Quirk closes price gap between grades
In a conversation at the Coinfest Show with a good friend who trades a lot of gold, I became aware of a new market quirk.
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In a conversation at the Coinfest Show with a good friend who trades a lot of gold, I became aware of a new market quirk.
One of the major marketing companies required about 100 $20 Saints in slabbed NGC MS-61 and they were willing to pay about $100 over recent dealer bids. My friend had some and expected to find the rest at the St. Louis show and by making a few phone calls.
The marketing company’s buyer had already made phone calls and my friend found the market dried up on him.
Often these coins can be had easily by the 100 when you have normal times and there are hoards coming from Europe, but bankers and trading houses in Europe really don’t want cheaper dollars for their gold.
Hoards are getting fewer and farther between. What did my friend do?
He created another market anomaly. He bought up some MS-62s and traded them for overpriced MS-61 coins, which gave us a bid spread of only $10 between grades and almost caused a price backwardation between grades. The normal spread has averaged closer to $100. Backwardation is a commodity term for when current spot price is higher than the future delivery price.
Dollars are hot. The DMPL market has gotten active and more and more selected better dates are again on want lists.
Clad proof and mint sets are dead.
E-mail harrymkrause@optonline.net.
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