By Laura Sperber – Legend Numismatics Long Beach can be a mystery show. You may think you will do well and you won't, or you may think you'll do poor and do great. This show we did what we set out to accomplish-we bought some deals. However, had we not had these deals prescheduled, it would have been a complete bust. Even the now lone auction before the show (Goldberg) had very little Legend quality coins in it. For the first time in 10+ years, we stayed home and enjoyed the Memorial Day weekend.  Prior to"set up" day, we do whats called "lobby leaching". That's where we hang out at the hotels and do business (some scheduled, some not). We sensed right away this was not going to be an easy show. Many of the usual suspects had delayed their trips as well and few dealers were around to do business. We bought two coins totaling $4,000.00 Tuesday, a record low. So we gave up after two hours and went to dinner with a customer. Later we were told we missed nothing.
Typically the crowd to get in set up is large and anxious. This time, it was thin and quiet-something very unusual. Two things clearly had a major impact on dealers attendance: East Coast dealers pretty much stayed away because the Baltimore show is less than a week away. Second, it was sadly evident that a number of major dealers gave up their tables. There was no "buzz" on set up day. It was also the first time Legend made NO purchases what so ever on dealer day. There were NO Legend calibre coins to be found on the floor. WHEN THE DOORS OPENED THURSDAY Thursday was a complete surprise: a huge crowd showed up! There definitely was activity, however it was hard to tell if many rare coins were bought (we know generics and bullion were in demand). Also, the reduced amount of table may have given an illusion the show was busier than it was. We had come to the show expecting to buy three deals and did. Deal #1: the Famous Bear Collection. This coin contains some fabulous handpicked mid range type coins. Deal #2: a partial GEM Type set all coins CAC. The coins are both rare and amazing! All are CAC. Deal #3: what we really traveled for, a stunning group of Early Copper coins. Between these three deals, we spent in excess of $1,250,000.00-something we had not done in over 2 years at Long Beach. We did not hear many complaints on Thursday except for the ever severe lack of coins. THE MARKET Checkout the results of the Heritage Auction and you will immediately see how strong the market is. They did not have any blockbuster collections and prices still managed to reach spectacular levels. The prices realized more than proved how strong demand is. There was a small group of GEM MS/DMPL Morgans all Ex PCGS Tour that brought crazy money. These coins had been off the market for many years. A collection of old holdered PR Seated and Barber Dimes brought insane prices (example $8,000.00 for a 1899 PCGS PR66 10C). Better gold coins also sold for very strong money as did pretty much anything nice and fresh. Someone at Heritage had told us that before the auction began, they had an 80% sell through. With the stock market acting crazy, our government printing more money and expanding debt, and foreign economies now in shambles, people are seeking hard assets again. They especially seem to want better GEM gold or any choice Bust gold. Indian gold is impossible to find, but that leads the demand, We can say for a few of these series we have not seen a single GEM in the past few months! Published price guides are not helping since few if any coins are trading. We can not stress enough how critical it is for collectors NOT to be afraid of paying strong premiums in todays market. You'll miss out on great coins. Demand is not shrinking, only the supply has been. We expect the market to slow between the Baltimore Show and the ANA Show in early August. with so few coins to trade, dealers will take vacations and probably be content to prepare for the ANA Show. Of course if gold does something dramatic, then dealers will be there in full swing. Prices might actually drop 5-10% during this time but pick right back up as activity increases. If you want some smart buys, shop hard during the next 45 days! Link to Complete Legend Market Report Related posts: - THE 2009 SUMMER LONG BEACH SHOW – Legend Market Report
- Market Report – The Long Beach Show
- Legend Market Report – Sept. 08 Long Beach Show
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