The numismatic market has seen tremendous growth since the start of the pandemic, with cryptocurrency investors even joining the bandwagon
A coin collector shows the commemorative coin, released by the Colombian Central Bank, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Colombian independence
(401 G.C. QUICKNOTE Mon. June 6th, 2022) – While investors continue to pour money into all things crypto, there’s another type of currency that appears to be gaining traction.
And this one is as “real” as money gets — as in rare coins.
By many accounts, the coin (or numismatic) market has seen tremendous growth since the start of the pandemic, both in terms of number of sales and in the prices for sought-after items. Indeed, in 2021, a 1933 Double Eagle gold U.S. coin, billed as the “holy grail of coins,” sold for $18.9 million at Sotheby’s, with the auction house saying the price nearly doubled the world-record mark for a coin.
David Tripp, a special coin consultant to Sotheby’s, told MarketWatch that the Double Eagle sale “seems to have acted as catalyst” for the industry.
“Since then, the prices realized for high-grade rarities…have been at highs never before seen, or even dreamed of,” he said.
Private dealers also report that business has been brisk. Brian Kendrella, president of Stack’s Bowers Galleries, one of the most prominent dealers in the U.S., says his sales surged by 100% in 2021. He also says his company has been behind some significant sales in recent years, including a $4 million-plus one for a 1913 Liberty Head U.S. nickel, another highly prized coin.
Kendrella said that interest in coins is coming from everywhere, be it new collectors or those “who have been dormant and are joining the market again.”
The “holy grail of coins”: This 1933 Double Eagle gold U.S. coin sold for a record $18.9 million at a Sotheby’s auction.
COURTESY SOTHEBY’S AND SQUAREMOOSE
Mark Salzberg, chairman of Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC), a grading service for coins, says there’s also been an unexpected twist of sorts in that those who have made fortunes from cryptocurrency are joining the coin bandwagon.
“I don’t think they trust stocks,” Salzberg told MarketWatch.
Overall, prices of key rare coins, as tracked by a popular industry index created by Professional Coin Grading Services (PCGS), have risen 16% since a year ago. Perhaps more noteworthy, the index has increased by 6,315% since its inception in 1970.
Posted by :
Jack Dempsey, President
401 Gold Consultants LLC
jdemp2003@gmail.com