Take advantage of current weakness

(Images courtesy www.usacoinbook.com)

If you have an interest in Morgan silver dollars, this might be your moment to buy. Supply is outpacing demand for upper level quality and scarcer date Morgan dollars, resulting in significant wholesale and retail price declines. This is especially apparent for the better date, better condition coins in this series.

A decline in the demand for Carson City dollars is particularly noticeable. There is some question as to whether the recent declines seen in several important areas of coin collecting are part of a typical cycle, or if coin collecting itself is on the decline.

Coin collecting has been having growth problems ever since I can remember. Look at the stagnant membership in the American Numismatic Association. The circulation of the popular numismatic titles peaked in 1964, yet we are still here.

Collectors and speculators will come and go. Right now the speculators are gone, partially due to the unattractive performance of gold and silver, and partially due to better opportunities in the stock market. Don’t mistake weak bullion demand for a lack of collectors.

Don’t take this as doom and gloom. The market for cents, be they large, Indian, or Lincoln, is hot. Barber dimes, quarters and half dollars in better grades are holding their own. So are Capped Bust half dollars – another perennial favorite.

U.S. Mint non-circulating, legal-tender bullion and commemorative coins are a weak point in the market, but these often are.

Pick an area of interest and concentrate on it. You may want to pursue the scarcer dates first, since at the moment many of them are a bargain.