Bluesheet: ONLINE AUCTIONS SOURCE OF FRESH MATERIAL

While large auctions usually associated with national coin conventions receive most of the attention, in these pages and others, weekly and monthly online auctions have been making a splash recently. During the summer months Legend Rare Coin Auctions held three online-only sales, each consisting of around 100 lots. The August auction sale topper was a bright white 1926 Peace dollar graded PCGS/CAC MS66+, selling for a strong $14,300. Legend is holding another online-only sale this month and a live Regency sale at the end of September on the 29th in Las Vegas. This is the 18th Regency sale held by Legend, and one of the primary highlights is the Northern Lights collection of toned Morgan dollars. Over the past 12 months we have seen incredible prices realized for rainbow and monster toned coins, both silver dollars and otherwise, and there is no reason to not expect this trend to continue. Another couple coins that command attention are a 1797 half cent, the 1 over 1 variety from the famed Missouri Cabinet graded PCGS/CAC MS66BN which last sold for $299,000 and a lovely 1795 half dollar from the Phil Flannagan collection graded PCGS/CAC MS63.

Speaking of toned dollars and online-only auctions, Great Collections recently sold the Dale Larsen collection of toned Peace dollars. As is well known, Peace dollars are much scarcer with color in comparison with Morgans, and the results showed. A gem 1934-D realized $7,975 and a very cool 1924 graded MS64 brought $2,750, a coin that is otherwise a $60 coin.

David Lawrence Rare Coins have been selling the Carolina Creek Collection via their weekly online auctions, with two parts already completed and one to go. The collection has garnered over $1 million so far, and is replete with high grade key dates. Some highlights yet to close include a 1913-S quarter graded PCGS MS66, a PCGS/CAC gem 1896-S quarter, a mint state 1918/7 Buffalo nickel – PCGS MS62 to be exact – and a PCGS MS66 1894-O half dollar. Also worthy of mention are an 1885 Liberty nickel in a PCGS MS66 holder and a choice uncirculated 1921-S Walking Liberty half dollar.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
In Response to your Bluesheet article of August 19, 2016
I am primarily a collector and sometime “dealer” of coins. I have enjoyed your recent articles on collectors being allowed to subscribe to your publications. I am convinced the dealers that express this concern are the ones that regularly try to mark up their coins well above a reasonable amount, especially on auctions sites like Ebay. I personally always arrive at my offer price by using your guide and adding a mark-up of 10 to 20%. I recognize that lower priced coins require a larger percentage mark-up than high price coins. At the same time I find if I list a coin at the Greysheet or Bluesheet price, I most often end up with a final selling price about 10% above the starting price. As I am not a primary dealer both my customer and I come away happy.

I have also had dealers offer significantly less than CDN pricing when I have presented coins to them. In these cases they invariably plead that your reports are not accurate representations of current wholesale pricing while at the same time trying to sell me coins marked up by 50%! Let’s also not forget that any subscriber to your publications is paying several hundred dollars a year in subscription fees. This cost surely eliminates most casual collectors, leaving the more serious/active collectors as subscribers. If I were not permitted access to your publications, I would be a much less active collector/purchaser. I would be very interested in seeing your views on retail pricing.
-Jerry M.