Can Dealers Keep Up with Buyers?

The recent Whitman Coin and Collectibles 2023 Spring Expo was the latest in what has become a string of successful conventions. New price records were set during the associated Stack’s Bowers Galleries auction, the auction realizing more than $28.5 million. As a sign of the times, nearly $680,000 in Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency coins were sold at a special auction center. The average premiums on these were close to 200 percent of their face value.

There is sufficient demand for coins over the counter that the question has arisen, are dealers able to stock sufficient fresh material to keep up with buyers? Not only are collectible coins selling quickly, but so is just about anything with intrinsic value, this demand not being limited to bullion coin products. The spot price of gold and silver each continue to trade within a narrow range, which in turn appears to have helped the momentum in bullion and intrinsically valued coin sales.

If anyone is having problems due to metal prices, it is the U.S. Mint. Due to the increased price of raw materials (copper, nickel and zinc), it now costs more than 2.5 cents to produce a 1-cent coin and more than twice the face value of a 5-cent as well. The Mint reportedly lost $171 million on these coins during 2022. The cost of producing dimes and quarters has likewise risen, but has not yet risen sufficiently to drive these denominations into the red. Perhaps it’s finally time to consider higher denomination circulation coinage? Unfortunately, it is doubtful that Congress is listening