Coin Business Resilient in the Face of Coronavirus

By Richard Giedroyc 

The business of coins is proving to be surprisingly resilient in comparison to much of the non-essential business market during this period of the coronavirus pandemic. Despite that observation, there are still two sides to the coin story.

Collectors and investors looking to buy gold and silver coins as a hedge against the recent declines in the stock market are finding premiums for bullion impacted coins to be much higher than might be expected under normal circumstances. While dealers are making this market, there is a significant shortage of bullion and bullion-impacted coins to fill orders. Part of this is demand outstripping supply. Since many mines have been shuttered due to the pandemic, there isn’t much “fresh” gold available in any form.

The scarce to rare coin market was already in strong hands prior to the pandemic. Sales have switched from over-the-counter sales and live bidding at auctions to internet sales and online bidding, but sales remain strong no matter what it takes to ensure transactions take place.

The most noticeable market laggard for some time has been Morgan and Peace silver dollars. Demand is there, but so is supply. There still appear to be more price declines than increases, with no particular pattern to which dates, mintmarks or conditions are impacted. Areas, where specialists focus, have remained relatively evenly priced, although some true rarities are being bid up noticeably at auctions.

The only question for this bull coin market is: once the coronavirus goes away will some of the current influx of new coin buyers go away as well?