- 09/16/2024
- Warren Mills
- 2024 ANA Edition
Welcome to the latest Rare Coin Enthuiast. I apologize for the gap from the last edition. We are thankful to have the opportunity to acquire some very large and nice collections of bread and butter collector coins. However, it takes a tremendous amount of time to break these collections down. We also schedule about ten appointments each day in the office and expend a substantial amount of time each week trying to help people get money back from nefarious telemarketing groups. Anyway, we can help, we are happy to, but we are finding that older collectors and would be investors are being preyed upon every day. Some to the tune of six and seven figures! Please be sure that older relatives and friends are not falling victim.
The ANA was in Rosemont, Illinois. Chris and I left Sunday for the show to get an early start since dealer day opened on Monday. The show floor was split in two sections. The premier dealer section was closest to the entrance. Many of the high-profile dealers have tables in this section of the show. We hit the floor running on Sunday and conducted a fair amount of business before the show even opened. We were hoping that this was going to be a harbinger for things to come. The opening salvo on Monday was fair but there was a noticeable lack of bread-and-butter coins in the few thousand to few hundred dollar range. It seems that collectors are buying these coins and holding with no interest in a short-term turnover for a profit. Tuesday was the first day of the public entry and attendance was good. On Tuesday, I started working the main body of the dealer tables and found that most of my purchases were from this area. They may not be the largest dealers but they are knowledgeable and many offer nice coins for sale. You need to be prepared to pay for premium examples but the educated dealers know this and are willing to pay. Nice coins sell themselves but a little haggling enriches the purchase or sale. Chris had a good show offering what coins we brought for sale, but I spent less than half of what I was hoping to spend. Those bread-and-butter coins just weren’t there. Overall, the show was steady and remained active throughout. I would grade it an MS-65+ for selling and an MS-62+ for buying. I’m not about to compromise my standards at this stage of my career and just buy a coin because the insert tag has a grade that my customers would purchase. All our coins pass the RCNH test for quality.
RCNH Retail and Wholesale Coins
Since Chris came on board a few years ago, I decided to allow him to select a mix of our wholesale and retail coins to take to the shows and offer them for sale to the dealers. He sells a mix of about 40-45% retail coins and 55-60% wholesale coins. I mention this for one important point. When I started RCNH 35 years ago. I made a promise to be a good steward for the industry and try to always sell coins that were strong for the grade and a fair value. Many of our loyal clients look for coins with the RCNH label on the back. I didn’t think about that when we started bringing wholesale coin to the shows. As I tell everyone buy the coins not the holders. For RCNH labels, please do the same. I don’t want a collector to assume that all of the coins with these labels are our top-of-the-line pieces. To obtain a top notch collection, be patient and always buy the coin not the holder no matter what holder a coin is in.
CAC and CACG coins at the ANA
It’s been over a year now and it’s time to start seeing more CAC approved and CACG coins at the shows. I was anxious to see a broad mix of coins to give an opinion on what I think of the service. The concept of delivering a strictly graded coin to collectors or investors is great. I’ve always been a proponent of technical grading over commercial or market acceptable grading. The latter is subject to standard fluctuations and oversupply which will erode the pricing structure for all series of coins eventually. Oversupply will exceed demand and price levels will drop. The dealer in the short term makes more money and the collector will lose money in the long-term due to oversupply.
We noticed right away that many of the premier dealers had little to no CACG. When we asked why, it was because they were not getting any calls for them. I have to admit, I was shocked! I asked why in the world would an affluent buyer or any buyer not want the strictest coin for the grade? Then it dawned on me. The real movers and shakers in this market are registry set buyers. PCGS does not accept CACG coins in their registry programs. Why would these established well healed buyers want to buy a coin for their sets they cannot post and secondly, why would a registry buyer want to subject their PCGS or NGC registry set coins to CACG for potential downgrades and maybe a significant loss of value? Guess what, they won’t do it. CACG needs to come out with some type of program or PCGS needs to accept CACG coins in their registry. I have to say, I don’t see that happening either. When we try to post a CACG coin on Collectors Corner, we have to post them as uncertified. PCGS will not recognize them. How much of a hand does a business want to extent to a competitor that is just going to take market share away from them? This is a conundrum for CACG in the future. More than ever, buy the coin not the holder.
Deloy Hansen is crossing all of his registry set coins to CACG! He is willing to accept all downgrades. Pardon me for being suspicious, and yes CACG desperately needs registry buyers to purchase CACG coins but you know going in that you are not going to cross all of your PCGS or NGC registry set coins to the same grade at CACG. So why do it? My hope is that he likes the CACG product so much that technical grading is the motivation and not being a shareholder in CACG. I declined the offer to be a CACG share holder because I thought it was a conflict of interest as much as I love the concept and strict grading.
Potential Problem Developing for the Coin Industry
When I started looking at coins to purchase on Sunday, I noticed a fair amount with underlying PVC. It was on some of the coins in PCGS, NGC, CACG and CAC approved coins. I would have purchased at least 20 more coins at this show but I was afraid of the PVC building on the surface of these coins over time. Most dealers don’t notice it or care about it but to me it’s a growing problem. CAC and CACG will not sticker or holder a coin with noticeable PVC on it, however, I saw quite a few coins in their holders with light PVC and heavy PVC in other holders. I know that PCGS and NGC offer a restoration service for a fee, to remove PVC but do you want to subject a nice original coin to being dipped to remove PVC? Coins that were stored in PVC holders for decades may not manifest the PVC film for years. Also, PVC will eventually eat into the surface of the coin if not attended to. I didn’t see any coins like that but long-term exposure to PVC could be a risk. Please be on the lookout for a whitish to greenish cloud on any coins you are considering for purchase in any holder or older CAC stickered coin.
Calling all Coins
I know the FUN show is four and a half months away but if you are thinking of having us take any coins on consignment to sell at the show, please get them to us. We examine all consigned coins for regrading or CAC submission to maximize the value for any of our customers old or new. I recently examined a 1928-S Walking Liberty Half in MS-65 that we sold to a client that did not CAC due to PVC. When the PVC was removed, the coins was graded MS-65 by CACG. A substantial increase in value. If you have any question, feel free to give us a call. Remember, some coins may not be worth consigning if that is the case, we will make a fair offer to buy them. If you just want your coins examined only for upgrade or CAC, we will be happy to do that as well.
We have a large corner table close to the front entrance of the show which gives our coins and yours, great exposure.
Feel free to call or email me if you have any questions or opinions.
Thank you,
Warren