Collector coins lag behind bullion rally

The coin market continues to be a mixed bag, with the recent appreciation in gold and silver directly impacting the bullion American Eagles and indirectly the bullion-related common date coins.

Gains in bullion appeared to have no influence on the scarce to rare coin market. Coins with true numismatic rather than bullion value simply continue to languish. They sell, but the prices realized are less than stellar.

One contributor to the pricing in this column recently commented that it appears the difference between numismatic value versus bullion value is shrinking.

I am still observing more minus than plus signs for prices for the unusually high grade and better date coins, while the prices of more bullion influenced material inches higher with the spot price of their metal content.

A key to the coin market is still an outside influence, that being the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar on the world markets. As this commentary is being written, the dollar continues to fall, with the White House and Secretary of the Treasury sending conflicting statements about the government’s policy on the dollar.

Should growing hobby demand for collector coins rather than some outside influence steer the business of coins, we could expect better values to follow. For now, though, the outside influences are winning.

Longtime collectors should recognize the many bargains that are available if they haven’t already. These bargains won’t remain at these prices forever. If you are tempted, the time to act is now.

More Collecting Resources

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

• Order the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money, General Issues to learn about circulating paper money from 14th century China to the mid 20th century.