Bruce Amspacher's prescient report on the 1996 ANA

MrEureka

Bruce wrote this futuristic piece for the August 1986 CDN Monthly. I think you'll enjoy it!

It starts on page 84 at the following link.

https://archive.org/details/coindealernewsle1986coin_i7o5/page/n83/mode/2up

WinLoseWin

I ran across that a few months ago and thought about posting it here but never did.

Some of it has references that would require knowledge of some major players of the time and I am too small to catch all of it. But there was some surprisingly accurate, though humorously exagerated, points that were years ahead of their time.
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By the way I found it while looking for the story of when he assembled a PCGS-65 Roosevelt dime set around 1986 to 1989, which was a crazy thing to do at that time.

Does anyone know where that story is?

Seem to recall it being published in the greysheet and seem to recall it being quite funny. Maybe it was an ad or in another publication. The closest I got was a search with brief incomplete reference to an ad around 1990 or 91 in noting the set for sale and that it was made famous by Bruce Amspacher.

JimW

Interesting and enjoyable read - Thanks for posting it!!

MrEureka

@WinLoseWin said:

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By the way I found it while looking for the story of when he assembled a PCGS-65 Roosevelt dime set around 1986 to 1989, which was a crazy thing to do at that time.

Does anyone know where that story is?

My recollection is that he was offering $10,000 to anyone who could deliver a complete set in PCGS 65. I don't know any more than that.

pursuitofliberty

That was great!

Lakesammman

Good read - I'm told that he came up with the name Professional Coin Grading Service. When they did the 30th Anniversary Medals in silver given to the founding dealers of PCGS, I was able to buy his, in a round about way, since he had passed away.

Aegis3

I recall the Roosevelt dime story (or, perhaps, a story) was in Coinage, probably in the timeframe 1987-89. I suppose I could go dig around in the basement to see if I can find it, but certainly not now.

Zoins

@Lakesammman said:
Good read - I'm told that he came up with the name Professional Coin Grading Service. When they did the 30th Anniversary Medals in silver given to the founding dealers of PCGS, I was able to buy his, in a round about way, since he had passed away.

Great history and a great provenance! Is the slab personalized?

neildrobertson

Wow. It's hard to fathom the state of the hobby and some of the numbers flying around back then. It was difficult to decipher what was real and what was a joke because so much of it seems foreign.

A fun read.

WinLoseWin

@neildrobertson said:
Wow. It's hard to fathom the state of the hobby and some of the numbers flying around back then. It was difficult to decipher what was real and what was a joke because so much of it seems foreign.

A fun read.

It was all fantasy written in 1986 imagining what 1996 might be like in a very exaggerated way. I'm sure I read it at the time but don't recall what my reaction was.

He did come close to accurately predicting the involvement of Wall Street in his 1990 (which I think might have actually begun in 1989).

His market crash of his 1992 did eventually occur in late 1990 through 1991 with effects lasting beyond that.

His 1996 statement that "...only six years ago, no U.S coin had ever sold for $1,000,000..." was still true for the real 1990 (at least at auction). 1990 was still 4 years in the future when written. Also, 1996 was the year of the first $1 million plus coin at auction.

Not sure who his "Mr. Orange" referred to. Was it "that" one or someone in the business?

Lots of humorous jabs at people of the time that may take some insider knowledge to get all of them, I would assume. Some names are still involved some 35 years later.

I like the jab at the 1950-D nickel still not amounting to much even in an insanely high fictional market after crashing in reality from the 1960's era prices. It is still about the same MS-60 $6 price today as the fictional 1996. Most of the imaginary prices are still overstated even now, though the 1792 Garrett Birch Cent as MS-65 RB has since sold for more than double his fictional $1.11 million.

One of his big points was playing with the concern that with market accepted slab certification, which he was among the founders of, would cause coins themselves to become irrelevant and just trade without needing to see the coin. Sight unseen trading did become a reality and still exist to some extent though not to the degree of the funny exageration he described.

neildrobertson

I originally missed the detail that it was written in 86. I feel better about being confused while the entire thing read like a joke.

MrEureka

@WinLoseWin said:

@neildrobertson said:

Not sure who his "Mr. Orange" referred to. Was it "that" one or someone in the business?

I don't think a real "Mr. Orange" was in the market at the time the article was written, but Iraj sort of became that guy a year or two later. He would even bring piles of fruit to give away at the shows, so the name "Mr. Orange" fit him well.

CoinJunkie

So I guess somewhere along the way, David Hall sold the state of Montana back to the US.