Jeff Garrett for NGC 1/20/2011

When NGC asked me to write a column on coin pricing for their new price guide, my immediate reaction was “this should be easy.” After giving the project some thought, I realize how complex the subject is. As everyone knows, there are at least a dozen published price guides for rare coins. Some are done yearly, such as the Guide Book of United States Coins (Redbook), while others are done monthly, weekly or in real time. The goal of each is to report the most accurate reflection of the retail rare coin market. Even what constitutes “retail prices” can be a matter of debate, however. Many would argue that auction prices are retail, while others view these as dealer prices. Some in the numismatic community think retail prices should be about 5% above what dealers have paid; others believe a 35 to 40% market is more in line. My plan is to examine this issue in great detail so that when making a purchase and using the NGC Coin Price Guide, you will have a clear understanding of how the numismatic marketplace works.

 The goal of the NGC Coin Price Guide is to provide the most accurate and up-to-date tools for collectors and dealers to establish current retail pricing for United States coinage. The NGC Coin Price Guide is just one element available on the NGC site for information. Others include the NGC Census , which shows the population of coins that have been certified, the NGC Coin Encyclopedia, NGC Registry information and the recently developed charting capabilities for each issue. With this wealth of information, rare coin collectors will now have the ability to research and make important buying decisions. An educated buyer will do much better in the long run than someone who makes rash, uninformed purchases. Paying too much can mean waiting years longer just to break even on a poorly executed buy. I encourage everyone to explore the new NGC Coin Price Guide and all of the other great research tools available at NGCcoin.com.

What is retail?

 There is no short answer for this question. As mentioned above, some think auction prices are retail. This is not true in most cases. Rare coin dealers purchase a large percentage of coins at every auction held in the United States. You can be sure they are not buying the coins for their personal collections. On the opposite extreme, when two wealthy collectors engage in mortal combat for a prized registry coin, the hammer price is not the new retail price for this coin. Also, a coin that falls through the cracks, selling for well below catalogue levels, is not the new retail price. As will be examined in detail in later installments, not every coin in the same grade looks the same. If two NGC MS 65 1907 High Relief Double Eagles are sold in the same auction and one brings $42,500 and the other brings $48,000, which is the new retail price? Sometimes the price difference can be even greater. Auction prices are an indication of value — not a retail price. Price guide editors must use auction records for information, but other factors come into play as well.

 Retail price can best be defined as the price a collector can expect to pay for a coin after conducting moderate research. An example would be generic United States gold coins. These are very common and with moderate research a buyer should expect to pay 5 to 10% above dealer wholesale price to acquire an example. Finding a very rare coin is another matter. It may take years to find and negotiate the purchase of an extremely rare coin. The dealer will probably ask for a market — up closer to 40% in this case. As a collector myself, I can testify that when you locate something you have been looking years for, price is sometimes secondary.

The LARGEST CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH NUGGET left in existence, the 100 troy ounce gold nugget discovered last year in Nevada County, California, was sold at auction on March 16th in Sacramento for $460,000

Named the “Washington Nugget” because the nugget was discovered near the famous northern Mother lode Gold Rush mining camp of Washington, California, this nearly 100 ounce monster gold nugget (and several others) were found in an unmined section of the Omega-Malakoff Tertiary Channel in February 2010, by a lucky area land-owner.

Authenticated by geologist Fred Holabird and pre-sale valued at $250,000-$400,000, the nugget is the largest, original California Gold Rush region natural nugget still in existence.

Spectrum Numismatics came away with the nugget on Wednesday after a feverish two minutes of bidding at the Golden West Auction in Sacramento. The company was bidding on behalf of an anonymous buyer.

At current gold prices, the nugget’s gold value was just less than $138,000, but auctioneers say its connection to the 19th century Gold Rush helped boost the final hammer price.

The auctioneer said the person who found the nugget also plans to auction the 180 acres where it was discovered.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — A growing number of states are seeking shiny new currencies made of silver and gold.

Worried that the Federal Reserve and the U.S. dollar are on the brink of collapse, lawmakers from 13 states, including Minnesota, Tennessee, Iowa, South Carolina and Georgia, are seeking approval from their state governments to either issue their own alternative currency or explore it as an option. Just three years ago, only three states had similar proposals in place.

“In the event of hyperinflation, depression, or other economic calamity related to the breakdown of the Federal Reserve System … the State’s governmental finances and private economy will be thrown into chaos,” said North Carolina Republican Representative Glen Bradley in a currency bill he introduced last year.

