Weekly Market Report: Up, Up and Away! Coins End 2002 on an Extremely Strong Note; Interest in Gold Soars

By Bruce Amspacher - December 31, 2002

The famed Belzberg 1911 Canadian silver dollar.

Gold coins continue to be the hottest thing going as the year 2002 ends not with a whimper but with a bang. The glittering metal has seen the biggest one-year rise in 23 years as the rumblings of war and a jittery economy fueled the price near the $350-an-ounce mark in recent weeks.

"Everyone is looking for gold," says John Rothans of David Hall Rare Coins in Irvine, California. "Anything in MS63, 64 and 65 gold can be sold instantly if you can locate it. I've had a $10 Indian in MS65 on a want list for over a month without finding one. The demand is absolutely amazing!"

John, why are you looking for MS63 and MS64 gold? Don't you constantly preach the virtues of MS65 and better coins? "We also preach the virtues of customer service," Rothans answered, "and our customers are looking for PCGS-certified gold in any of those three grades. I've been able to locate a few MS65 $2½ Liberty gold pieces, but everything else is just not available. The $20 Liberty gold coins -- even the $20 St. Gaudens -- are suddenly great rarities."

What else is selling, John?

With gold so hot are the other areas of the market being ignored? "This is the second year in a row that there has been no December slowdown," Rothans explained. "The Velvet Tray -- an extensive mailing of ours offering every coin in inventory -- did extremely well as rare coins continue to sell as quickly as generic items, if not better.

"The PCGS Set Registry just passed the 5,000 mark in listed sets, so you know that date collecting in all areas of the market continues to be hot. The 20th century series -- Walkers, Buffaloes, Mercury dimes -- refuse to slow even though there have been some significant price increases in the past 18 months or so."

1911 Canadian Dollar in Belzberg Collection.

If you take out an old edition of the Guinness Book of World Records you might learn that the most valuable coin on the planet is the 1911 Canadian silver dollar. While this famed coin no longer holds that distinction, it is still a highly-prized numismatic treasure. One of the two pieces struck in silver -- with the other permanently impounded in Canada's National Collection -- will be sold at auction on January 13th in New York City.

Heritage Numismatic Auctions is offering the Sid & Alicia Belzberg Collection of Canadian coins in a one-day sale in conjunction with the New York International Numismatic Convention. The 1911 silver dollar, certified by the Professional Coin Grading Service as Specimen-65, is the major focal point of this landmark collection.

Bowers & Merena "Rarities Sale" is January 7th.

There are enough prominent coins in the "Rarities Sale" from Bowers & Merena Galleries to highlight a dozen auctions, but they'll all be available on one dazzling day (January 7th) in Orlando, Florida. Here are a few of the gold rarities that will fall under the hammer:

1853-O Gold Dollar - PCGS MS65

1854-D Gold Dollar - PCGS MS62

1856-D Gold Dollar - PCGS MS61

1885 Gold Dollar - PCGS PR67 Cameo

1910 $2½ Indian - PCGS PR66

1795 Heraldic Eagle $5 Gold - PCGS MS64

1861-D $5 Liberty - PCGS MS61

1798/7 $10 Gold, 7X6 Stars - PCGS MS61

1906-S $10 Liberty - PCGS MS67

1907 "Wire Edge" $10 Indian - PCGS MS65

1911-D $10 Indian - PCGS MS64

1914-S $10 Indian - PCGS MS65

1904 $20 Liberty - PCGS PR64 Cameo

MCMVII High Relief $20 (Flat Edge) - PCGS MS66

1926-D $20 St. Gaudens - PCGS MS65

To peruse the entire sale and/or to bid online through January 5th, 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).