1980s Coin Market

DeusExMachina

Can someone provide me with a rough timeline (i.e. top, bottom or beginning of the slump, etc) of when the coin market began to fall apart in the 80s? Thanks, Eric.

MrEureka

The morning of April 19, 1980 was the top. The market didn't "begin to slump"; it collapsed in a heartbeat. Probably 30% lower by the end of the day.

Edited to say that of course that could never happen again. Could it?

LanLord

<< <i>The morning of April 19, 1980 was the top. The market didn't "begin to slump"; it collapsed in a heartbeat. Probably 30% lower by the end of the day. >>

Hell of a day on the roller-coaster huh?

DeusExMachina

MrEureka, thanks. Did the market languish all through the 80s or did it have peaks and valleys?

MrEureka

Did the market languish all through the 80s or did it have peaks and valleys?

The market finally turned up in the summer of 82. It picked up some real steam in about 84-85 due to a couple of big promotions and a rise in bullion, then backed off for a while, and then surged in 88-89. Somebody please correct me if that's not quite right.

cladking

I think '86 was a pretty good year and if memory serves there was a spike when PCGS started grading.

While the market certainly had peaks in '80 and '89 it shouldn't be forgotten that "the market" is made up
of many segments. Some series which had little run-up also took a very small hit. The '80 collapse was a
looming certainty for weeks after the collapse of the silver market and drop in gold in mid-January. The '89
collapse was in many ways even worse since everything was impacted more than in '80. Some of the prices
achieved in '89 may not be matched for many years yet.

It was '95 before a recovery was underway. This affected mostly non-traditional coins at first and it was '96
before the recovery was apparent to most people. Even then prices didn't have major moves until 2000.

291fifth

My recollection is that 1982 was the worst year overall. The decline seemed to affect all segments of the market that year. 1982 was also a recession year for the economy.

coynclecter

PCGS started grading in 1986. MS 65 Morgan dollars were selling for $500+ dollars but no one knew what they looked like. The auctions were selling them around 250 and dealers couldn't agree on what they looked like. By 1988, MS64s were selling about 100 and 65s certified were at 500-700. I was getting them off bidboards at 20% of that and selling them certified.

By 1989 certified anything, especially gold was at huge prices even higher than today. It was almost impossible to find any gold, morgans or type in 66 or better (certified).

In 1989 I took about 40 certified and uncertified coins to San Diego show and sold everyone of them at retail type prices in hours.

Within a few months the market collapsed. Prices fell to 20-30% of highs by year end. Boxes of MS65 and 66 Morgans and generic gold were being offered. I bought some MS65 Saints at 535 each (probably 66 by todays standards). The market stayed in the dump through most of the 90s.

Much like today, a lot of this stuff is not rare, it's just hoarded.

roadrunner

Within a few months the market collapsed. Prices fell to 20-30% of highs by year end. Boxes of MS65 and 66 Morgans and generic gold were being offered. I bought some MS65 Saints at 535 each (probably 66 by todays standards). The market stayed in the dump through most of the 90s.

Considering that I bought 50 or so MS64 Saints in April 1990 at $1000 a pop I doubt the MS65's were ever available for $535.
The lowest my 64's got were down to about $600ish. I sold them in the early to mid-1990's when they jumped back to around $725 each. I can never recall an MS65 Saint at much under $700 since tracking them from 1990.

1983-1986 were strong years for the market.

1988 actually saw a down turn mid-year where type coins went begging for a while. There was a cash flow problem. By the
start of 1989 things were cooking again and then peaked in mid year. Prices on many issues were nuts. While the overall market slowly dropped into 1990, most type coins were bringing as much in March 1990 as they did in 1989. Andy can attest to this as I tried to sell him my gem 1866-s and 1867-s quarters at the 1988 ANA for $45-50K for the pair. The market weakened at that show and no deal. But by March 1990 that same pair was worth $90-100K. The market was still very strong for many coins through the first part of 1990.

roadrunner

MrEureka

I tried to sell him my gem 1866-s and 1867-s quarters at the 1988 ANA for $45-50K for the pair. The market weakened at that show and no deal.

At the same show, I paid 375K for the Amon Carter 1794 Dollar, while 65 Saints were close to 4K. Funny business.

roadrunner

Let's see, Contursi claims the 1794 $ is now worth $10,000,000.
So by comparison the MS65 Saints should be heading to $106,000?
That would be a funny market once again! MS64 Saints were worth something in the $1500-$2000 range as well as I recall.

Of course what it took to make a 65 saint back then was WAY different than today's loosey-goosey standards.

roadrunner

DeusExMachina

Thanks for the info, this was very helpful.

mfcobra

<< <i>Thanks for the info, this was very helpful. >>



Yes very cool info!

Artist

<< <i>Of course what it took to make a 65 saint back then was WAY different than today's loosey-goosey standards. >>



You're right. Back then the only way a Saint could grade 65 would be if you walked up to the counter of a pre-TPGS dealer and asked to buy one. They sure were few & far between when you went to sell.