Coin Collecting Is in the Fast Lane

If you think coin collecting is moving forward full-throttle, you might want to put on your seat belt. It looks like we might still be shifting out of second gear.

Consider that there were more than 8,500 active bidders at the Heritage Auction held during the Florida United Numismatists convention in January. Seven lots in the auction were individually bid to more than $1 million, each setting a new record price for that particular lot. There were 81 additional record prices set during the auction. A total of 211 lots sold for at least $50,000 each.

Certified Collectibles Group, parent company to Numismatic Guaranty Company, recently announced the business is instituting a $15 per hour minimum wage for all entry-level employees, including full-time employees, part-time employees and interns. This is more than 50 percent higher than is the current Florida minimum wage.

Market momentum isn’t limited to the United States, either. While interest in coin collecting activity in Europe should be assumed to be healthy, there are developments regarding the interest in coins elsewhere in the world that may come as a surprise. The Europe-based weekly online numismatic publication CoinsWeekly.com recently announced the launch of GekkanCoins, a Japanese language version of the same publication. Some content will be geared towards the interest of Japanese collectors. Also worthy of note: Eur-Seree Collecting Company in Bangkok announced that Thai coins and bank notes were setting new record prices throughout 2021.

Add to all this that nervous equity investors seeking alternative investments in a volatile stock market are buying bullion and bullion-impacted coins, and you have what is getting to be a perfect storm.