Weekly Market Report: Silver Dollars, Commems, Dated Gold are Among Market Leaders as Coins Continue to Shine

The rare coin market continues on its somewhat frenetic pace, with modern coins and American classics alike showing tremendous strength. If the usual summer doldrums are going to show, there is certainly no evidence of it at this time. "The good stuff sells immediately," says William E. Spears, a veteran dealer from Carson City, Nevada.

"I had a good Long Beach show just like everyone else," Spears said. "What was really different was that the show was better on Friday and Saturday than at the beginning. Most shows are just the opposite. The momentum carried over to the Santa Clara show [June 14-17, 2001]. The room was absolutely packed with collectors."

What's selling the best? "Silver dollars are the number one sellers by a wide margin," Spears continued. "To be fair, I specialize in this area, so other dealers may have a different opinion. What's important is that there's a big collector base and it's very strong. All the regulars, meaning the established clients, are still there, and there are new faces showing up each week."

The US commemorative series became so cheap in recent years that it left market analysts scratching their heads. While gold commemoratives rebounded strongly, many silver issues were trading at 80% less (!) than their 1989 highs. There were exceptions, of course, when an MS66 or MS67 example with wild toning would bring ten or twelve times bid [so-called "wholesale"] at auction, but for the most part prices were shockingly low.

"The commemorative market has definitely awakened," says John Dannreuther of JDRC, Inc., in Memphis, Tennessee. "Dealers and collectors alike have realized that this series was vastly undervalued, and there's still a lot of potential for future growth."

Where else is the action in the market? "The action is everywhere, but that doesn't mean that every coin in every grade is hot. There is a lot of demand for Walking Liberty half dollars in MS66 and MS67, but almost no one will even ask the prices on MS63 and MS64 pieces unless they are early dates. Collectors are extremely condition conscious on 20th century items.

"Other excellent areas are nice silver dollars and dated $20 gold pieces. There is an expansion of the market in expensive coins. The Pittman/Bass/Eliasberg coins are basically dispersed, and what was a market overhang in rarities is now a market void, or getting close to it. As far as generic gold goes, the $2½ Indians are still selling at current levels, but dealers aren't stretching for them the way they were a month ago. The other small gold remains warm to hot, with lots of demand and not enough supply."

June 28th and 29th are the dates of "The Lake Geneva Sale," an important 1,154-lot auction by Bowers & Merena Galleries that is being held in conjunction with the MidAmerica Coin Expo in Chicago, Illinois. Some of the highlights include:

Sacagawea $1 s/o Maryland 25c PCGS MS65

To peruse the lots or to bid online, 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).

1858 Large Letters Flying Eagle Cent highlight Bowers sale

1858 Large Letters Flying Eagle Cent highlight Bowers sale