Archive for category: Market Reports News

The A.N.A.’s Worlds Fair of Money is now in the history books. As we have mentioned previously, this is the biggest coin show of the year, so build-up and expectations both ran high. We are happy to report that the show delivered in all aspects. We suspected that Philadelphia both geographically and demographically would be an ideal location for this venue. After all, 40% of the country’s population is within a 500 mile radius. It also neighbors some of the country’s most affluent areas. On paper, The City of Brotherly Love seemed to be the perfect location. We have not seen the final attendance tallies, but the room appeared full most of the show. This was a stark contrast to Denver and Anaheim, the two previous A.N.A. locations. Equally as important, the attendees transacted business, and lots of it! In all, The Reeded Edge wrote over 100 show invoices, and sold almost 400 certified coins. Results are the ultimate measure for any coin show, and it’s hard to argue that bottom-line numbers should encourage the A.N.A. to favor other mid-Atlantic locations moving forward. Not to over-politicize this Market Report, but with the exception of a few proven mid-western locations like Chicago and Indianapolis, this show should stay anchored on the east coast. News Flash: Trade shows are the lifeblood for sustaining the A.N.A.’s existence. With a declining and aging membership core, these shows and the dealers that support them, provide the money that the organization so desperately needs. We realize that some members may cry foul, but if the A.N.A. dealers that purchase bourse tables can’t make enough money to justify attending these venues, then the A.N.A. will die. In this dealer’s humble opinion, there is no need for the A.N.A. to EVER consider cities like Anaheim, Los Angeles, Denver, Portland, Detroit or Kansas City for their marquis show again. Baltimore, Philadelphia and Chicago are proven winners, so let’s keep the show in those locations.

The Reeded Edge had a full staff on hand for most of the show. Veteran support staff like Miguel Lopez and Rory Shelby combined with first-timer Ron Iliffe assisted Rob and Robbie in the many tasks associated with an A.N.A. Buying and selling represented a good portion of the day’s activities, and in both areas, we remained busy throughout. But it was the behind-the-scenes work that really kept the guys in high gear. This was our first show that we implemented a new, fully automated, point of sale system that was directly tied into our inventory data base. This allowed us to simultaneously remove coins from our web store, Collector’s Corner, eBay and any other online venues where they were listed. There were admittedly a few speed bumps with our new roll-out, but for the most part, the process went pretty well and saved us a lot of potential back-end headaches. There was also the challenge of continually submitting coins to PCGS for on-site grading. This is one of the truly great resources at larger shows like the A.N.A. and allows for a constant influx of fresh, new coins during and immediately after the show. Part of the logistical challenge for us at any coin show is to continually rotate inventory. Our customers expect new coins on a regular basis, and it is our job to make sure that they are not disappointed.

In retrospect, the A.N.A. was a great coin show, and certainly one of our best of the year. It proved, in no uncertain terms, that the coin market and coin hobby are both still very healthy. People seemed willing to open their wallets and checkbooks, an indicator of an economic uptick. An interesting side note is that all of this spending activity took place during a terrible week for precious metals. The fact that this show still persevered is indicative of underlying strength in the numismatic market, and perhaps more importantly, economic stability. The last week was a near-perfect storm, and we feel confident that the momentum should continue into the fall season.

In the next week, there will be hundreds of new coins appearing on our web store, eBay and Collector’s Corner. Also, for those of you that subscribe to Coin World and Numismatic News, be sure to check out our ads there, as well. Plenty of material is still out at PCGS and CAC for grading, so expect to see those returns filtering into inventory in the very near future. Provided coin shows moving forward reinforce what we got a dose of last week, there is reason for continued optimism. Next up for The Reeded Edge will be The Ohio State Coin Show in Columbus, Ohio on Labor Day weekend. We will have further details about this popular venue forthcoming in next week’s Market Report.

