Dealers are split between the EAC show and sale being held in Buffalo, New York through May 6 and the May 3-5 pre-ANA show and sale held at the Denver National Western Expo Hall. Enthusiasts will then head downtown to the convention center for the ANA’s National Money spring show May 9-12. A bit of a break is taking place between major auctions with the last being the sale at the Schaumburg CSNS show in April. Ira and Larry Goldberg will hold a pre-Long Beach auction May 27-30, with collections from Bellisima, Cahn, Holmes, Shapiro, and Forsythe. Long Beach will hold its next Expo May 31-June 2 with an auction by Heritage. Dealers will have an opportunity at the National Money show to get a new ANA badge free of charge as the old badges are being phased out. Another option is to email a high resolution photo by July 9. Otherwise, a replacement fee of $75 will be charged at the World’s Fair of Money in Pittsburgh.
Declines continue to plague Silver Commems, and while NGC graded issues appear more vulnerable than their PCGS peers, Bids for several examples housed in both slabs remain very soft. Oregon and Texas Type in NGC MS61 thru MS64 columns are under considerable strain, and the latter Type in PCGS MS65 and NGC MS66 were also pulled down again for the second straight week, as were 1916 McKinley $1 Gold issues in NGC MS65, which are now down by $125 since early February. Bid changes abound in the MS65 column for Morgan Dollars, as most of the increases denote a hike of a mere $1 for generics in this grade. 1902 cartwheels in NGC MS63 are faltering further, as they did last week, and their comparably graded PCGS peers are also in a downward drift, pulling those much higher pop MS65 specimens down as well by $15. A few generic Peace Dollars in MS66, barring those from 1924, are encountering unfavorable trade activity, and have settled lower by $20 to $30.
Copper and Silver Type issues in all denominations are holding up well across-the-board. However, a good deal of Nickel material, both of the Three and Five Cent denominations in a variety of Mint State and Proof grades, has been teetering a bit these past weeks and is now confronted with the realities of increasing weakness at auction. Shield Nickels without Rays in PCGS MS63 and NGC MS64 are currently in disfavor as Liberty Nickels with Cents in PR64 and in Gem-Proof grades, appearing quite often at auction and on the bourse floor, have been especially prone to the recent bouts of incremental Bid reductions. Unlike much of the other Nickels, the Buffalo series completely staved off the ill effects of a softening market that has been quite destabilizing for certain material within other segments. Nice, original looking Buffs in Gem are still in strong demand at current Bid and are faring very well with online auction participants.
Results concerning the Mercury Dime segment are somewhat two-tiered this week, as several early-dates are getting thoroughly shaken down by the persistent weakness via retail public auction while late-date commoners with Fully Split Bands are on another mild upswing in continuation of their somewhat see-saw movement that began a few weeks ago. Among the most dramatic decliners were 1920 and 1929-S issues in PCGS MS66FB, as the latter posted a loss of 34%. Early and key-date Walkers are demonstrating good staying power and remain popular with collectors. While a few late-date issues in MS62 are weakening, several of the most common dates in MS64 got a good upward boost of between $3 and $7, but a couple issues in MS66, particularly the 1945-D and 1946-S, each rolled back to Bid at $150.
A moderate drop in Gold Spot was all it took to lower Bids again for much of the generic Gold Type. Scarce Type II $1 Indian Princesses in NGC MS66, among the least sensitive to Gold Spot fluctuations, nonetheless drifted moderately downward by $500. $5 Indians in MS63 seem to have finally found a level of current Bid support at just above $1,200 but are now descending, albeit marginally, in MS64. GreatCollections held an auction that ended April 29. Two of the highlights were an 1860-D $5 Medium D graded PCGS MS61 which hammered for $13,750 and a 1927-S $20 Saint-Gaudens in NGC MS64 which sold for $49,500. The online auction company has reported selling over $1 million in coins over the last month, making the third month in a row at this level.