The Spring Long Beach Show 2008

THE SPRING LONG BEACH SHOW 2008

By Laura Sperber - Legend Numismatics

Really don't know how to describe the show. Unlike many other dealers we know, we ended up doing very well-for the first time in a year. However, we did absolutely NO retail business. Very few other dealers said the same (of our caliber). We did tremendous WHOLESALE business from start to finish.

Retail traffic was very light. We have no explanation as to why there is a huge decrease in the number of serious collector buyers who attend. Long gone are the days when someone you did not now came by and bought a coin that was not agreed to in advance. In fact this show traffic was so light, we were thrilled we didn't even see many "tired kickers"! Both Thursday and Friday so few people were in the isles you could have used them for bowling! Yes, we do think the economy (the high cost of traveling to show) has taken some people out of the show market and made them internet players only, but this show has had a noticeable steady decline in traffic. Or, the massive pre show auctions possibly hurt as well. Do not let it scare you, next week is the red hot Baltimore Show-which always draws a huge and serious crowd (much easier to get to).

The fact the red hot Baltimore Show is next week took some toll as many East Coast dealers either stayed home or left early. Dealer to dealer was strong-only if you had the right coins. Fortunately, we had the "right" coins. Restocking what we sold will be nearly impossible. There are still huge WANT LISTS out there, and the collectors won't just accept any old coin in the holder either. The crackout guys have now found they just can't pump and dump like they used to by feeding substandard coins in the economy. That stuff now languishes horribly. Of course it is finally affecting how some of the bigger guys do business, but how can you feel sorry when they made their living by doing mostly upgrades?

The coin docs are still hissy sore-and we can't believe some of them just don't get the message. One group of idiots thinks its their given right to buy coins, mess with them or just upgrade them, throw them in an auction, and then watch as the collectors fight over the coins making them too much money. What makes it even more of a howl is they really believe its just us attacking them,. They are too stupid to see its the grading services fighting back hard. The majority of retail dealers sincerely appreciate these guys finally being on their last legs. We predict as the summer rolls along, you'll hear less about "crackouts" and hopefully even less about coin doctors as they are forced to change their merry destructive ways of business.

CAC is still picking up steam. We understand many of the top telemarketing retailers are ONLY handling CAC coins now (these are the legit huge sellers of hundreds of millions worth of GEM material). Also, its quite evident as you browse many major dealers cases that CAC is welcome and is helping them sell more coins. We know for a fact, we have picked up several new customers recently who will buy ONLY CAC stickered coins. We fully agree and understand CAC may not be right for everyone-but it clearly is being proven to be a huge help for people who don't have full relationships with top dealers or don't know how to grade. Checkout the prices CAC coins are bringing in auctions-compared to a non fresh old holdered coin, the prices are far beyond what coins without them bring.

WHERE IS THE COIN MARKET HEADED?

Even though it seems a middle layer of buyers is slowing, we still know activity in the top tier market as very strong. You can not go out and find an MS67 Bust Half, a GEM 1795 $10, GEM MS non 75S 20C pieces, or even GEM WHITE PROPERLY GRADED Peace dollars. There is a huge list of what is NOT available. Most stuff you see floating around is lower end widgets like an overgraded 85CC $1 in MS65. We don't even see many high end outrageous 85CC's in cases anymore-they are in collectors hands. It does seem the majority of great coins go right into auction these days. That is probably the best place to see where prices are.

As collectors realize the supplies of coins are non existent, they are paying more when they find the "right" coin. The CDN should be shot for lame reporting of prices. They do not know or follow the auctions to see what low pop coins sell for. So you could have a really great coin with an incredibly low or no pop that sells for $15,000.00 while published quarterly bid (or whatever) is only $6,000.00. The pricing information in coins it seems is gathered mostly by non coin people-that is the only logical explanation. And in our opinion, it is also a drag on the market as it is very confusing to most collectors who can't involve themselves trading daily. We believe the market would be even stronger if themajority of collectors had more accurate price guides.

