Monday, October 25, 2010

Understanding High End, Low Pop Pricing.



"If you look at the charts you'll see some BIG gains for Liberty Seated Dimes. Heritage had an auction of a fantastic set, some finest known examples, some highest graded, none better, only one graded that grade [type] coins and the prices were very juicy.

This is one thing about our price guide that you should understand; I looked at some of these prices and a coin was like $15,000 and I look back in the historical and its $15,000 for five years, well... you know obviously that coin was worth more than $15,000 in 2008 but worth more than it was in 2005, but sometimes the coin doesn't sell, it's the only one, then it comes to auction and brings $48,000.

So we go over those real high pops and we sometimes raise them or lower them where it makes sense. But it really takes the appearance at an auction or in a dealers price guide or we see something at a show trade hands or find out about a private sale before we can really do something with those unique coins."



Transcript of PCGS Founder Mr. Hall's "Coin Market Analysis".

When Will Gold Slow and Coins Surge?

Precious Metals Surge

Rare Coin InvestorWith Gold Nearing the $1,400 level investors see no end in sight. Analysts and experts suggest $2,400 gold. Where does it end? Either direction gold and silver rare coins keep investors optimistic. Much of the rare coin market remains in the shadow of bullion advances. Because of this collectors and investors are enjoying the affordable buys that will not likely last the winter. Bids on Morgan dollars and smaller denominational gold are beginning to edge forward. Investors that decide to buck the trend and purchase rare gold rather than bullion will be the happier buyer when the emotions of gold bullion wane. Couple this with an uncertain political environment over the next few years and we see an even more profitable market in U.S. Rare Coins.

Silver is The New Gold

Morgan Dollars are the MOST UNDERVALUED area of the entire market. Since the beginning of 2007 gold has shot up from $635 to over $1,320 (116%). Common date Saint Gaudens have responded with a 75% gain of their ownâ€"from just under $1,650 to above $2,900 right now. Silver has also seen a surge over this time period, from under $11 to nearly $23 currently (115%). Morgan Dollars, on the other hand, have actually dipped 6% over the past 3 years. This cannot continue.


Prior to this most recent run, gold had an all time high of just over $800/oz, set back in January of 1980. Around that same time silver was trading comfortably above $30/oz. Not surprisingly, gold rare coins saw gains alongside bullion moving, peaking in 1980. However, Morgan Dollars had only begun their own bull run at that timeâ€"over the next 6 years they were up nearly 1,000%!

Over the past 3 years gold, Saints, and silver have all realized big gains. The next major run, if history holds true to form, will be in Morgan Dollars, and it will be memorable for those involved.


The Colorado Silver Boom

Rare Coin InvestorThe Colorado Silver Boom started in 1879 following the discovery of silver in the town of Leadville near the headwaters of the Arkansas River by Horace Austin Warner Tabor and August Meyer in 1877. In total, more than $82 million of silver was mined, mostly as a consequence of The Bland-Allison Act of 1878 which authorized the U.S. Government to purchase at least $2 million in silver annually.

The first discoveries of silver in Colorado occurred in the early 1860's, but because of the low price of silver and the larger demand for gold in the area few mines were profitable enough to operate. The Bland-Allison Act of 1878 changed the landscape entirely. Politicians, facing pressure from farmers in the Midwest and miners in the West, authorized the U.S. Government to buy silver as a way to raise inflation. As a result many of the previously unopened or unused mines started operating. The discovery of a large silver lode in nearby Leadville swelled the population of the area significantly with many miners in the same valleys that had produced the earlier gold rush. The silver boom brought along with it improved railroad lines, including lines from Denver to Leadville and Denver to Aspen, the latter of which saved the town from dying out.

The Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 more than doubled the amount of silver the government purchased and extended the silver boom in Colorado to even further heights; at one point there were serious discussions about moving the state capital from Denver to Leadville. However, when President Grover Cleveland called for the repeal of the Act in 1893, the silver market collapsed; by the end of the year many of the old mining camps were completely empty.

The increase in population and wealth that occurred during the silver boom in Colorado remained in the state, moving into other pursuits such as agriculture. In a very real sense the silver boom of the late 19th century helped build the state of Colorado into what it has becom