Unlike individual communities, which are allowed to create their own currency — as long as it is easily distinguishable from U.S. dollars — the Constitution bans states from printing their own paper money or issuing their own currency. But it allows the states to make “gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.”

To the state legislators who are proposing state-issued currencies, that means gold and silver are fair game, said Edwin Vieira, an alternative currency proponent and attorney specializing in Constitutional law. And since gold has grown exponentially more valuable, while the U.S. dollar continues to lose ground, the notion has become increasingly appealing to state lawmakers, he said.

The state gold rush: Utah became the first state to introduce its own alternative currency when Governor Gary Herbert signed a bill into law last March that recognized gold and silver coins issued by the U.S. Mint as an acceptable form of payment. Under the law, the coins — which include American Gold and Silver Eagles — are treated the same as U.S. dollars for tax purposes, eliminating capital gains taxes.

Since the face value of some U.S.-minted gold and silver coins — like the one-ounce, $50 American Gold Eagle coin — is so much less than the metal value (one ounce of gold is now worth more than $1,700), the new law allows the coins to be exchanged at their market value, based on weight and fineness.

Local currencies: In the U.S., we don’t trust

“A Utah citizen, for example, could contract with another to sell his car for 10 one-ounce gold coins (approximately $17,000), or an independent contractor could arrange to be compensated in gold coins,” said Rich Danker, a project director at the American Principles Project, a conservative public policy group in Washington, D.C.

South Carolina Republican Representative Mike Pitts proposed a currency system that would allow people to use any kind of silver or gold coin — whether it’s a Philippine Peso or a South African Krugerrand — based on weight and fineness. Pitts said in the bill, which currently has 12 co-sponsors, that the state is facing “an economic crisis of severe magnitude.”

Republican representatives from Washington State followed suit in January, introducing a bill that would also allow any gold and silver coins to be considered legal tender based on metal values. Minnesota, Iowa, Georgia, Idaho and Indiana are also considering similar proposals.

Many of the bills would make it possible for residents to exchange the physical coins for goods and services, so you could use coins to buy anything from groceries to a car as long as the store chooses to accept them.

However, most people aren’t going to walk around with such valuable coins in their pockets, said Vieira. Plus, calculating the value of the coins — especially if they come from different parts of the globe and are of different sizes and shapes — will get tricky.

It’s more likely that the states will create electronic depositories and accounts for the coins to make transactions easier, when and if the initial bills are passed, he said.

Utah Gold & Silver Depository is already developing a system where customers could use debit cards linked to their gold holdings. When customers swipe their debit cards to make transactions, physical gold and silver coins would be transferred between accounts in privately-owned depositories (or vaults) based on the market value of the metals.

Before deciding on a specific form of currency, some states — including Minnesota, Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina — are considering proposals that would first require a committee to review their alternative currency plan.

The future of U.S. currency: The states’ proposals have been gaining steam among Tea Partyers and Republicans, many of whom also endorse a nationwide return to the gold standard, which would require the U.S. dollar to be backed by gold reserves.

Tea Party “father” Ron Paul is sponsoring the “Free Competition in Currency Act,” which would allow states to introduce their own currencies, and rival Newt Gingrich is calling for a commission to look at how the country can get back to the gold standard.

But it will be the individual states that could really get the ball rolling, said Vieira. Even if several of the current proposals get killed, the introduction of so many bills at the state level is drawing national attention to the issue, he said.

Funny money: 11 local currencies

Of all the state proposals circulating right now, Republican-controlled states including South Carolina, Georgia, Idaho and Indiana have the best chance of passing their proposed bills this year, said American Principles Project’s Danker. If just one or two states implement an alternative currency, it could have a Domino effect, he said.

“I think we could get a couple passed in this legislative session, and that would show this is mainstream, popular and it would be a justification for more of the risk-averse states for doing this,” he said.

There are, of course, many people who think the recent push for alternative state currencies should be stopped in its tracks. David Parsley, a professor of economics and finance at Vanderbilt University, said he thinks state-issued currencies are a “terrible” idea.

“Having 50 Feds” could debase the U.S. dollar and even potentially lead the country into default, he said. “The single currency in the United States is working just fine,” said Parsley. “I have no idea why anyone would want to destroy something so successful — unless they actually wanted to destroy the country.” 

