General Price Changes in the Market

Carsonite,

Incredibly well stated and perfectly supported by the examples from the recent FUN auction.

The toughest part for us novice and intermediate collectors is knowing whether a coin is low, average, or premium in relation to the rest of that particular coin's population grade.

There are only two ways to get past this problem. One - Engage an arms-length expert who has handled the coins in question for decades and knows by personal experience which is average and which is premium.

or Two...Build the knowledge for oneself.

As John pointed out recently, many of us cannot wait the number of years it would take to accumulate this kind of knowledge foundation in order to begin acquiring coins. Therefore, I think the best answer is a combination of the two, which is exactly the method I have used to build my Carson City coin collection.

I am proud to say that Rusty Goe has personally handled and advised the purchase of every coin in my entire Carson City coin collection. Yes, we turn down one hell of a lot of coins before ever making an offer to buy. But, I believe such patient, expert oversight is a "pedigree" in itself and is well worth the added time required. In the long run, this particular pedigree will continue to build in signficance and prestige. In turn, collections so associated will undoubtedly benefit from added value and investor demand.

Belay Off

Prices from the Heritage Long Beach auction last weekend indicate the upper end of the GSA market is fairly solid.

Items of interest (all reported prices include the 15% fee):

1. Lot 4167: 1878-CC MS64 DPL - $11,500
Comments: this coin commanded quite a bit of bidding interest. 1878-CC GSAs are notoriously difficult to find in a high grade in DPL condition and generally are not that attractive. This is the highest graded GSA 1878-CC that NGC has graded in DPL condition.

2. Lot 4171: 1880-CC MS66 - $4,025
3. Lot 4172: 1880-CC MS66 VAM6- $5,750
Comments: the highest graded 80-CC VAM6 in a GSA holder.

4. Lot 4174: 1881-CC MS67 - $13,800
Comments: a very attractive, high grade 81CC.

5. Lot 9712: 1881-CC MS65DPL - $4,887.50
Comments: There was a question as to whether the GSA holder would still command a premium. I would say that the answer is still yes.

Mitchell

Hi Belay

Unfortunately, this is surely not a seller's market...it is the right time to buy however and at least now you're on the right track and getting the right stuff. We all live and learn!

the drummer

Hi Mitchell

It's nice to see that some areas of the coin market are doing well....more than holding their own.
No matter what the economy, there always seems to be a sector of collectors buying up the good stuff.

the drummer

All,

I have just reread, for the fourth time, Carsonites posting about the subjectivity of grading. It's a very instructive posting, particularly for us beginning and intermediate level collectors.

When I am in Reno visiting Southgate Coins, Rusty always takes the time to show me examples of "same grade quality differences". For me, handling coins in this manner is far and away the best way to learn about grading in general, and to appreciate the wide range of quality differences within any one grade.

Carsonite's posting is especially relevant for this Carson City coin collector because I was the Southgate Coins client who bought the 1875-CC AU-53 Eagle used as an example in his post. The process of acquiring the coin went like this;

All three of the 1875-CC Eagles up for sale in this auction were carefully examined in person by Rusty. Because I was not able to attend this viewing, Rusty prepared a very detailed report on each coin. We then set up a conference call wherein Rusty took me through the examination of each of the three coins. In this manner, it was easy to reach the conclusion that only one of the three was a superior coin, and it was not the higher graded AU-55 piece, which we determined was below average for its grade, at best.

We then discussed pricing knowing that the coin we had selected to bid on, was more than worthy of a premium price over the current price range for an 1875-CC AU-53 Eagle. We realized that there could very well be other dealers bidding on behalf of serious collectors who, like me, intended to own the coin long term. Accordingly, we were prepared to pay a 30% to 35% premium for this particular coin.


In the end, I got lucky on this purchase and made a great buy well below the price I was prepared to pay. Regardless, the decision to buy this specific coin for my Rian's Bequeath Carson City Coin Collection had been first and foremost due to its quality,
not price.

One last point. I think it would be extremely valuable for the beginning and intermediate level Carson City coin collectors in the C4OA, such as myself, if Carsonite would simply publish this same discussion board "teaching post" as an article in Curry's Chronicle.

Thanks again Carsonite, for the excellent lesson and for helping me secure this very special 1875-CC Eagle.

Belay Off

Hi Belay

You have just worded in a brilliant manner, a most important "lesson" that take many collectors and numismatists decades to learn....indeed some never do learn this most valuable lesson.
Those lucky few who do gain the knowledge you speak of here build outstanding collections rather than just ordinary ones.

the drummer