Take advantage of gold price dips to buy

The spot price of gold and silver took a nose dive. Then it jumped right back up. This correction didn’t impact scarce and rare coins, but it did impact just about everything else made of these two metals.

If you were selling coins to a coin dealer you were impacted dramatically. If you are a buyer through a coin dealer, you first likely found it more challenging to find what you are looking for, and second you likely found dealers were reluctant to lower their sell prices. The price of bullion gold has been impacting the price of silver and platinum for some time. With gold consumption down in India, the largest consumer market for this metal, and the value of the U.S. dollar being up, these have not been attractive times for commodity investors.

Hobbyists should recognize this as a buying opportunity, although price increases should be anticipated in the longer term. Anyone looking for short-term price appreciation should look elsewhere. Most of the scarce to rare coins, be they better dates or condition rarity coins, continue to trade horizontally. There are a few ups and downs, but there is no well-defined direction for these more desirable coins.

Proof and mint sets remain steady, but do not perform well in the secondary market. The market for the pre-1954 classic commemoratives is shallow, with most concentration focusing on extremely high-end condition. There continues to be a glut of semi-key 20th century coins on the market, making their prices soft. The popular Morgan silver dollar series remains steady, with bargains available for the collector willing to shop around.