Heritage and Stack's Bowers compete to fill Summer ANA coin auctions

By Steve Roach - http://www.steveroachonline.com

First published in the July 11, 2011, issue of Coin World 

As Bowers and Merena merged with Stack’s at the end of 2010, many wondered if the resources of the new Stack’s Bowers Galleries would have a greater shot at gaining market share away from Heritage Auctions than either firm would individually.

The battle between Heritage and Stack’s Bowers Galleries was in full steam in June as the two firms worked tirelessly to fill their summer auctions in conjunction with the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money in Rosemont, Ill., Aug. 16 to 20.

(Pictured above is a Proof 1975-S Roosevelt No S dim that will be featured in the Stack's Bowers Galleries official ANA World's Fair of Money auction in August)

Stack’s Bowers had an initial advantage in that it is holding the official auctions during the convention. Heritage — which has been selected the ANA’s official auctioneer 42 times, did not win the official rights to the summer ANA auction and will hold their sale prior to the main show, in Rosemont, Ill., Aug. 11 to 12.

Heritage will include a Platinum Night and Stack’s Bowers Galleries will have a Rarities Night, and both firms will offer previews on both coasts.

That the two auction houses are so competitive this season benefits collectors, who can negotiate better rates as these two viable auctions in concert with the convention will get broad participation. Several collectors and dealers have reported receiving very favorable consignment rates as both firms work hard to fill their sales with quality material.

Both firms have something to prove. Heritage benefits from holding a nonofficial ANA auction that can rival if not exceed the official auction, while saving money by not having to share the revenues with the ANA that it would as an official auction. A strong Stack’s Bowers Galleries auction further solidifies the firm’s position as a major competitive auction house, worthy rival to Heritage.

But for those who missed World’s Fair of Money consignment deadlines, more ANA auctions await. A June 3 letter sent to ANA members by ANA President Larry Shepherd promotes Heritage as the official auctioneer for the ANA National Money Show, held in Pittsburgh, Oct. 13 to 15.

Sent while Stack’s Bowers was still finalizing consignments for the official summer ANA sale, the letter reminded readers that Heritage has been named official ANA auctioneer many more times than any of its competitors combined, a message that did Stack’s Bowers few favors while it worked to get material for the official summer ANA sale.

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

Are coins undervalued as an asset class?

By Steve Roach - http://www.steveroachonline.com
First published in the July 4, 2011, issue of Coin World

In early June, several coin dealers wrote blogs that compared the coin market to the art market — a topic that seems to come up every few years.

To be sure, the overall coin market is small compared with the global art market, although the frequency of $1 million coins trading hands has increased rapidly over the past decade.

On May 29, Laurie Sperber of Legend Numismatics wrote that when compared to other asset classes like art, gems or watches, coins “are so cheap relative to other ‘collectable’ areas it seems like they are forever ‘on sale.’ ” Sperber cited the 1907 Indian Head, Normal Edge gold $10 eagle graded Proof 67 by Numismatic Guaranty Corp. that she purchased from the 2011 Florida United Numismatists Heritage Auction for $2.185 million as an example of a coin with broad appeal (the coin is pictured, Left). She predicted that the beautiful coin, with a historic provenance that traced its ownership to a former Mint director, could easily be worth $15 million in 10 years.

Prices for the rarest objects across most collectible categories have increased in the past decade as billionaires — especially from Russia and China — have sought to diversify their portfolios with alternative investments like collectibles that speak to a buyer’s taste and status.

Dealer Doug Winter asked in a June 1 blog entry to his site if the coin market will ever “catch up” to the art market. He argues that the pool of buyers for a fine art masterpiece is far broader than for a rare coin  like a 1913 Liberty Head 5-cent piece. Most great U.S. coins are marketed to American coin buyers, while the market for ancient art or a Picasso painting is global.

The coin market has few institutional buyers like museums that can permanently remove items from the market. While museums will deaccession (sell) minor works, they rarely sell major works to nonmuseum buyers on the open market. Thankfully, at least a dozen museums have large acquisition budgets or wealthy trustees who can come up with substantial amounts for a masterwork that fills a gap in a collection, so the supply of great paintings is always shrinking.

A limiting factor for coins is that they don’t display well to noncollectors. Winter gets to the point by asking, “When’s the last time you went to your local museum to see a coin exhibit?”

Coins cannot adorn as gems or watches can, cannot decorate as antiques and art can, and don’t look cool in a garage like a classic car. Yet, they are portable and the transaction costs of selling most coins is substantially less than with other rare objects.

So are rare coins cheap, somewhat undervalued or overvalued?