Overall, prices are going to continue to rise. The market has already slowed some-but it won't die. People (especially collectors) have no idea the enormous size the hobby has grown to thanks to the internet. So if one group or area weakens, there is another group waiting to step in. We are talking hundreds of thousands of faceless internet buyers-not a few dozen! There also seems to be a new small wave of overseas buyers who are trying to gobble up US rare coins as their money buys ton now. Like in real estate, they aren't making anymore classic rarities or great coins! However note: the quality MUST be 100% all there-or you will not get top dollar. And in this market, especially for a pop 1 or 2 coin, you can't be afraid to pay a huge premium-if you don't buy it-someone else will!

What we state in our Market Reports is fact to us. Coins are cyclical in nature and should be bought and held for the long term. We have always believed in offering coins based on real fundamentals, not hype. We love it after every market report the gossip forums rip what we say. These are the same people who will buy off of ebay or never understand the dangers of dealing with "wannabe" dealers. We do know our markets and the coin business as well as anyone!

THE HERITAGE AUCTION

We knew going into it many people would "hurt themselves". We feel sorry for the collectors who didn't see the coins and can't understand why they sold for what they did. Legend was a major player in the sale-for its own account and for several customers. We lost on a few (as dealers there is only so much we can pay) like the 1898O 25C-probably one fo the prettiest Barbers of all time, not to mention a huge unsung rarity that sold to a collector on the floor.

We did buy several of the MS Seated halves (yes, we did buy the 59O). There were very few of those coins that did not have at least a one point upgrade in them! We did not buy the 1869 50C piece, but we did grade it a lock MS67-it was flawless and graded MS65! Of course it sold for a staggering $51,750.00. It most likely was the finest known. The main point, when a monster deal or collection like this is placed in a public auction, the real players (both collectors and dealers) come out. If these coins were average, then you would not have seen the prices go nuts. For the Seated halves especially, there was pent up demand-this sale wasn't just the case of two collectors slugging it out. And yes, we did hurt ourselves-but it hurts so good! We'll always OVERPAY for real outrageous quality-NOT marginal or retreads!

THE MORPHY/LEGEND COIN AUCTION JUNE 24TH

We have already picked up two nice fresh collections-the 3 ACES (this part II) and the fabulous Norwood Collection of type. We also have lots of other smaller consignments (like the H.10 1835 Large 5C PCGS MS65-a very rare varitey). One thing we would like to mention is something Legend does not normally handle that we received for the sale: VAMs-we have a pretty neat small fresh group fo them consigned to us. There is even a pop 1 ANACS graded "discovery" piece included. There is a great selection of coins for every type of collector. Remember, Legend has several thousand customers it has worked with over the years. Some are current buyers and some only need to sell now. So you'll always see a very nice and fresh offering in our sales. Plus our partners Morphys also has SEVERAL hundred thousand antiques people on their lists.

Two important notes: if you have coins to consign, we MUST have them no later than this Friday. And if you plan on attending the Baltimore Show, stop by our table, we will have all the coins consigned so far available for viewing. You can go to our auction web site now: www.mlcoinauctions.com to see a preview. More coins will be added by the middle of this week.

This auction ends June 24th. it will go live one week prior to that. Stay tuned!

If you have any questions about any of the coins in our sales, please do not hesitate to email us: legend@legendcoin.com

WHATS HOT?

Rare type. Can be anything, Copper, Bust, Seated, even Barber, MS or PR. High grade white Peace dollars. Commems are starting to come alive! Walkers are strong too. One thing we unexpectedly sold a ton of-PATTERNS! Our big problem with that-can't replace them at all.

WHATS NOT HOT?

GENERIC GOLD...And anything not 100% all there.

SEE US AT TABLE 555 AT THE BALTIMORE SHOW-OR CHECK THIS SITE JUNE 8TH (LATE EVE WHEN WE START POSTING NEWPS).

All Recent News