Chicago Sun Times

An uncirculated one-cent copper coin from the earliest days of the U.S. Mint in 1793 has sold for a record $1.38 million at a Florida auction. The sale price was “the most a United States copper coin has ever sold for at auction,” says James Halperin of Texas-based Heritage Auctions.

The coin was made at the Mint in Philadelphia in 1793 — the first year that the United States made its own coins. The name of the buyer wasn’t revealed.

The penny shows no wear on its lettering, its Lady Liberty face or the chain of linking rings on its back. It’s known as a “Chain Cent” because its chain of linking rings was supposed to represent the solidarity of the states. The design was changed to a wreath after some critics claimed it was symbolic of slavery.

     The first major coin show of the year, the Florida United Numismatists (FUN) Show, was by all accounts a resounding success.  With over $56 million sold at auction 2012 is looking like it will be another strong year for rare coins.

     Of particular note is what kind of material was NOT available at FUN and why: high end coins (those priced from $10,000 to $50,000) were very scarce.  Given that these coins have been in demand for several years it can only mean we are going to see higher prices offered in an effort to pry them from what are clearly tight hands. Additionally, when those prices rise, it is almost a certainty that their less expensive brethren will see an increase, too.

$250 Million Rare Coin Fund

yahoo News

A new joint venture has been launched by a team that includes a veteran professional rare coin dealer and a Wall Street money manager to assist investors with acquisition and management of numismatic and precious metals items. 

“The investment community has a need for alternative investments that are truly uncorrelated with traditional investments. Using rare coins as an asset class and investment vehicle provides an opportunity for investors to diversify their investment portfolios. We plan to have a diversified family of investment funds and services to be able to address alternative investments and financing needs, from the private investor to even institutional investors.”

 A source with knowledge of the strategies who asked for anonymity, said one of the funds is expected to reach $250 million comprised primarily of U.S. coins certified by either Professional Coin Grading Service or Numismatic Guaranty Corporation

 The custodian of the partnership assets initially will be First State Depository Company, a level three, high security facility in Delaware that stores precious metals and rare coins for investment banks, brokerage firms, refining companies, commodity trading houses, precious metals retailers, coin dealers and individual investors.

Kerri Shannon; ETF Dailey News

 If you’re concerned about where gold prices are headed after yesterday’s (Wednesday’s) bear-market buzz, don’t be. This is just a brief pit-stop in what continues to be an epic bull-run for the yellow metal.

Gold prices fell below $1,600 an ounce Wednesday for the first time since October, settling down nearly 5% at $1,586.90 an ounce Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). That’s below the closely-watched 200-day moving average for the first time since January.

There are a few reasons for this slump: Panic over the Eurozone and its weakening currency, banks’ need for cash, and year-end profit-taking have all taken their toll on gold this week.

Still, while gold prices may be stumbling right now, they are not headed for a long-term bear market – not even close. In fact, it’s something our own gold and global resources specialist predicted months ago.

Money Morning Global Resources Specialist Peter Krauth said as far back as August that gold prices were due for a pull-back, so this minor blip isn’t surprising – and it definitely isn’t permanent.

“This is something I saw coming,” said Krauth. “Back in late August, as gold was pushing $1,900, I told my subscribers it was due to pull back, and likely to trade in a range between $1,600 and $1,800, and that’s exactly what we’ve seen so far. We could see a bit more weakness, but I think we’re much closer to a bottom at this point.”

Here’s why.

A Weak Euro and the Scramble for Cash

One of the biggest factors contributing to lower gold prices is the Eurozone and its increasingly weak currency. The euro fell Wednesday to $1.2998 against the dollar, its lowest level since January. That forced many traders into the dollar.

“As investors flee the euro, the “risk off’ trade means they’re falling back on the U.S. dollar,” said Krauth. “A higher U.S. dollar, in turn, means lower gold because gold is priced in U.S. dollars.”

Krauth said Europe’s economic turmoil has forced the region’s banks to hunt for more cash, which has led to more gold leasing transactions, further pressuring the precious metal’s price.

“European commercial banks are desperate for cash,” said Krauth. “They could well be “borrowing’ central bank or other sourced gold to lend out simply to raise cash temporarily. Interestingly, gold lease rates just spiked back up on Dec. 7, the very same day we started that recent bout of gold price weakness.”

Investors’ year-end scramble to get their hands on more cash also has triggered massive selling. After poor portfolio performance this year, investors and fund managers wanted to take profits and beef up cash holdings, while others needed cash to make margin calls.

According to a recent Reuters asset allocation poll, global portfolio managers held more cash in November than at any time during at least the last seven years.

