Underdog Markets Showing Strength

The interest in coins has become sufficiently popular that even many of the areas often treated as less-than by advanced collectors are showing strength. A recent Heritage auction focused on American bullion and modern commemorative coins. While these market sectors have been often viewed as being the focus of uninitiated coin investors or entry-level collectors, the auction proved otherwise. Some of “the other white metal” coins, these being platinum American Eagles, likewise performed well, demonstrating a growing interest in modern coins that is distinct from rather than drawing from the interest in older, more traditionally collected U.S. issues.

While the interest in intrinsically impacted and bullion coins continues, the spot price of their precious metal content took a hit recently. In defense of these metals, they do continue to outperform equities. Interestingly enough, publicly traded U.S. numismatic stocks were recently trading at 73.1 percent of their 50-week averages as compared to 68.4 percent one month earlier at a time the overall stock market was being declared to officially be in a recession.

There is no recession in the scarce to rare coin market, where both demand and prices continue to climb. Record-breaking prices appear to have slowed, but this is normal considering the market typically takes a rest until the annual August American Numismatic Association auction. Clubs report increasing attendance both at meetings and at local shows. Supplies remain limited, while demand remains strong for just about all areas of collectible coins. Overall, the hobby and business of coins remains strong.