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

Top rarities like 1794 silver dollars in high demand at $22M+ Long Beach coin auctions

By Steve Roach - http://www.steveroachonline.com

First published in the June 27, 2011, issue of Coin World - http://www.coinworld.com/

Three firms held auctions immediately before and during the June 2 to 4 Long Beach (Calif.) Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo, which in total realized more than $22 million.

The pre-Long Beach auction by Ira and Larry Goldberg Auctioneers realized more than $8 million, while a May 29 Bonhams and Butterfields auction saw nearly $1 million. The Long Beach Heritage Signature U.S. Coin auction generated almost $13 million with a sell-through rate of 96.36 percent.

The coin market seems starved for major rarities, and the top lot of the Long Beach auctions was a rare 1794 Flowing Hair dollar offered in the Goldberg sale. The coin is graded About Uncirculated 58 premium quality by Professional Coin Grading Service and is adorned with a Certified Acceptance Corp. sticker. It sold for $575,000, within the pre-auction estimate of $500,000 to $600,000.

The coin was formerly in the collection of the Connecticut Historical Society and the catalogue description included a note that Martin Logies believed the coin could “easily qualify as an MS-61.”

Logies is numismatic curator of the Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation, which purchased a PCGS Specimen 66 example of a 1794 Flowing Hair dollar for a reported $7,850,000 in a 2010 private transaction. Later that year on Aug. 7, a Mint State 64 1794 dollar sold at a Bowers and Merena auction for $1,207,500.

But not all high-end coins are bringing their owners substantial returns. An MS-65 1795 Flowing Hair dollar was the top lot in the Heritage Long Beach auction, selling for $253,000. While a quarter of a million dollars for a coin is undoubtedly impressive, the same coin sold at auction for $230,000 as part of the Cardinal Collection in June 2005 by American Numismatic Rarities. Although the 2011 price was higher than the 2005 price, after transaction fees are considered, the owner realized a loss.

It is one of two known gem examples of the die variety among eight to 10 Mint State pieces known, according to Heritage.

Upcoming major shows include the Whitman Coin and Collectibles Baltimore Expo, set for June 16 to 19, and the summer Florida United Numismatists Show in Orlando, scheduled for July 7 to 9.

The market then functionally takes a summer break until the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money in the Chicago area Aug. 16 to 20, with an affiliated pre-show scheduled for Aug. 13 to 15. 

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

eBay online coin auctions continue to surprise as some GSA Morgan silver dollars soar

By Steve Roach - http://www.steveroachonline.com
First published in the June 20, 2011, issue of Coin World - http://www.coinworld.com/

Sometimes, the kind of holder that a coin is in can have a dramatic impact on its price. Every once in a while collectors go crazy for a coin on eBay.

That happened on May 29 as 13 bidders placed 39 bids for a lot described as a “Unique 1880-O Non-CC GSA Hardpack Morgan Dollar.” The coin sold for $13,113, with three bidders bidding above the $10,000 level.  (Images courtesy of Bryan Sonnier).

Many silver dollars — typically from the Carson City Mint — were released by the General Services Administration in the 1970s. The coins, housed in black hard plastic (hardpack) or soft plastic (softpack) holders once generally traded for little premiums.

That changed when Numismatic Guaranty Corp. began grading GSA Morgan dollars submitted to NGC in their original black holders, with NGC placing the coin’s grade on a label that goes outside the black holder.

The seller of the 1880-O Morgan dollar, Bryan Sonnier of Carson City Collectibles, has been collecting and studying Carson City GSA Morgan dollars for more than 20 years. He wrote in an email that he was very confident that likely no other 1880-O Morgan Dollars in the GSA black holders exist.

While he estimated before the auction that it would realize $7,500 to $10,000, he was surprised by the five-figure result.

On May 22, Sonnier offered a GSA 1882-O Morgan dollar in a GSA “hardpack” holder that realized $6,600.69 with 49 bids from 10 different bidders. However, that coin was not unique, as NGC had already graded one in a GSA holder.

Not all non-CC hardpack GSA Morgan dollars achieve crazy prices. In a May 25 eBay auction, Sonnier offered a Mint State 1884-O Morgan dollar in a GSA hardpack that realized $243.50 — still far more than the $50 that this coin would typically sell for as a Mint State Morgan dollar.

Rarely, the odd GSA coin pops up, such as a circulated 1864 Seated Liberty dollar in a GSA “softpack” that realized $10,301 on April 24 with 51 bids. The coin had a long history and the lot included associated memorabilia.

Another type of black holder also gets attention when it is offered. In late 2010, a 1924 Saint-Gaudens gold $20 double eagle in a Mint State 62 NGC “Black” slab — one of the firm’s earliest slabs — sold for $3,805 while recently certified NGC MS-62 examples were trading at $1,600.

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