AoC 2018 Market Analysis Archives
AoC Market Report: Lincoln Cents Winning and Losing - Let’s look at Lincolns, shall we? How about Wheats? You like that? I do. Okay. Game on. So this is some interesting stuff. I chose 4 Lincolns to deep dive: 1909-S VDB Lincoln Wheat Cent, 1909 plain, 1956 Wheat Cent and 1957. I then looked at public auction results for coins certified Mint State 66Read More
AoC Market Analysis: Continental Currency Dollars Still Going Strong - Earlier this year, Early American coin collectors were surprised to hear a new theory about Continental Currency: that they were not American-made speculative patterns, but rather satirical pieces made in England. It’s still a widely debated topic. What hasn’t changed at all is their attraction to collectors of early American coins. In October, a coupleRead More
AoC Market Analysis: Cooling Common Morgan Silver Dollars - Well, the original title of this article was, “Hot Common Morgan Dollars”. But after analyzing the data, that didn’t work out so well. You see, there aren’t any at the moment – at least, not according to the data I studied. I analyzed 1881-S Morgan Dollars in Mint State 63, 65, and 67 going backRead More
AoC Market Analysis: Proof 3-Cent Nickels with the Most Bang for Your Buck - This week, we look at 3-Cent Nickels. 3-Cent Nickels make lovely type coins. Proof strikes often lack the character of their imperfect business strike sisters, what with their Longacre doubling, die cracks, plentiful die clash, and interesting strike issues. Proof Three-Cent Nickels sometimes show more perfectly how the coins were intended. The numismatic market isRead More
AoC Market Analysis: Seated Liberty Dime Type Coin Guide - Which Seated Dimes Make the Best Type Coins? Good question! So, you’re looking to get a Seated Dime, eh? Great idea! This is a really fun series to collect, and mostly inexpensive in low grades. You can fill a book with them for the price of a decent proof Morgan if you buy your SeatedRead More
AoC Market Analysis: Toned 1896 Morgan Dollar in ‘5 - This week, we’ve picked an interesting one. This 1896 (common date) Morgan Silver Dollar is graded PCGS MS65, Green CAC. The recent PCGS holder has it pedigreed to the Aurora Borealis collection. PCGS Price Guide for an 1896 Morgan Silver Dollar in Mint State 65 is $150. Hundreds of 1896 Morgans have sold this yearRead More
AoC Market Analysis: Silver Roosevelt Dime Sets - Thinking about creating or upgrading your silver Roosevelt Dime set? It’s a great time to do it. Here’s why: Silver is down. At the moment, silver is under $15 (!). That’s low. It’s possible it could get cheaper, but if you’re just beginning to assemble your set, you’ll be in the teeth of itRead More
AoC Market Analysis: 1932-D Washington Quarters in Mint State 64 - This article seemed like a fun, straightforward task – let’s have a look at Mint State 64 Key Date Washington Quarters. This is a heavily collected grade, and it seems like it’s a great coin that people will enjoy reading about. As it turns out, they’re not so straightforward. They’re all over the place. ItRead More
Market Analysis: The $100,000 Franklin - It was as if millions of coin collectors gasped in shock and were suddenly silenced. I fear something inexplicably inexplicable has happened. $130,000 for a Common Date Franklin Half Dollar. Why? Well, lots of reasons. Mostly, at least two people decided they had to have the coin for their collections. #1) Color The colorRead More
Market Analysis: 2009 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle - With all the hoopla surrounding the palladium eagles this week – and don’t take this author wrong, the hoopla may well be appropriate as they’re beautiful!.. perhaps it’s a good time to look back the Ultra High Relief Double Eagles. Great coins. They’re just beautiful. Some prefer the originals, but some like the modern interpretation.Read More
Market Analysis: 1853 Arrows & Rays Quarters - The old adage goes, “buy the best you can afford.” Yeah, well, not always. 1853 Arrows & Rays, a true favorite of many collectors, have proven a fascinating market study. There’s no question the reverse twinkling flashes coming off lustrous rays surrounding the eagle are absolutely captivating and unique in U.S. coinage, even going backRead More
Market Analysis: 1909-S VDB Lincolns in 65 Red - After compiling the data, it seems to all of us here it’s time to buy 1909-S VDB Lincoln Wheat Cents in Mint State 65 Red. Here’s the data. Currently, they’re selling for around $3100. We took a look at 5 coins that sold this year. The most expensive of the group sold for $3240 andRead More
Market Analysis: A Tale of Two Two Million Million Gold Coins - It’s somewhat incredible that a 1913 V Nickel, an 1854-S $5 and the 1792 Gold Washington could sell in the same week. “A Nickel, a $5 and a 1792 Eagle walk into a bar…” Last week, we compared the Proof 66 Eliasberg (single-finest-known) 1913 Liberty Nickel to a couple of other major collectibles that soldRead More
Market Analysis: 1913 Liberty Nickel - The Eliasberg 1913 Liberty Nickel sold last week for $4.56M. What does that mean to the numismatic marketplace? Well, it’s certainly exciting that a mint produced ultra-rarity should come up for auction, and of course, it’s the single finest known. Anything that was part of Big Lou’s collection is a big deal, but the 1913Read More
A Brief Look at Recent Brilliant Proof Franklin Half Dollar eBay Sales - The Proof Franklin Half Dollar is a beautiful collectible coin. Ben Franklin is a fascinating character from early American history, and his enshrinement on the obverse of the 90% silver U.S. Half Dollar from 1948 to 1963 makes it incredibly popular to collectors. Let’s have a look at Brilliant Proof Franklin Half Dollars. Don’t confuseRead More
Proofs Prove Positive in 2018 - Proofs remain popular with the serious collectors steaming into the third quarter of 2018. Stack’s Bowers sold a top-graded Flowing Hair Stella back in March for a healthy $74k increase (to $384k) over the last time it sold. Things don’t seem to be slowing down as Heritage hammered a couple of proof Morgans with strongRead More
The Fall of the Continental “Dollar”? - Probably the biggest piece of coin news at the moment is new speculation that the pewter Continental Currency “Dollars” are not what we’ve thought they were. David McCarthy of Kagin’s is stirring the pot again, calling into question the origin of these wonderful pieces. (No matter what side of the argument you land on, theseRead More