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A few weeks ago the Central States coin show was held in Schaumburg, IL. It was the first time the show had been held since the 2019 show was held, due to the events over the last few years. It was great to be back at the show, and especially since it was so well attended both with dealers and collectors. Admittedly, it has historically been a slower show for mint errors (although a great show for dealers in U.S. coins generally.) However, this year we had possibly the best Central States show we’ve ever had, with a decent amount of both buying and selling. 

Attending shows in different parts of the United States brings a somewhat different group of dealers and collectors. Many dealers travel to all the major shows regardless of the location, but there are always some dealers who never make it to shows other than relatively local ones. Such is the case with Central States, and it was nice to see some of our local customers as well as dealers we do not see as often at other shows. Traveling to shows across the U.S. allows us a more broad opportunity to acquire mint errors, as well as to sell to customers, and so we try to attend shows from the West Coast to the East Coast. 

Recent major auctions have been overall quite strong. Prices for lower value pieces (under $500) has moderated somewhat (they were to the moon high prices over the last year or two) and are now much more in line with what historical pricing has been. Middle priced items in the $500-$5000 range are generally strong, with only certain error types or series not participating in the strong price trend. Scarce off-metals and the like have been going for solid prices most of the time. High end coins, in the $5,000+ category are also strong. Some of the prices we’ve seen of late have been moon money, while others are just selling for “full price.”

Overall, the market is strong for most mint errors, and although there are certain errors or types which are selling at more traditional, lower prices, probably 70% of coins are selling for strong prices in our opinion.

We do our best to keep prices at fair, moderate retail levels, and generally “ignore” prices that are aberrations from the average price trend for a particular error type of category. We price based upon a number of factors including:

1.Historical value

2.Auction prices realized

3.The cost to buy coins from any of our many sources

4.The particular coin’s attributes are all taken into consideration—is it the finest known, unique, or otherwise special—or on the flip side is it none of those things and might even have a problem or two, and so deserve a lower price than one would typically expect.

Accurate and fair pricing is something we continually strive for, and our goal is to always give our customers a good value. 

Our next coin show will be the Baltimore this June. If you are planning to attend the show, we looking forward to seeing you there! In the meantime, keep an eye out for new items being listed on our website over the coming weeks, and also if you have not yet signed up for our email list for mint errors, consider signing up so that you will get an email when we list fresh coins.