Weekly Market Report: White-hot Rare Coin Market Still Offers Many Opportunities

By Bruce Amspacher - September 3, 2002

Prices for Proof Three Cent nickels have not risen as much as some other series.

The raging-hot coin market of 2002 is definitely the best that it has been in well over a decade. Each week there are record prices to report and every month features another highly-successful coin show or numismatic auction. Does this unprecedented action mean that the bargains are gone from the market? Are there any places left to get in on the ground floor?

I checked in with Kathleen Duncan of Pinnacle Rarities in Lakewood, Washington. I wasn't looking for the woman's point of view nearly as much as I was looking for a veteran numismatist's perspective. Ms. Duncan, of course, fills the bill in both departments.

"There has been so much reporting on how great the market is that many people think that anything they purchased in the past ten years can now be cashed in for a big profit," Duncan observed. "What they don't realize is that a lot of coins are the same price that they've been for several years, and in a few cases they're even cheaper now than in the recent past."

Selling well, but prices are stable.

There are numerous dealers reporting that coins are hot in a broad spectrum of areas. Are they incorrect? "Nice coins are easy to sell. From that standpoint the market is showing widespread strength," Duncan answered. "My point is that the coins are not going up across the board. The PCGS Set Registry coins are way up. The finest-graded coins are in great demand. The cameo and deep cameo Proof coins are up, as are many other areas of the market. But it's time to investigate what has not gone up, and the answers show that the market is still filled with opportunities."

Well, Kathleen, the readers of this column can't wait to hear what they are. "Commemoratives. I'm not talking about the coins with monster toning. Obviously, those coins are way up. Just the regular MS65, MS66 and MS67 commems. Look at Barber dimes in MS66. Too cheap! The Proof nickels, meaning Liberty nickels and Three Cent nickels. Too cheap! Peace dollars in MS65, MS66 and even MS67. For some reason those coins are not in demand right now. How about the Proof type coins that are toned? Almost everyone is targeting the white Proofs, and some really pretty Proof coins with toning can be purchased relatively cheap."

Anything else? "There are lots of good deals in the market right now," Duncan concluded. "I just hope that people realize it."

Long Beach show is coming in September.

The Long Beach Coin & Collectibles Exposition is on the docket once more! The final edition of the year for this tri-annual event will take place September 26-29 in (where else?) Long Beach, California. There is also a dealer set-up day on the 25th.

The Long Beach show is one of the major market bellwethers of each year and will be the focus of dealers and collectors from across the country during a week of bourse activity and auctions.

"Rarities Sale" is now online.

There are numerous auctions from Bowers & Merena Galleries that carry the title of the "Rarities Sale." The next one is quite special in both content and location.

This 650-lot auction is now online and can be viewed by clicking here. You'll find everything from Massachusetts silver to Mint errors in the sale, and it's chock full of numismatic goodies.

"The auction will remain online through September 20," said an auction representative from Bowers & Merena. "Then there will be a floor session held in Beverly Hills, California, on September 22. The time and location are quite convenient for collectors and dealers who will be attending the Long Beach Coin & Collectibles Exposition."

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).