Off market at CSNS show

By Steve Roach
First published in the May 24, 2010 Coin World

The market at the just-completed Central States Numismatic Society convention, held from April 27 to May 1 in Milwaukee, was certainly odd.

One thing odd about the show was that many dealers had already been there for three days before the public was allowed in, making pure retail sales tough to gauge. Tuesday afternoon was Professional Numismatists Guild setup day and Wednesday was PNG Day, with access limited to PNG dealers, invited guests and holders of a $75 Professional Preview badge. Thursday was a Professional Preview day for the holders of the $75 badge.

The public was not invited to the bourse floor until Friday at 10 a.m.

With many dealers packing up and leaving on Friday evening and Saturday morning, this left collectors with a short window to make their purchases and created a disincentive for collectors to travel to Milwaukee, especially in light of the upcoming Whitman Nashville Expo scheduled for May 20 to 22, which has dealer policies perhaps more friendly to collectors.

Heritage Auction Galleries' Platinum Night auction also proved odd when compared to prior years. The top lot, a 1921 Saint-Gaudens gold $20 double eagle graded Mint State 63 by Professional Coin Grading Service, realized $218,500 – the same price that a comparable example sold for at auction in October 2006.

While the individual price levels in the auction were fine, the overall value of the sale was sharply down from past Platinum Night auctions. At $218,500, the top lot in the auction would not have placed in the top 10 of either the 2009 or 2008 CSNS Platinum Night auctions or the 2010, 2009 or 2008 Florida United Numismatists Platinum Night auctions. The $218,500 price would have been only the 25th most expensive coin at the 2008 FUN Platinum Night auction.

If anything seems to confirm dealers' constant grumbling that too few quality coins are in the market, it was the overall weakness of the offered property in the Platinum Night auction, generally among the most highly anticipated sales of the year, although prices achieved for the offered material fell within expectations.