Bullion, not auctions, driving market

The interest in Morgan silver dollars appears to be increasing, but the prices are not. Pricing for this series continues to be a mixed bag, with values weakening in some sectors, but with some random plus signs that appear to be random. The price of intrinsic value impacted coins has been going up gradually in recent weeks; however, the key date coins in these same series have not. This includes all the American Eagle programs, precious metal Mint and Proof sets, and modern commemorative gold $5 and $10 coins. This doesn’t necessarily suggest the better date coins are a bargain. It is more likely to suggest that the only appreciative value we are witnessing is due to outside factors rather than to collector or investor demand.

The coin market is being talked up due to the total prices realized at recent auctions, but this is for high-end material that typically sold to dealers and that, under close examination, indicates most prices were as to be expected rather than of significance. Overall, market values continue to do little based on changing supply or demand, reacting more to what is going on in the bullion markets. The bullion markets, in turn, have under-performed, especially considering their anemic response to the recent events involving North Korea. While the stock market corrected by more than a percent, the metals didn’t match that value in appreciation. Even if they had, how much gold or silver in coinage form would someone need to be holding to make any significant profit off such a small move? The bottom line continues to be that the collector, not the dealer or the investor, is in control of the market.

More Collecting Resources

• Check out the newly-updated Standard Catalog of World Coins, 2001-Date that provides accurate identification, listing and pricing information for the latest coin releases.

• Download The Metal Mania Seminar with David Harper to learn more about the metals market.