Weekly Market Report: ''Strength of Market is Fantastic'' as 2003 ANA Convention is Incredible Success

By Bruce Amspacher - August 5, 2003

This 1795 $10 Gold Small Eagle (PCGS MS65) sold for $506,000 at the official ANA auction conducted by Bowers and Merena Galleries.

It's like talking to someone who has just run his or her first marathon. There's excitement, near exhaustion, shortness of breath and a great deal to tell. Everyone who has made it back from the MSNA/ANA marathons in greater Baltimore has basically the same words in summation: it was incredible!

Along with the back-to-back major shows there were two highly significant auctions, the sale of an 1804 silver dollar (PCGS PR58), the $3,000,000 sale of the finest known 1913 Liberty nickel (PCGS PR66), the rediscovery and authentication of the "missing" fifth 1913 Liberty nickel and much, much more.

"The underlying strength of the market is fantastic," says Robert J. Riethe of Mainline Coin & Stamp in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. "There is so much good happening that even if the economy stays stagnant it will have virtually no negative effect on rare coins.

"I did 150% more than I expected to at the ANA. I had sold so many coins in the weeks leading up to the show that I thought that my sales would be minimal. Instead, there seemed to be someone for every coin that I had left plus two more collectors for every one of my new purchases. The strength of the market is incredible."

Hot areas included... everything!

What was selling the best at the ANA? "I can't think of an area of the market that wasn't selling," Riethe continued. "For me the best areas were MS63/64/65 gold. Type coins were also doing extremely well along with modern. I don't do much with modern coins myself, but I heard some amazing stories."

What looks the best for the future? "Silver commemoratives have been basically overlooked for a long time. There's suddenly a lot of interest in this series and I look for a strong upward spike in the coming year."

1804 silver dollar brings $1,207,500.

A Class III 1804 silver dollar in PCGS PR58, the first one ever offered for sale at an ANA auction, sold for $1,207,500 last week to highlight the sale by Bowers & Merena Galleries.

"It was an amazing week," said B&M president Paul Montgomery. "The Walton specimen of the 1913 Liberty nickel showed up and we sold an 1804 silver dollar along with many other numismatic treasures."

Here are a few other prominent prices from the 2003 ANA auction:

Connecticut Half Dollar (PCGS MS66) - $7,590
1799 Bust Silver Dollar (PCGS MS66) - $258,750
1866 Motto Seated Dollar (PCGS PR66DCAM) - $41,400
1795 $10 Gold Small Eagle (PCGS MS65) - $506,000
1798/7 $10 Gold 7X6 Stars (PCGS MS62) - $276,000
1907 Wire Edge $10 Indian (PCGS MS66) - $60,375
MCMVII High Relief (PCGS MS65) - $33,350

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).