The September 8-10 Long Beach Coin Expo was very active even though it lacked the attendance of some prominent East Coast dealers. In spite of this, attendance was higher than I expected and the bourse floor remained pitched in a buzz.
Although material in the accompanying auctions lacked the type of coins that usually claim strong fanfare for a major show, they still combined to hammer down at some $42 million exhibiting a strong sell through rate with an uptrend bias. As always, top quality coins captured the attention of enthusiastic bidders and many coins realized higher than expected prices.
“This 38 ounce rare Kellogg & Humbert gold assayer ingot recovered from the S.S. Central America brought an impressive $138,000 at one of the recent Long Beach Expo auctions”
| 1793 | Liberty Cap Large Cent | PCGS | MS63 | $ 253,000 |
| 1893-S | Barber Half Dollar | PCGS | MS66 | $ 29,900 |
| 1795 | Flowing Hair $1-2 Leaf | PCGS | XF40 | $ 25,555 |
| 1893-CC | Morgan Silver $1 | PCGS | MS64 | $ 14,950 |
| 1813 | $5 Cap Bust | PCGS | MS63 | $ 25,415 |
| 1884-CC | $10 Liberty | NGC | MS61 | $ 18,975 |
| 1870-CC | $20 Liberty | RAW | XF-damaged | $ 240,000 |
| 1908-S | $20 St. Gaudens | NGC | MS66 | $ 74,750 |
| 1910 | $20 St. Gaudens | MGC | PF67 | $ 161,000 |
| Kellogg & Humbert Assayer Gold Ingot | 38.33 ounces |
$138,000 |
If there was a dull spot to the show I would have to say that availability was dismal. Several factors contributing to this is that gold type is very HOT and in high demand keeping supplies tight, and more importantly, this show is on the heels of our annual ANA World’s Fair of Money held just weeks before. My goal at every show is to buy coins to feed the current demand, not to sell coins, and I cannot remember a Long Beach Coin Expo in which I was unable to purchase enough coins to satisfy even an average day of sells back at the office. But this was the case at this years September Long Beach Coin Expo…I simply could not buy enough coins!
To make a long story short…supply is VERY tight and demand remains strong for rare, popular and quality coins.