Coin Market Unaffected by Financial Market Volatility

We have always professed that the coin market largely marches to it’s own music. At no time has this been more apparent than during the last two weeks. While the financial markets have been on daily roller coaster, the coin market seems to be sailing on glassy seas. This is consistent with an observation we made several years ago and have stuck by since; the coin market remains collector dominated, with the investor (for all but the ultra-high end rarities) on the sidelines. It certainly has us miffed with all of the money made in the financial markets during their stratospheric rise, more dividends haven’t come our way. For whatever reason, coin investing is presently out of favor. Coin collecting, however is not. Nowhere was this more evident for us than at two traditionally good club shows: The Vienna Quarterly Coin and Stamp Show in January, and The Greater American Coin Fair in St. Louis last week. Although smaller in stature, these two shows serve as a good barometer to judge the coin market, albeit at the most grassroots level. Happily, these shows were both well attended and very productive. The same observations have held true in the home office. Collector orders have been streaming in on a regular basis. We really noticed an uptick in activity since February. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the collector interest and activity keeps up its momentum into the traditionally busy spring months ahead.