Large cents and Indian cents doing well

Sales of gold and silver American Eagle are declining. At the same time several auction houses are reporting impressive total prices realized. What this suggests is that the entry level and investment arena for collectible coins is sputtering. However the advanced collector continues to be actively collecting. There is, however, noticeable resistance to a buy at record prices. Without a significant influx of new collectors, the value of the better date and better condition coins can expect to go stagnant. This is already true for a large segment of this sector of the market. Most recent price increases are primarily in very specialized areas including large cents, Indian cents, Capped Bust half dollars, as well as both 18th and early 19th century gold coins.

Key date coins in the bullion American Eagle series are just one example of coins whose prices have underperformed, while the bullion price-impacted common dates fluctuate as might be anticipated. There are a significant number of coins for which certified high grade examples have not appeared in auctions in several years. Overall, the market for collectible coins remains active, but its breadth is in decline even if collector interest in its depth is not. What the coin market needs is more collectors if the market is going to rebound.