“[S]ome macro hedge funds are liquidating gold holdings and taking profits in a difficult year,” HSBC Holdings analyst James Steel wrote in a note. “As trading volume typically drops toward year-end, we expect increasingly volatile price swings.”

Other factors weighing on gold include the U.S. Federal Reserve’s lack of commitment to help the weak U.S. economy and the fallout of the MF Global Holdings  bankruptcy.

“The bankruptcy led to the liquidation of many gold futures contracts where positions needed to be unwound,” said Krauth.

But as Krauth said, this price tumble does not seal the deal for a long-term gold bear market.

Where Gold Prices Are Headed

Gold has soared 175% since its price rally begin in 2009, and is still up 88% despite this year’s price volatility and recent dip.

Krauth maintains his outlook that it will soar well over $2,000 an ounce next year — and keep going.

“I believe gold prices will eclipse $2,200 an ounce next year, and shoot beyond even $5,000 an ounce after that,” said Krauth.

That means more buying opportunities as prices pull back temporarily.

“If you are a commodities investor, there will be some great opportunities over the next couple of months to accumulate again if you’re looking further ahead,” Ole Hansen, senior manager at Saxo Bank, told Reuters. “The super-cycle is nowhere near dead, but right now, it is a question of getting exposure down and coming back in two weeks and seeing where we are.”

Bespoke Investment Group tracked gold’s previous slips below the 200-day moving average, and found it more often turned around to higher prices.

“While gold saw negative returns in the three, six, and twelve months following the end of its 1980 and 1988 streaks, following the four remaining streaks the close below the 200-DMA turned out to be a pause that refreshed for gold,” Bespoke wrote in a report released Wednesday.

Its All About Gold Now

by Greg Hunter

At the beginning of this month, the G20 met in France to try to find a way to solve the European sovereign debt crisis.  It ended with world leaders in disarray over a way to come up with a solution.  At first blush, it appears that nothing of any importance came of the meeting of the 20 leading economies of the world, but that is not the case.  It was widely reported the G20 came up with the idea that Germany might put up its gold reserves to back a bailout fund called the European Financial Stability Facility or EFSF.  Of course, Germany, with its more than 3,400 tonnes of gold (number 2 in the world), quickly shot that idea down.  End of story?  Quite the contrary–the gold story is just beginning to get interesting.

You see, the G20 did something accidentally that was very important, and that was confirm that gold has a place in the monetary system, especially in times of extreme turmoil.  Why doesn’t the EU use sovereign bonds to back the EFSF?  They are considered a store of value and are held as reserves in many European banks.  The simple answer is the world is waking up to the fact that debt can’t back up debt.  Europe finds itself in a tough spot, and the leaders there know it.  Reuters reported Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, “Europe is in one of its toughest, perhaps the toughest hour since World War Two,” she told her Christian Democrats, saying she feared Europe would fail if the euro failed and vowing to do anything to stop this from happening.”  Well, anything but put Germany’s gold up as collateral.  Maybe Chancellor Merkel will be the next leader to exit the European stage?  Who knows, but what I do know is that gold is once again going to become an important part of the world monetary system.

In a new book called “Currency Wars,” Wall Street insider Jim Rickards examines how countries try to get out of financial trouble by devaluing their currencies.  Rickards says, “Today, as yesterday, countries are attempting to devalue their way out of trouble. Following the strategy of beggar-thy- neighbor, the U.S., Europe, China and Japan all want to weaken their currencies. The flaw in the tactic should be clear. “Not everyone could cheapen at once,” Rickards writes. “The circle still could not be squared.” Rickards predicts the U.S. dollar’s future is not bright, and if there were a “catastrophic collapse of investor confidence,” the dollar’s buying power could suffer suddenly and dramatically in a global sell off.

Gold would be the big beneficiary if the dollar declined, and Rickards’ top price for gold per ounce is–wait for it–$44,552!   That price is the absolute highest possibility.  Rickards and others predict that in the next few years, America will go back on some sort of gold standard.  Meaning, the dollar will be backed by gold, but Rickards has stated on many occasions that there probably will not be a100% gold backed U.S. dollar.  Instead, Rickards contends it will be more in the neighborhood of 40%.  If that is the case, then gold would be $17,821 per ounce using Rickards numbers.  It appears gold prices are going much higher.

