Please join me in a salute to the brave men and women of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard and National Guard who, now and in the past, have risked life and limb for the protection of the United States of America.
Today, gold nestled solidly in the range of $1110-1120 per oz. as the ever weakening dollar continued its dismal performance. This is no surprise after the passage of by the House of Representatives of the Health Insurance Reform Bill, which, should it pass the Senate in its current form, will add to the 13 trillion dollar Federal debt and likely send gold even higher.
Business at the recent coin show at the San Francisco Old Mint was
brisk, but perhaps even more telling was the large number of
individuals who were self-proclaimed “first-timers,” spurred by recent
headlines and the rising price of gold to investigate the coin market. Despite being a small show of only about 30 dealers, show organizers reported that nearly 1000 people attended.
Built
in the early 1870’s the Old Mint is an interesting venue for a coin
show. Meandering through the underground vaults, one could not help
but marvel at the exceptionally solid structure of the building, which
handily survived the massive 1906 earthquake which leveled much of San
Francisco. I took a few photos I hope you will enjoy.
There clearly is strong demand in various parts of the coin market, but also price weakness in patterns, bank notes, and 19th century type coins. Demand and interest remains strong in gold and gold coin areas, and is solidly sideways in most other areas. At these high price levels, sellers can get excellent prices for their coins compared to even three or four years ago, and yet, prices remain attractive for buyers who are looking for that “special” coin or coins.
Now is particularly attractive to bank note collectors where demand has slacked and prices have fallen off their highs. If this is your area, particularly if you like national bank notes, you can obtain terrific value. Despite this, dealers are not discounting strongly as they all expect a rebound in prices in the not too distant future.
The same is true for pattern coins, where the last few months have seen an increase in dealer inventories. This, combined with disappointing prices realized at an auction over the summer has some dealers trying to “low-ball” other dealers. While a few sales have taken place at lower levels, most I have seen involved low end, relatively common and/or unattractive patterns.
I think it short-sighted
to peg an entire market based on results of a single not very well
attended auction, and it appears most dealers agree, dropping prices a
bit, but not strongly, and perfectly content to wait out this “dip” for what they expect will be a strong rebound next year. Good deals do exist for the discriminating buyer of patterns however, and if you like this area, I suggest you keep your eyes open and keep your “powder” (money) dry and ready.
As we move into the end of the year, we at CNP, Inc. are actively buying in all market areas, often paying among the highest prices in the industry. In addition to coins, banknotes and precious metals, we will also buy your scrap and junk metals at much better prices than you might get from mail in offers or those giant full page ads you might see in your local paper. Those ads are expensive and the prices paid for coins at those events tend to be the lowest in the industry. Please bear in mind that if the marketing price appears too high (big full page ads, television, radio etc.) the entity will have to pay for that out of the prices they charge or pay, meaning less money in your pocket.
Also, and most important, whether you are a buyer or seller, your actions should ALWAYS depend on your specific needs. Some people should be trading gold for numismatic coins, and others would be better off trading numismatic coins for gold. Some should be selling everything and getting out of the market, and others should be buying all they can, or getting into the market for the first time.
Where do you stand?
I advise you take a good look at your position regarding coins and precious metals, as everything seems to point to continued strong activity throughout the entire market. If you have questions, please feel free to contact me. One of my intentions with this blog is to use it as a forum for answering your questions. If you have a question, it is almost certain others reading this blog also have the same question.
So, please call or email me your questions, and I will do my best to answer all of them.