It’s hard to believe that it’s that time of year again for the granddaddy of coin shows. It seems like just yesterday that we were across the country in Denver, and viola, that same show is upon us again. Fortunately, this year’s venue is conveniently located in Philadelphia, which translates to a driving show for us. Of course the show we allude to is The A.N.A. World’s Fair of Money at the Philadelphia Convention Center in downtown Philadelphia. A consortium of dealers from all around the world will converge on Philadelphia for five full days of numismatic trading. The show kicks off on Tuesday morning for dealers and then opens to the public at 1:00 PM. The Reeded Edge will have all hands on deck. In addition to Rob and Robbie, our booth will be staffed by several other competent and recognizable numismatists, including Miguel Lopez, Rory Shelby and Ron Iliffe. Just look for The Reeded Edge’s large BUYING, BUYING, BUYING sign, located front-right and center from the main entrance, and visible from most vantage points on the bourse floor. Our booth is a forward-facing, end cap, tables #333 and #432. We will have thousands of numismatic and related items available for sale, including many pieces never seen before. The A.N.A. is a special show, and so is the mix of coins and collectibles that we bring to it. We strongly urge a stop at The Reeded Edge booth to take it all in. Monday, you will find The Reeded Edge trading at the PNG Pre-Show (at the same location). Although considered more of a wholesale trading day, this venue is still open to the public and serves as a great opportunity to get a little of our time and attention before things get crazy at the main event. The guys will be aggressively buying throughout both shows, and their usual open checkbook policy will be in full force. IMPORTANT: If you need to get hold of Rob or Robbie during next week’s show, you may call either on their cell phones; Rob’s number is (240) 422-0118 and Robbie’s number is (301) 876-1332.

Have you ever had that feeling that something just isn’t right? Perhaps it was in school; you had the answer, and despite checking and double checking the problem, something about it just didn’t look correct. Logic said that everything was in order, but your gut was telling you otherwise. That in a nutshell describes the July coin market. Our sales figures are historically on target for a July with both dealers and collectors. The Annandale Coin Show, which was our only show of the month, was solid if not even robust. Collector demand has been especially good for this time of year. Our price lists, online listings and print ads have also been good. So what then is the problem? Just like school, we are not exactly sure there is one. Just call it a feeling.

Reports and observations from coin dealers indicate two distinct markets. The dealers who exclusively rely on supplying other dealers are complaining about stagnant inventory and cash flow concerns. There is also a noticeable increase in fraudulent activity, another possible sign of underlying market challenges. Precious metals have been in a prolonged bearish cycle, which we contend, has a direct and negative impact on the numismatic sector of the marketplace. Nowhere has this aspect been felt more than at the coin shop level. Shop owners, who play a vital role in the supply chain of coins in the marketplace, have really been crying about the lack of fresh material coming in through their doors. This is something we never heard during the periods when metals rallied. Strong metals prices spur numismatic activity-there is absolutely NO doubt about that symbiotic relationship.

So, we are back to the chicken and egg argument. If retail sales are solid, and the coin shows we have been attending are equally good, is there really a problem? Do we simply turn a blind eye to the aforementioned challenges with the attitude that they don’t really affect us, therefore they are a nonstarter? Irrespective of how we interpret our situation or the coin market as a whole, there is no denying the funny feeling that we just are not firing on all cylinders. We have one more small show in Vienna, VA next week before heading to the all-important American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money in Philadelphia. Any uncertainties of the true state of the market or where it’s heading into the fall should be resolved there. If nothing else, we should have a solid read on market condition as a whole, and not just in our little bubble.

In the last week, two different customers contacted us about missing images on item listings. Had they not informed us of the problem, we would probably still be unaware of it. No big deal, right? WRONG! This is a VERY big deal to us, as we take both our webstore and online presence seriously. We strive to be the best coin and collectibles web store on the net, and if we are not, we need to know why. You will never offend us with feedback. Please email our IT Officer, Ray Hunt, with your questions or concerns. It is hard  for us to fix something that we don’t know is broken. Thank you, from all of us at The Reeded Edge, Inc.

Even though Baltimore is geographically in our back yard, we still tempered our expectations for the June Whitman Coin and Collectibles Expo. Coming only one week after Long Beach, which essentially is the west coast version of  the Baltimore show, several national coin firms were absent. Despite smaller dealer attendance, Baltimore still proved to be a very successful show for us. We saw a number of our regular local customers and transacted quite a bit of two-way business. The first two days were primarily spent selling down some of our older coins, as we remain committed to cycling our inventory. Larger national venues such as Baltimore serve as a good opportunity for that purpose. Given the hot and cold nature of the recent wholesale coin market, we were surprised at just how aggressively some of our regular trading partners were buying coins. Once the public was admitted to the show mid-day Thursday, they too were eager to acquire coins. More importantly, with the general public, also came fresh coins for us to purchase that simply were not available through our traditional wholesale channels. Although buying is sometimes hard to evaluate at inception, it is the number one reason that we attend major coin shows.  From this standpoint, we think that Baltimore was prosperous. Time will definitely tell!

The Reeded Edge will be home for several weeks, working on overdue office business, online sales, print advertising and our increasingly popular hard-copy mail list. All of these things take some time, a luxury that we didn’t have available during our coin show travel season. Look for many new coins on the web store, Collector’s Corner and eBay over the next several weeks, as well.  Our next Market Report News will have more details of what’s to come.