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Article: "Where have all the good coins gone?"
Goldbully
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Where have all the good coins gone?
By Vic Bozarth on June 13, 2011 9:08 AM
Dear Rare Coin Enthusiast, I am writing this morning from the Long Beach Coin Show. It is June 2nd and dealer set-up was yesterday afternoon and evening. Where have all the good coins gone? I’m not trying to be melodramatic. The fact of the matter is that dealers are running around like ‘dogs chasing their tails’ looking for nice ‘fresh to the market’ rare coins.
The June Long Beach Show starts slowly. Those few dealers who are known to have ‘fresh material’ all had several dealers waiting at their tables for ‘FIRST SHOT’ when the show opened Wednesday afternoon.
Dealers have money to buy nice coins and can’t spend their money. The bottom line is this: Rare and ‘fresh to the market’ coins ARE NOT coming onto the market because prices are too low. Dealers are paying over bid for nice coins IF THEY CAN FIND THEM. Values must rise before more coins come onto the market. A large number of dealers are taking ‘positions’ in selected coins. Pretty coins are not available in any quantity. IF you ‘beat the bushes’ you can find coins. BUT… and this is a big BUT, there are a lot more ‘hunters’ out there and the ‘game’ are scarce.
I have talked about the strong demand for Morgan and Peace Dollars. Although generic common date price levels have backed off nearly 20% since the end of April, better date dollars are rising in price. Indeed there are some very large orders for ‘dated’ dollars out there. Guess what? There just aren’t that many available (at these price levels). We too are feeling the pinch. Rare date coins, if you can find them, are not available at ‘bid’ levels. Where are we going from here?
The answer is UP! Price levels have nowhere to go but up. Over the last three years coin prices have been on a downward slide. Yes, really nice fresh coins have sold for great money, but good solid coins that are never available in large quantities have been FLAT. Bids for CAC coins especially are quite generous. In fact, we can’t keep CAC coins in stock.
Enough of the hype! You get the picture. The smart money in the rare coin market is buying aggressively. A good customer asked me recently what he should buy? My answer was to buy the nice coins that were available now. Waiting for a particular coin may have been sound strategy over the last few years, but those days are gone. Let me give you a couple of examples. Don’t limit your buying to just the few coins (if you can find them) for your set. Now is the time to branch out. Have you been considering the addition of some rare singles to your collection? Have you been considering starting another set of U.S. coins? Now is the time.
Generally speaking, the Summer months are somewhat tentative for the rare coin market. We will not see tentative this Summer. I fully expect demand and therefore price levels to rise through the Summer and indeed through the remainder of the year. This week after the Long Beach Show we travel to the Sharonville, OH Show in a suburb of Cincinnati, OH. Week after next is the Whitman Baltimore Coin Show. We expect both shows to be very active. Baltimore is always an excellent show, but the East Coast hasn’t seen a major show for three months (since the last Baltimore) and not only will there be ‘fresh’ coins at this show, there will be dealers and collectors actively pursuing them.
My name is Vic Bozarth and I am the Rare Coin Road Warrior. My wife Sherri and I attend nearly 40 coin shows each year. We travel extensively to buy ‘fresh’ to the market rare coins for our customers. We are always excited about meeting new people during our travels. Come see us at a show in your area. Our travels during the Summer Show season are as follows:
Sharonville, OH
Baltimore, MD
Colorado Springs, CO
Summer FUN, Orlando, FL
Ontario, CA (buying only)
St. Louis, MO
PNG/ANA-pre-ANA Show, Chicago, IL
ANA Show, Chicago, IL
Linker
By Vic Bozarth on June 13, 2011 9:08 AM
Dear Rare Coin Enthusiast, I am writing this morning from the Long Beach Coin Show. It is June 2nd and dealer set-up was yesterday afternoon and evening. Where have all the good coins gone? I’m not trying to be melodramatic. The fact of the matter is that dealers are running around like ‘dogs chasing their tails’ looking for nice ‘fresh to the market’ rare coins.
The June Long Beach Show starts slowly. Those few dealers who are known to have ‘fresh material’ all had several dealers waiting at their tables for ‘FIRST SHOT’ when the show opened Wednesday afternoon.
Dealers have money to buy nice coins and can’t spend their money. The bottom line is this: Rare and ‘fresh to the market’ coins ARE NOT coming onto the market because prices are too low. Dealers are paying over bid for nice coins IF THEY CAN FIND THEM. Values must rise before more coins come onto the market. A large number of dealers are taking ‘positions’ in selected coins. Pretty coins are not available in any quantity. IF you ‘beat the bushes’ you can find coins. BUT… and this is a big BUT, there are a lot more ‘hunters’ out there and the ‘game’ are scarce.
