If anyone is looking for powerful trends to develop in the secondary market for 2006 one-ounce Buffalo gold pieces, they might be disappointed.
Dealers contacted by Numismatic News were not particularly enthusiastic about business registered thus far.
Dealer Paul Sims of Paul Sims, Inc., Richmond, Va., was most upbeat. He said that ?proof pieces have been selling well.? He quoted his retail price of $849 June 12 for anyone who wanted to buy one that day. This is up $49 from the original issue price of $800.
Some 252,000 of the proof 2006 Buffaloes were sold by the Mint before they went off sale as the 2007 coins came on the market May 23.
Sims had this to say about the 2006 Buffalo pieces sold into the bullion coin market: ?the uncirculated pieces have been selling as well as any gold coin. They have taken half of the gold Eagle market for one-ounce coins.? That is a pretty powerful market reaction.
A review of recently completed eBay auctions shows that proof Buffaloes indeed have been selling right around issue price of $800, within a range of $772-$825.
However, those pieces with the top grade of Proof-70 assigned to them command a significant premium, having sold for between $1,165 and $1, 259 on eBay.
Sales of both proof and bullion uncirculated Buffalo coins have not been extraordinary, reported Kirk Kelly of the Coin Depot, Greenville, S.C. He said he had no real sense of the market for these coins right now.
As the secondary market develops and the price of gold bullion fluctuates, prices for proof 2006 gold Buffaloes are likely to change further. But one thing is sure, the coins have held their value for the past year.
