Watching the bidding on Heritage and GC, the market is very strong for some of the coins I follow that are tied to gold, despite gold bullion having a tough 2 weeks and treading water for months. Saint-Gaudens gold coins are seeing higher prices and more bidders. MCMVII High Reliefs in the AU 50/53 range are now going for what AU-58's were going for 12-15 months ago. Moderns are also getting good bids. 5 oz. silvers in PF70 and 69 for various designs are up about 20-30%. I see higher asks and realized prices for commemoratives that utilize classic designs like the Saint-Gaudens National Park series, though some prices asked are nuts. You are definitely seeing "down-market" buying where more bidders buy on cheaper stuff and drive the price up MORE than at the higher end (somewhat similar to the meme stock buying with lots of small orders). I noted this in another thread a while back with large denomination currency ($500 and $1,000 bills) -- the lower grades got the most interest and saw the bigger percentage jump over investment-grade stuff. If you know what has happened to prices in other coin types -- especially those that were really weak the last few years, U.S. coins NOT tied to silver/gold or precious metals -- tell us what's happening the last 12-15 months in your areas of interest.
The pandemic has been good for the collector market. We shall see how it holds up as things get better.
Given the rate of inflation, the bullion and collector markets might hold up after the pandemic, but that might not be good for the rest of the economy.
A lot of generic Morgans are up significantly. MS 65 common dates slipped to a low of under $100 in early 2020. Now they are trending above $150 (quite a few sales in the $170s and some even reaching close to $200). MS 63s and 64s are also up $15-$35 per coin.
On the contrary, the pandemic has been horrible for the collector market...it has, however, been good for the seller market. Collectors once again end up paying balloon prices which will once again sag once the current lack of inventory is solved by the higher prices being paid.
Everything from China is going up at rates I have not seen in 35 years. I thought the tariffs were bad but that is only a small part of the increases at retail level.
nahh, it's the tariffs,. since ya know, that's what it costs to get it so if you get it cheaper somewhere else, then might as well mark it up to the going price. It blows my mind, these 25% tariffs have done nothing but raise the prices on everything across the board. Someone's got to pay. it's going to be the end users. As far as coins, once everyone loses their free time, some are gonna say "Why'd I do this?" and dump their coins on the market. As I understand it even the dealers are having trouble keeping inventory of stuff people want or getting it, all that will normalize, there aren't new collectors, just people trying to tie up their cash against inflation in my opinion.
Was that low price for Morgans when silver collapsed ? I would try and compare once the price of silver had stabilized in the high-teens or low-20's and then adjust for a price today about $25-$26. That avoids comparisons to when silver was collapsing in the height of the pandemic in March-April 2020.
The coin market, for both US and world coins, going up doesn't have anything to do with the pandemic as both have been going up since before there was a pandemic.
I think he means that many people "discovered" the hobby....the ease of online purchases......HA, GC, Ebay, etc. We'll see how many of the new buyers are "sticky" and stay let along become active in the hobby....goto local or national coin shows....etc.
Yeah but it has been a noticable acceleration with the pandemic. Ancients have been crazy high, especially for higher end stuff. Cleo VII, (the famous one), is up probably 20%. I am starting to see a little easing just recently. Really, I actually think it was government reaction to Covid more than people being bored that is causing this. Too much free money thrown around, (including "rent holidays"), is causing bubbles for all assets. Sports cards, worthless stocks, lots of assets going up right now in nominal terms, but are they going up or the currency going down?
@okbustchaser, Remember if you don't like the price don't buy it has, however, been good for the seller market. Depends on which side of the fence your on
@GDJMSP Don't over look the fact that some people had more time on their hands to pursue whatever their hobby interest is. People do collect many different things.
May have shared this...sorry/hard to recall...but I went to a local country estate/farm auction a couple weeks ago...an 1895-S "double-eagle"...raw but in AU+ and beautiful natural condition, sold for $2,450. I thought that was pretty good given the random informality of it all, very limited advertising, etc. Heck, it wasn't even secured/protected in anything...being passed around the room hand-to-hand, etc. It made it back to the auctioneer when it was time. Country folks. PS...if you're seeing this multiple times, there's a glitch on your end somewhere...it ain't me holding down a key.
Deleted the extra 9 duplicates/ Only happening on your posts. The return/enter key may be sticking. Jim
There is a good article about inflation, especially coin inflationary prices. I just read it and it's right on target. I double majored in college..accounting and economics and we are getting a good lesson on inflation. If you think it's bad now, wait until everyone's back at work and we get closer to full employment. Oh yeah, I worked for the state's Employment Security Commission (unemployment office) for several years and when the unemployment went up, inflation would rise as well. Think about this...Minimum Wage is now $10 an hour or $400 a week or $1,600 a month and $20,800 a year. When I got out of the army, my first job was $90/week. I was married with a newborn. My first job as a CPA was $11,800 a year. My first house cost $29,900. My house now is conservatively valued at $225,000 for an 1,800 Square Foot house. You and I are paying for people to be out of work. Congress isn't helping with their crazy budget. Sorry for taking up your time.
While this is true...collectibles of all kinds have seen a large jump across the board. This isn't just coins, but it's all collectibles...autographs, trading cards...you name it, the prices have sored. I bought a Joe Namath rookie about a year ago (PSA Grade 4...the PCGS for cards) and I have seen them selling online recently for 3x what I paid. I tend to think this is because a lot of people with disposable incomes didn't spend as much during the pandemic. They couldn't travel or go out to eat...so more money was suddenly available for hobbies. My guess is we will see these prices drop over the next couple years a bit.
Prices on old gold US coins have jumped quite higher. That is, if you can find what you are interested in. Demand has skyrocketed.
The prices were at their low point before the March-April 2020 silver collapse. By late 2019, I was already finding MS 65 Morgans for ~$100 (I just went back and found one that I bought for $94 in Nov 2019...sold it for not much more well before the peak since I didn't really love it ). When spot silver tumbled to around $12 at the height of the pandemic, there was almost no physical supply to buy anywhere near that price. In fact, premiums pushed many generic items (even well circulated Morgans) close to or above the prices that were found when silver was at $18-$19 per oz. So my experiences put the Morgan low at just before the pandemic became a big news item (and the collapsing silver prices had nothing to do with that low point in the Morgan market).