I have talked about the strong demand for Morgan and Peace Dollars. Although generic common date price levels have backed off nearly 20% since the end of April, better date dollars are rising in price. Indeed there are some very large orders for ‘dated’ dollars out there. Guess what? There just aren’t that many available (at these price levels). We too are feeling the pinch. Rare date coins, if you can find them, are not available at ‘bid’ levels. Where are we going from here?
The answer is UP! Price levels have nowhere to go but up. Over the last three years coin prices have been on a downward slide. Yes, really nice fresh coins have sold for great money, but good solid coins that are never available in large quantities have been FLAT. Bids for CAC coins especially are quite generous. In fact, we can’t keep CAC coins in stock.
Enough of the hype! You get the picture. The smart money in the rare coin market is buying aggressively. A good customer asked me recently what he should buy? My answer was to buy the nice coins that were available now. Waiting for a particular coin may have been sound strategy over the last few years, but those days are gone. Let me give you a couple of examples. Don’t limit your buying to just the few coins (if you can find them) for your set. Now is the time to branch out. Have you been considering the addition of some rare singles to your collection? Have you been considering starting another set of U.S. coins? Now is the time.
Generally speaking, the Summer months are somewhat tentative for the rare coin market. We will not see tentative this Summer. I fully expect demand and therefore price levels to rise through the Summer and indeed through the remainder of the year. This week after the Long Beach Show we travel to the Sharonville, OH Show in a suburb of Cincinnati, OH. Week after next is the Whitman Baltimore Coin Show. We expect both shows to be very active. Baltimore is always an excellent show, but the East Coast hasn’t seen a major show for three months (since the last Baltimore) and not only will there be ‘fresh’ coins at this show, there will be dealers and collectors actively pursuing them.
My name is Vic Bozarth and I am the Rare Coin Road Warrior. My wife Sherri and I attend nearly 40 coin shows each year. We travel extensively to buy ‘fresh’ to the market rare coins for our customers. We are always excited about meeting new people during our travels. Come see us at a show in your area. Our travels during the Summer Show season are as follows:
Sharonville, OH
Baltimore, MD
Colorado Springs, CO
Summer FUN, Orlando, FL
Ontario, CA (buying only)
St. Louis, MO
PNG/ANA-pre-ANA Show, Chicago, IL
ANA Show, Chicago, IL
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Comments
<< <i>Enough of the hype! >>
Oh, good. I was waiting for the hype to end. But wait—what’s this?
<< <i>You get the picture. The smart money in the rare coin market is buying aggressively >>
Sounds like something I’ve heard before, like constantly, for years.
<< <i>A good customer asked me recently what he should buy? >>
What kind of clueless schnook goes to his dealer and asks what he should buy?
<< <i>My answer was to buy the nice coins that were available now. >>
Would that mean what is in your inventory? Well, I guess the customer can’t buy now what is not available now and if it ain’t in your inventory then I guess its not available.
<< <i>Waiting for a particular coin may have been sound strategy over the last few years, but those days are gone. Let me give you a couple of examples. Don’t limit your buying to just the few coins (if you can find them) for your set. Now is the time to branch out. Have you been considering the addition of some rare singles to your collection? Have you been considering starting another set of U.S. coins? Now is the time. >>
Great idea. Forget about using your hard earned money to buy what you know and go off and buy a bunch of stuff that you don’t know anything about. A littel of this a little of that. Don't know much about it? Just ask your dealer what you should buy and buy whatever he shows you.
CG
And FWIW, I'm not suggesting that good coins aren't selling reasonably well. They are. I'm only suggesting that it may be too early to start the panic buying.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
<< <i>I think it would be interesting to stop by the tables of each of ten dealers known to be active traders in "nice coins", early in a show. Make a list of ten nice but otherwise random coins that you see at each table. And then, two days into the show, see how many of the 100 coins have sold.
And FWIW, I'm not suggesting that good coins aren't selling reasonably well. They are. I'm only suggesting that it may be too early to start the panic buying. >>
I still see coins in dealer cases at shows that have been there for years now. Out of the 100 coins?? I would say 90 will still be availible although they may have changed cases.
NGC registry V-Nickel proof #6!!!!
working on proof shield nickels # 8 with a bullet!!!!
RIP "BEAR"
<< <i>And FWIW, I'm not suggesting that good coins aren't selling reasonably well. They are. I'm only suggesting that it may be too early to start the panic buying. >>
If it's a panic wouldn't the last word be"SELLING"?
Camelot
One has to know where to look and one has to come with serious money to get
into the game. Once you are a player, these types of coins are offered to you as
you are known to pay promptly and.....with a check that is good.
