Market lacks consistent overall direction

The scorecard appears to read: “scarce to rare coins up, bullion impacted coins down.” So goes the state of the current market for both collectible and for bullion coins.

Auction houses and high-end coin dealers continue to report strong sales. Middle to low-end coin dealers, as well as precious metal oriented merchants, are also reporting strong sales, but due to the dramatic decline in the spot price of gold and silver last week, the value rather than the volume of their sales has declined. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, since there are many bargain hunters out there waiting for such a dip on which to buy.

If you have scarce to rare coins to sell, you will be selling into a strong market. If you have bullion impacted or bullion coins to sell, you might want to wait for a rebound in the spot price of precious metals before liquidating what you have. In other words, it’s the same old story – buy low, sell high. Unfortunately, too many people wait for some splashy headlines announcing record prices having just been realized before buying, then end up losing money by selling into a weaker market at some later date.

The overall market continues to be a host of contradictions, with some desirable 19th and 20th century silver denomination Mint State 66 coins declining in value, some of the better dates not necessarily being exempt. While the direction in general is one of optimism, the coin market still lacks a consistent overall direction.