This article is copyrighted, and is reprinted courtesy of CDN publications. It may not be reproduced without express permission.

A dealer recently made an interesting inquiry regarding one the features of the Certified Coin Dealer newsletter (the "Bluesheet" or the "CCDn"). "Why," he asked, "do your CMI charts begin in 1990?"

First, a few words about the CCDn Coin Market Index (hereafter "CMI"). The Index (or indices, to be more precise) is a tool to provide dealers and collectors with a quick and effective means of following general market movements. The numbers themselves, as is the case in any index, have only relative meaning. The March 31 Mint Gold Type CMI of 544.51 takes specific meaning from the previous week's 542.41 level, thereby showing a rise of 2.10 points. There is a secondary general meaning that a CMI provides, when compared to the initial CMI levels of 1000 established in 1990 - more on that follows.

There is nothing significant about the January 5, 1990 start date for the CMI. During 1989, the Coin Dealer Newsletter family of publications began our first steps towards computerization and in-house production of the Greysheet and Bluesheet. Having Bid prices computerized allowed for the easy comparison of the certified levels, and the lack of a marketwide Index convinced us of the need. Our new computerized CCDn started with the January 5, 1990 issue, and since that time we have compared every Bid in every Bluesheet with those initial figures. The initial levels were set to equal 1000, and it worked out well that our January 5 issue marked both the beginning of a new year and a new decade.

Since the forces of supply and demand act unequally on different charts, and actually unequally on different dates and grades within each chart, we decided from the beginning to report the CMI for each of the charts in the Bluesheet. The value of this decision is obvious when one compares current levels for Saint-Gaudens $20s (CMI approximately 835) versus the Franklin Halves (CMI approximately 485). At a glance, the numismatist realizes that Franklins on average are now selling for less than half their 1990 level, while the Saints are doing pretty well. Numismatists who watched skyrocketing prices during 1988 & 1989 will recognize that an earlier starting date would mean much lower current CMI levels.

When we started the CMI, we also decided to take an average of the 19 Bluesheet charts (12 weekly; 7 printed once each month) and report that as an overall market CMI. This is a useful tool for reporting general market directions, and indeed has the force of over 10,000 price comparisons performed every week behind it. The overall CMI comes with a major caveat: since the overall CMI is a simple average of the individual CMIs, it implies that Buffalo Nickels are as important to the market as is Mint State Gold Type or Mint State Type. We recognize this is a problem, but any weighting system presents just as many objections. As a general guide to market direction, the CMI system works. And it can be a valuable marketing tool in a rising market; many dealers have commented on its usefulness during the last two months.

Right after the CMI feature started, we watched the overall CMI begin to climb towards the 1100 level, and then began a steep decline for the remainder of 1990. Since 1991, the CMI has been relatively steady, featuring a very slight decline over the last four years as discounted sells nibbled away at market levels. Again, the greater value of the CMI lies in the individual charts, and we reproduce the latest series herewith.

The printed article included the following charts and graphs:
Current CMI listings