1,955
1922 “Plain” Lincoln Cent	PCGS MS65RB	$83,375
1792 Half Disme	PCGS Fine-12	$20,700
1916 Standing Liberty Quarter	PCGS EF45	$4,830
1839 No Drapery Half Dollar	PCGS MS63	$24,150

Kingswood “Franklin” Sale closes October 18.

Kingswood Coin Auctions “Franklin Sale” is only a week away! This 625-lot sale is represented by everything from Colonial coinage through modern issues. One of the many highlights is an 1861-S $20 Liberty gold coin with the Paquet reverse. The Paquet-designed reverse was only used for one year, with the Philadelphia pieces being extremely rare and the San Francisco examples quite scarce.

“We were swamped at Long Beach with people looking at lots for this sale,” said Cassi East, auction manager for Collectors Universe. ‘We are undoubtedly going to break another record with the participation in this sale”

To view the lots for this upcoming auction, click here.

“Tree Many Feathers” sale is online now!

The “Tree Many Feathers” sale by Bowers & Merena Galleries was originally scheduled for New York City in mid-September. Due to the tragic terrorist activity of September 11 the auction was moved to November 28 in Baltimore, Maryland.

If spectacular coins are among your favorite things, this sale may very well be your first choice for the year. To view this outstanding 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).