I have been getting really top of the line coins offered to me in a volume that I
can not buy them all. Thus I am leaving a lot of coins on the table for the rest
of you good folks.
Camelot
I can even talk gud tooo.
Camelot
Dealers are their own problem. Most are too stupid or cheap apparently to step up and buy a nicer better coin. If it can't be cracked out, then why bother seems to be the attitudes.
<< <i>Not all nice coins sell at shows. In fact, I'd bet more nice coins sell via the internet to people who can not make shows.
Dealers are their own problem. Most are too stupid or cheap apparently to step up and buy a nicer better coin. If it can't be cracked out, then why bother seems to be the attitudes. >>
You could say that again. I just offered a dealer a nice coin and he looked at Heritage's archives and offered me a price based on a coin sold 3 years ago ( and non auctioned since). and really sold for "wholesale" and not near "full retail" > Paying a few bucks over bid 3 years later didn't seem too unreasonable to me, but the dealer wouldn't budge and I could tell he wanted the coin too.
Not really looking for much these days but if I were, it might be a toner.
If you are looking for expensive, hard to find material, you either have to know a maker in the particular series to get first shot, be willing to write a blank check, or a combination thereof. The problem with getting first shot at material is that you need to remain in favor with the dealer(s) who get it. That can mean buying some coins you don't like from time to time, which can quickly get expensive.
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
Well, lived my life and never stopped to worry 'bout a thing
Opened up and shouted out and never tried to sing
Wondering if I'd done wrong
Will this depression last for long?
Won't you tell me
Where have all the good coins gone?
Where have all the good coins gone?
Well, once we had an easy ride and always felt the same
Time was on our side and I had everything to gain
Let it be like yesterday
Please let me have happy days
Won't you tell me
Where have all the good coins gone?
Where have all the good coins gone?
Ma and Pa look back at all the things they used to do
Didn't have no money and they always told the truth
Daddy didn't have no toys
And mummy didn't need no boys
Won't you tell me
Where have all the good coins gone?
Where have all the good coins gone?
Well, yesterday was such an easy game for you to play
But let's face it things are so much easier today
Guess you need some bringing down
And get your feet back on the ground
Won't you tell me
Where have all the good coins gone?
Where have all the good coins gone?
Where have all the good coins gone?
1. It must be a good coin
2. It must be listed at or sell for a reasonable price
3. It will probably be purchased by one of my alimony recipients... since they have a LOT of expendable income!
I never heard of him.....
I wonder if he buys out of auctions.
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
<< <i>I have heard of him, he is an ebay seller, I bought a coin from him and then returned it, it wasn't up to snuff imho. >>
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>I have heard of him, he is an ebay seller, I bought a coin from him and then returned it, it wasn't up to snuff imho. >>
And your point is? >>
Probably that you received a "dog" from a dealer who's purporting to scour the country
for nice, fresh material?
(Disclaimer: I have never dealt with the man personally)
<< <i>
<< <i>A good customer asked me recently what he should buy? >>
What kind of clueless schnook goes to his dealer and asks what he should buy? >>
Actually that is exactly what I did over a year ago when I was looking for sets to collect that I didn't already have with the goal centered on what he thought was under-valued.
It turned out to be excellent advice that had nothing to do with his initial inventory.
Not everyone is self-serving
<< <i>Just because a coin is returned, is not proof the coin is a dog, you know. >>
Might that be why I put it in quotes?
<< <i>Might that be why I put it in quotes? >>
Could be, I'm sure, but my post wasn't directed at you. It was more of a general comment- that's all. Sorry for any confusion.
<< <i>I never called anything a dog, it just didn't meet my speicifications, you see i was only looking for a "good coin"........and I didn't find it.
I know you didn't call it a dog- I didn't say you did.
Although you didn't think it was a "good coin", do you suppose there might be another buyer out there who would?
Bear bought all of them
<< <i>Who is Victor Bozarth?
I never heard of him.....
I wonder if he buys out of auctions. >>
I'm surprised you haven't heard of him because I believe he is originally from your part of the country. The retail public may not be aware of him yet but most dealers know Vic. He travels to more shows than I do during the year. He operates his own company now although he has worked for various companies in the past including Avena Rare Coins and Legend. Vic is one of the good guys in the business and I trust his opinions and observations of this industry.
Authorized dealer for PCGS, PCGS Currency, NGC, NCS, PMG, CAC. Member of the PNG, ANA. Member dealer of CoinPlex and CCE/FACTS as "CH5"
<< <i>Who is Victor Bozarth? >>
This question has come up before on the forum.