First published in the April 11, 2011, issue of Coin World - http://www.coinworld.com
The same thing could be said about the American Numismatic Association National Money Show – held March 17 to 19 in Sacramento, Calif., and the European Fine Art Fair held the same week in Maastricht, the Netherlands: great and fresh objects are getting increasingly hard to find in this market.
From the Maastricht reports, it seems that many of the big paintings, including a $47 million Rembrandt painting that last sold at auction in 2009 for $33.2 million, had been previously offered in the last several years (pictured below). The lack of fresh material has led many market observers to conclude that people are holding onto their treasures rather than selling them.
At the Heritage auction held at the ANA show, the top lot was familiar – a 1796 Draped Bust, Small Eagle half dollar graded About Uncirculated 58, which realized $207,000. That was the same price that it realized the last time it crossed the Heritage auction block in August 2008, at the ANA World’s Fair of Money auction, meaning after the 15 percent buyer’s fee is taken into account, the seller encountered a loss.Yet, fresh objects that are at the top of their class and of documented rarity and quality continue to exceed expectations.
At European Fine Art Fair, many of the best works are sold at the VIP preview, an event held before "regular people" even get a chance to see them. The reports of works sold early had a common denominator: they were high-quality, rare and not previously offered in recent memory.
Just one other six-figure coin sold at the Heritage ANA auction – a 1792 Washington, Roman Head cent graded Proof 64 brown (pictured right).
While part of the English Conder token series, it has popularly been collected as part of the Colonial coin market segment, its acceptance confirmed by its inclusion in A Guide Book of United States Coins, or the "Red Book."It realized $100,625 – substantially more than the $66,125 that a Proof 61 brown example realized in a January Heritage auction.
Nearly every post-ANA dealer report noted that good quality and rare coins are becoming hard to buy in this market and dealers are having trouble building inventories of the tough and handsome coins that collectors covet.
Most great coins, and great objects of most collectible asset classes, are in secure hands right now and not moving in the markets.
Steve Roach is a Dallas, Texas, based rare coin appraiser and fine art advisor who writes the world's most widely read rare coin market analysis each week in the pages of Coin World. He is also a lawyer and helps create estate plans for collections. Visit him online at http://www.steveroachonline.com, join him on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenroach or follow him on twitter @roachdotsteve
