Scarce to Rare Coins Show No Signs of Slowing

By Richard Giedroyc 

Anyone asking how the rare coin market is performing need not look any further than the 1933 $10 eagle graded Mint State 65 by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation that sold for $360,000 in a late April auction in Dallas. Take notice of the bids, of which there were 45 before the gavel fell!

The scarce to rare sector of the coin market is firing on all cylinders, with no let-up in sight. Collectible yet generally more available coins continue to sell at a fever pitch. Bullion and bullion-impacted coins are performing better than might be expected, with reports of what has been termed “mass-market coins” being sold through coin dealers to mass marketers. It is this bottom rung that is particularly outperforming what might be anticipated.

The spot price of silver lagged that of gold until just before this commentary was being written. The price of silver and subsequently of bullion composition silver coins shot up as demand increased markedly. Some analysts suggest the economic recovery may be slower than predicted, encouraging commodity and collectible purchases as safe havens rather than what still proves to be more risky equity buys. Others say we are experiencing a perfect storm of increasing investment demand for silver coupled with falling supply. The Federal Reserve’s industrial production data for April indicated that mine output for gold and silver dropped by a shocking 11.2 percent, the sharpest drop in history.

We already know supply coupled with frothy demand is driving the rare coin market. It appears to be driving the bullion coin market as well.