In a new book called “Currency Wars,” Wall Street insider Jim Rickards examines how countries try to get out of financial trouble by devaluing their currencies.  Rickards says, “Today, as yesterday, countries are attempting to devalue their way out of trouble. Following the strategy of beggar-thy- neighbor, the U.S., Europe, China and Japan all want to weaken their currencies. The flaw in the tactic should be clear. “Not everyone could cheapen at once,” Rickards writes. “The circle still could not be squared.”Rickards predicts the U.S. dollar’s future is not bright, and if there were a “catastrophic collapse of investor confidence,” the dollar’s buying power could suffer suddenly and dramatically in a global sell off.

Gold would be the big beneficiary if the dollar declined, and Rickards’ top price for gold per ounce is–wait for it–$44,552!   That price is the absolute highest possibility.  Rickards and others predict that in the next few years, America will go back on some sort of gold standard.  Meaning, the dollar will be backed by gold, but Rickards has stated on many occasions that there probably will not be a100% gold backed U.S. dollar.  Instead, Rickards contends it will be more in the neighborhood of 40%.  If that is the case, then gold would be $17,821 per ounce using Rickards numbers.  It appears gold prices are going much higher.

The main factor in determining gold price is money printing, and one of the biggest currency creators on the planet is the Federal Reserve.  It created enormous amounts of money in the wake of the 2008 meltdown, and it looks like it is getting ready to unleash mountains of even more cash to stop the impending Euro-land meltdown.  This week, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard indicated the central bank would take action if the EU sovereign debt crisis turns chaotic.  According to a Wall Street Journal report, “Bullard said that if overseas events worsened significantly, the Fed could respond, saying “the Fed can re-open some of the liquidity facilities that were used during 2008-2009″ to reduce related market disruptions. “It will be fairly clear if some sort of crisis occurs in financial market that causes trust to break down,” it would then be time for the Fed to take action to alleviate the market tumult, he said.”   It looks to me the Fed will be forced to print money to stop another financial meltdown.  It is only a matter of time, and time appears short.

Renowned economist Martin Armstrong says, “What this is really about is it’s the entire Western civilization that’s starting to crumble.”  In an interview Monday on King World News, Armstrong warned, “Everything is falling apart and the politicians will not address it because it means having to change the system and that’s what they do not want to do.  The real big money that I speak to, they are really starting to look beyond Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal.  They are starting to look at France and Germany.”  Armstrong goes on to say, “They have borrowed year after year with no intention of paying it back.  The US had $1 trillion of debt when Ronald Reagan took office in 1980.  We are now pressing $15 trillion of debt.”  The debt crisis throughout the Western world will push the price of the yellow metal higher even though it is currently range bound.  Armstrong says, “Basically what you are doing is you are building a sideways type of base.  Eventually gold is going to take off to the upside, but largely when people begin to see the Emperor has no clothes and we’re getting close to that.  I would only give it a few more months.”

When the next financial calamity hits, the Fed and other central banks will have two choices.  They can print money to try and save the system they love, or let it implode.  That means this is really all about gold now.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Gold is said to be a hedge against inflation, deflation and all other nasty sorts of economic bugaboos. It looks like it may be a hedge against political incompetence too.

The price of gold has surged more than 7% in just the past week and a half. The yellow metal is now trading around $1,750 an ounce.

That’s still a bit lower from the all-time high of about $1,924 from just a few months ago. But experts think that a new record could be in the cards soon if the debt melodrama in Europe (As George Papandreou Turns?) continues.

The incessant chatter and gossip — will there be a referendum or not? — is only serving to make already jittery investors even more skittish. That’s a perfect recipe for a rally in gold, which is the quintessential safe haven because it’s something with tangible value … as opposed to a stock or paper currency.

“What’s driving gold right now is that investors don’t know what to do. All the rumors in Europe are making people worried,” said David Beahm, vice president of economic research with Blanchard & Company Inc, a New Orleans-based investing firm that specializes in gold and other precious metals.

“Gold may be volatile but I can’t see a reason why it would go down much. I think a price of $2,000 by the end of the year is still possible,” Beahm added.

But it’s not just the latest EU scuttlebutt that is lifting gold. Actual news is helping too. In somewhat of a surprise move, new European Central Bank president Mario Draghi announced that the ECB was cutting interest rates.

That could put more pressure on the Federal Reserve, which did not announce any new policy moves after its meeting Wednesday, to do something if the global economy continues to founder.

