Rare Coins Ignore Recession

Rare coins continue to be in the spotlight. On Nov. 1 it was the Harvey Jacobson Collection’s turn, highlighted by such lots as a 1797 Small Eagle $10 eagle that, in Professional Coin Grading Service AU-53, realized $174,000 and a 1799 Small Obverse Stars $10 eagle that, in Numismatic Guaranty Company AU-55, sold for $38,400. An early November auction that had not yet taken place at the time this was being written was to include a 1792 Washington President cent, a 1786 Bridle New Jersey copper and an 1852 Augustus Humbert U.S. Assay Office $50. Showing what confidence the consigner has in the coin collecting market, the New Jersey copper is being offered for just the third time in the past hundred years.

There appears to be an almost never-ending parade of seldom seen rarities that just keep coming onto the market – this at a time when the country is bracing for a possible recession. Many of the buyers for these rarities are serious collectors with deep pockets, but there are a significant number of investors looking to find alternatives to the stock market for their money. This is where coins become an asset class as well as a collectible.

At the same time the crypto coin world appears to be imploding, not only freeing up what crypto money hasn’t vanished but also demonstrating once again that the cashless society is a theory, but it isn’t reality. Coins and bank notes as physical money are not some archaic relics of the past being supported artificially. Physical money is here to stay – and to be collected.