Monday,
February 20th, 2006
What a week we had last week for Proof gold, it seems
as long as they are available to find and list, they
are out the door sooner then later. That’s the
problem though, finding “nice and rare”
Proof Gold. There just is not enough of it out there
to satisfy the demand which is good in more ways then
one. It is definitely driving up the prices and they
are getting the respect they very well deserve.
We had up for only 3 days two fantastic Proof Eagles
– 1897
$10 PR64DCAM PCGS (a coin with a tiny mintage
of only 69 and only 30-35 survivors of that number)
– 1899
$10 PF65 Ultra Cameo NGC (a coin with a tiny mintage
of only 86 coins and only 30-35 survivors of that
number) – Gold sales totaled over $120,000.
But don’t count out beautiful silver coinage,
we also sold an amazing 1923-S
Mercury Dime in MS66FB PCGS, a coin with colors
that were out of this world and along with that another
toned beauty was an 1887-S
Seated Dime MS66 NGC – Both of these coins
had swirls of vibrant colors that just blew your mind!
Like I stated last week when I spoke about toned coins
that will command premiums over the next year because
of the uniqueness and shortage of originally toned
masterpieces from too many coins being dipped out.
Looking at these coins they really do look like masterpiece
paintings, you can just hold them under a lamp and
stare at them for ever.
A service I really like in which PCGS.com provides
is their “market
price guide”. In this it shows each series
of coins broken down by grade with a true market value
which reflects more of a “reality” retail
price then any other guide I’ve seen. They also
use green numbers with arrows pointing up for dates
by the grade, red numbers with arrows pointing down
for grades that are dipping slightly and black numbers
showing no change. I think this is fun for the collector
and a reality check for everyone to show how big and
legitimate this industry really is. There is also
the “coin dealer newsletter” (grey sheets)
which shows dealers sight seen bid and ask prices,
sometimes customers get this confused thinking it’s
a price guide and that they can buy coins at these
prices which in turn becomes more frustrating for
them more so then the dealer.
I write a lot about Proof Gold and how scarce these
are to find, but don’t get me wrong there are
plenty of other gorgeous and rare types of coins that
I do enjoy just as much, take for instance Pristine
Gem Civil War era coinage like the Half at our webpage
from 1864, simply amazing to think a business
strike coin from that era was kept in such perfect
condition. That makes me think of things like, “who’s
collection could this have been in all these years?
“ “What drawers, safes, or banks could
this have been in throughout time?”
These are the questions because coins to me are like
mirrors or doorways into the past, each design describes
the atmosphere in our great country at the time, and
it shows us the skill our engravers had with tools
that have been taken over by computers now. It teaches
our children about our country also, when I sit on
the computer with my children and bring up our webpage
I show them the dates on the coins and explain what
was happening in our country at the time. “History,”
that is the word that intrigued me as a kid to start
learning about coins and it is a word people should
rediscover when they are caught up in the “money
and profits” letting those two words be their
drive to collect. There is nothing wrong with wanting
to make money from coins, I do and my business depends
on it, but all I’m saying is to think about
the stories and history of each coin because it makes
it more fun and when it’s more fun you start
buying the right coins and the profits will just come
with that because it’s what is right.
Keep a look out because we should be getting a lot
of new coins in over the next week.
Cheers,
Dean Albanese
dean@coinace.com
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