Greece goes all in

The Fed can’t cut rates (they’re already at zero) but some are urging the central bank to start a third round of bond buying, a so-called QE3. In fact, one Fed member, Chicago Fed president Charles Evans, dissented with the central bank’s decision to stand pat. According to the Fed statement, Evans wanted “additional policy accommodation at this time” — which is likely code for QE3.

If Evans eventually gets his way, more bond purchases would probably suppress the value of the dollar as investors would once again worry that the Fed is just printing money. And that would create inflation fears which would lead to even higher gold prices. Gold traders are also likely feasting on bullish comments from influential hedge fund manager David Einhorn on Tuesday.

During a conference call to discuss the results of Greenlight Capital Re, the insurer that Einhorn is chairman of, Einhorn gushed about how well he thought gold miners would perform. He said his firm has shifted some money into the Market Vectors Gold Miners, adding that he expected gold prices to continue to rise.

Einhorn is a big enough name that what he says could become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Just ask any investor who was caught with a long position in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, which has plunged more than 30 % since Einhorn said he was shorting it a few weeks ago.

Commodity bears aren’t going anywhere

Still, any investor rushing into gold now has to be extremely careful. Rob Stein, senior portfolio manager with Astor Asset Management in Chicago, said that gold definitely could hit $2,000 before long. But he also thinks the bubble may eventually burst. We’ve seen that movie before several times. It never ends well.

Gold will probably remain attractive as long as Europe, and to a lesser extent the U.S., remains in economic crisis mode. But this too shall pass. It may not be for a couple of years, but Stein said gold prices can’t remain this high forever. Enjoy it while you can.

“Economic growth will eventually hurt gold,” Stein said. “If we get to 2013 and the Fed finally starts raising rates like it says it will, you’ll see gold head back down. I could easily see it falling to $1,000.”

Then again, 2013 is a long time away. And even if Greece and Europe finally get their act together, investors can then turn to the folly that is Washington, DC. Would it be any surprise to see gold move higher this year once the deficit supercommittee talks start to steal headlines from the EU?

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul R. La Monica. Other than Time Warner, the parent of CNNMoney, and Abbott Laboratories, La Monica does not own positions in any individual stocks

The rare coin market remains on solid ground after the metals gyrate, with individuals continuing to buy, seeking an alternative to other investments and as a hedge against future inflation. Established collectors are carrying on with their endeavors, but continue meeting some headwinds as it gets more difficult to locate the coins they want and/or as selective prices climb higher. Still, strong prices are being paid to acquire better quality coins, especially CAC approved material, which can be sold sight-unseen for all the premium and no hassle of returns or any of the other obstacles to rapid liquidation. Better date Morgans are particularly hot this week in this regard.
Coin shop activity continues on the buying side with the public still bringing in coins, jewelry, and precious metals to sell with some in a panic as metal prices have plunged during recent weeks. More sophisticated collectors, however, are continuing to hold, but some are liquidating to cover losses in other areas. Gold has remained above the $1,600 per ounce mark lately, currently at $1,656, recovering from a recent decline to $1,593 September 26. For the last two weeks, Platinum has traded below Gold, and is now hovering around 10% lower than the yellow metal, while Palladium has dropped to below $600 which hasn’t taken place since late October of last year.
This is an off week for some dealers who only attend the major shows, a welcome break from the busy August and September schedule of the ANA, Long Beach, and Whitman Philadelphia shows. Other dealers are already in the area of Pittsburgh for the Fall National Money Show beginning October 13, attending a pre show in nearby Monroeville, PA, which runs through October 10. Several smaller shows are filling in the gaps around the country for some collectors and dealers who would normally attend the major shows. However, some of these smaller one-day shows used to be two, or even three-day events, but have shrunk during the past decade or two because of increased internet trading and the slow coin market that occurred prior to the bull market of the 2000s. Many of the dealers who set up at the smaller shows are shop dealers who have been buying from the public and have precious metal related products and less expensive coins the average collector is seeking; whereas the major shows have a larger presence of national dealers who serve high-end collectors and investors with a different inventory make-up.
ICTA, the Industry Council for Tangible Assets, has been receiving calls about stepped up enforcement of local and state Secondhand Dealer laws which require dealers to hold items such as scrap jewelry, flatware, precious metals, bullion coins, and sometimes even high-priced rare coins and currency. Increased appearances by hotel buyers, and other itinerant buyers, are a concern to policing authorities, as are established coin shops and offices. Many dealers are surprised to learn that their cities and states have laws already on the books that are now increasingly being enforced. Most of these laws require dealers to hold this merchandise from usually 7 all the way up to 30 days.