Weekly Market Report: Market Strength Continues as Central States Show and Major Auctions are on April Agenda

By Bruce Amspacher - April 9, 2002

The famous Farouk/Norweb 1884 Trade dollar

It was 199 years ago that Jean Baptiste Say published his famous work on political economics that stated, among other things, that "supply creates demand." Thomas Jefferson wrote that Say was a great thinker of his time. How would Say have reacted to the economics of numismatics in 2002? With confusion, most likely.

"As good as the market is, it would be much better if there were an abundant supply of coins," says John Dannreuther of JDRC, Inc., in Cordova, Tennessee. "If I could find the coins I could make a lot of money, but where are they?"

Well, John, isn't this always true in the rare coin market? "Let me explain it another way. Proof 64 Shield nickels are showing a minus sign this week at $255. I'll be happy to buy a hundred pieces at $260 each and I assure you that the market would swallow them all within weeks. So where is the minus coming from? It's not good for people to perceive inactivity as weakness when the inactivity is caused by a supply problem, not a demand problem."

What's happening in the rest of the market?

Is everything A-OK in the balance of the market? "The market is doing just fine. The high demand areas of deep cameo Proof coins and modern issues continue to dominate, of course. There are no type coins available at around the bid levels, and nice copper is carrying a premium of up to 30%."

Gold? "The gold market is the most unusual of all the areas of numismatics right now," Dannreuther continued. 'There's not a single coin in the 12-piece gold type set that could be considered 'hot' at this time, but things remain steady as we wait to see if the next level for bullion is $320 or $280."

Across the street from numismatic history.

The Old Mint Coin & Bullion store is directly across the street from the historic Carson City Mint. The coin shop has had different proprietors but the same location for over 40 years. I checked in with Aaron Ware to find out about numismatics in Nevada's capital city.

"The tourist trade comes here to buy 'CC' coins, just as you would expect," Ware explained. "But this is also a Mecca for coin collectors looking for specific items. They want to have something that was bought right here in Carson City."

There are hundreds and hundreds of PCGS coins in the showcases of the shop, and they're mostly relatively modern issues. Why? "In the last year and a half the majority of activity in the market has been in modern coins. These are sold primarily through our web site or on eBay. You have to be on the web in order to keep up in the market. I have to confess that I didn't even know about the PCGS Set Registry 18 months ago, but now it's obviously an integral part of today's business."

The numismatic collection of the Carson City Mint has been vastly improved in recent years and the Mint is also the site of a popular annual coin show.

Morris Silverman collection to highlight Heritage CSNS auction.

It once belonged to the infamous King Farouk of Egypt, then to the Norweb family collection. Now the ultra-rare 1884 Trade dollar with the rich pedigree is being offered once more, this time in the Morris Silverman collection. The coin, graded Proof 63 by the Professional Coin Grading Service, will go an the auction block on Thursday, April 25, at the Central States Numismatic Society convention in Columbus, Ohio.

Heritage Numismatic Auctions has created a special catalog for the Silverman collection, which features silver dollars of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Other highlights include two PCGS MS64 Continental dollars (one of the CURENCY variety, one of the CURRENCY variety), an 1872-S Liberty Seated dollar in PCGS MS64, an 1892-S Morgan dollar in PCGS MS66, an 1893-CC Morgan in PCGS Proof 64, an 1896-O Morgan in PCGS MS65 and much more.

Other sections of the sale will include several PCGS Set Registry sets, such as the Walking Liberty half dollars of Dr. Richard Stevenson, the Franklin half dollar set of Steve Pascal and the Eisenhower dollar set of Thomas Pike.

EXPRESS II is ready for you.

The second Bowers & Merena EXPRESS auction is now online. The 286-lot sale features certified coins of all denominations and series from Colonial times to Pattern issues. "This sale is twice as big as our first one," says Cassi East, Director of Auctions for Collectors Universe. "Prospective consignors are welcome to contact me for further information."

To view the sale and/or to bid online, click here. The auction closes April 15.

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).