For many dealers, the July 4 weekend will provide a brief respite from the show circuit. Then the travel schedule begins anew with Summer FUN in Orlando. Indeed, with July 7 slated for dealer setup, and the usual pre-show hotel room wheeling and dealing, the July 4 holiday for some will be nothing more than an opportunity to catch one’s breath. Not so fast, with Gold Spot plummeting over $40 from the previous close and still falling, some inventory adjustments are likely. The last time Gold Spot closed under $1,200 an ounce was on May 25, and generic MS62 $20 Saints were Bid $1,490. Today these have a sight-unseen Bid of $1,360. Bids for $20 Libs are similar, Choice examples were Bid $2,100 in late May and now they are 12% lower at $1,850. This was a time when slabs brandishing the “+” grade were just being made at NGC while PCGS began a couple months earlier. CCE has now implemented a Bidding platform for generic Double Eagles to be traded sight-unseen in grades MS65+ through MS68+ with the latter grade only available for No Motto Saint-Gaudens. This Gem and better Type Gold, that is above average for the grade, including CAC approved examples are seeing a wave of increased demand.
     Silver Commemoratives are subdued but the importance of one issue involved and the grades targeted render it significant. The popular Isabella Quarter, the lone Quarter denomination in the set, flares up to $2,000 in MS65 and $3,250 in MS66. These advances are for coins in a PCGS holder. One might find the sight-unseen MS65 Bid provocative – a CAC approved example realized $1,900 less than two weeks ago. A final note on the Isabella, low PCGS populations of 384 and 144 in MS65 and MS66 confirm the rather hearty Bids. Advanced Type collectors, often include it in an exhaustive Type Set of U.S. Coins in the same way Liberty Seated coinage with Arrows are included by denomination even though the design Type is the same. Two rather precipitous decliners in this segment are the 1936 Elgin in MS66 and the 1935S San Diego in MS65, both on the PCGS side of the ledger. Classic Gold Commems, darlings of sight-seen Bidding activity of late, are less active on the sight-unseen front. Three advances and two declines – all involving PCGS slabs – is the extent.
     A pair of PCGS Proof Seated Quarters – the With Arrows in PR65 and the With Motto in PR65 and PR66 – sojourn to higher ground with a 19% increase recorded for the With Arrows example. These have been stale with a sight-unseen Bid of $4,200 since January 2003 when they fell from $4,400. “Drenched in richly original toning,” is how a 1903 Barber Quarter graded PCGS PR67 was described that sold at auction for $2,990. The sale of this pop 18 coin left over $700 on the table, as a standing sight-unseen offer of $3,700 is available for any PR67 Barber Quarter graded by PCGS, regardless of the coin’s date, condition, look or slab generation. The sale of an NGC MS66 Seated Quarter Arrows & Rays and Seated Half Dime in the same grade necessitated a lowering of Bid. In the case of the Quarter, the decrease to Bid is approximately 20%. Draped Bust Half Dimes with Large Eagle are lower in PCGS MS64 after a poor auction performance. A handful of other adjustments are observable throughout the chart, though none are so significant that specific mention is needed here. Only a half-dozen or so examples can be found in this segment’s market columns that sold for less than binding sight-unseen Bid this past week. Barber Half Dollars graded MS65 by NGC are a textbook example.
     Issues targeted among the Morgan Dollars: 1878 7/8TF, 1883CC, 1884CC, 1891O, 1903O, 1888S and the 1891S. Often times referred to as the Strong Reverse, the 1878 7/8TF is comprised of a handful of major die varieties. The so-called Weak Reverse, frequently labeled simply as 1878 7TF, also represents numerous die varieties. Among the Strong Reverse varieties, Bid is valid for any 1878 7/8TF Strong Reverse, regardless of any other attribution. Among the decliners, the 1881O in NGC MS65 and the 1892O in PCGS MS64, the new, reduced Bids reflect recent auction price realizations that have come in at lower levels. An example of the 1880CC in PCGS MS63 sold for $310; bewildering in light of the sight-unseen Bid of $440. GSA encased Morgans are suffering as a few dealers are currently overstocked. Two separate parties are offering the 1879CC with box and certificate for $6,000. A few of the more common New Orleans issues are also available for less in the same format. Even GSA Dollars with the NGC wrap around grade strip are suffering a tad. Peace Dollars are biased on the positive side – eight advances, two declines. A total of four issues actually sold in the past week at auctions for levels that are below sight-unseen Bid. Occurrences of sales taking place below Bid were infrequent, almost nonexistent for a time. Of late, such transactions are on the rise. A Standing Liberty Quarter, Superb Gem in NGC hardware, sold for $720 against a Bid of $890. Certainly, this particular 1924D appears woefully, poorly struck. Nevertheless, the nature of a binding sight-unseen Bid must account for these worst-case specimens and these good faith Bids honored. An 1853 Braided Hair Half Cent graded NGC MS65B selling for $550 against a Bid of $650 is yet another example of this phenomenon. Standing Liberty Quarters certified by ANACS and ICG reflect new interest. Bid climbs in MS65 for ANACS examples. The recent sale of an 1880 Proof Trade Dollar graded PR66 by PCGS prompted a review of Bid. Analysis suggested a modest revision downward. One of the most popular and sought after Silver Proof Types in the entire arsenal of U.S. coinage, the 1880 accounts for 25 of the 107 coins certified at this level. Population one grade higher is 23. Proof Gold Type is quiescent. A quick review of recent transactions here reveal that coins belonging to this segment rarely sell at or below published levels although items offered at auction do go unsold at times.

Reprinted from Issue No. 27 July 2, 2010 of the Certified Coin Dealer Newsletter - the Bluesheet
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