I went to the Arcadia, CA coin show yesterday. Picked up a few Barber Dimes, several Barber Quarters and several Standing Liberty Quarters. Putting together year sets of each series. Completed the Barber Quarters, but still missing 2 dimes and quite a few Standing Liberty Quarters (just started in on this series). Well attended show - busiest I've seen since I started going to the show some 15 or so years. There were so many tables set up that some had to be setup in the lobby of the auditorium at the Masonic Lodge. If they want the show to grow, they're going to need a bigger venue. Dealers were buying silver at almost 100% melt for small items like spare/cull silver dimes and quarters. THE POINT OF THIS THREAD I noticed something new (to me at least). The dealers are now pricing the run of the mill G thru VF boxes/bins of coins as "melt value + specific dollar amount". Each coin has a specific +$x amount written on the back of the 2x2. Then there is a display card showing the melt value for each denomination. It used to be that they just had the asking price written on the 2x2.Now I guess melt value has become a huge percentage of the value of the coin and the numismatic value is relegated to a fixed dollar amount. Anyone else seeing this trend? Has it always been this way at the shows you've been too or is this also new to you?
I have seen that for Silver Eagles and other bullion but don't recall seeing it for pre-64 Silver. It does seem like a newer thing based on the melt prices being more volatile for the last year.
