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FUN Show 2015 & Market Report

Posted by JonSullivan on Dec 17th 2014

FUN Show 2015

January 8th-11th, 2015 are the dates for the upcoming FUN Coin Show in Orlando, Florida. Probably a tie with the summer ANA Convention for “Best show of the year”, this is a must-attend event for error coin collectors. There will be most if not all of the full-time error coin dealers there set-up at the show, as well as over 500 “non-error” dealers. A major auction is held by Heritage Auction Galleries, with tens of millions of dollars worth of rare coins. Additionally, the location in sunny Florida makes for a nice  get-away from the cold, snowy regions of the U.S

All in all, it’s worth your time to attend this show, and although most error coins are bought and sold online nowadays, there’s nothing like looking at coins in person, and being able to ask questions and exchange ideas with fellow error enthusiasts. We will have a table at the show of course, and when you look in the show guide, you will find us under “Sullivan Numismatics” table #1529. We have a corner booth with 5 or 6 display cases full of major mint errors for sale. If you have coins to sale, be sure and bring them along as I am always buying!

Here is a link to the FUN Show website: http://www.funtopics.com/fun-convention.html

The Error Coin Market

How has the market been for us lately? To sum it up, it’s been “very active.” We have sold a lot of coins through our various sales venues, and customers have been actively filling their want-lists as well.

The number of fresh coins on the market is relatively small from what I can see, and although new coins come in every week, there isn’t enough supply for the demand from our buyers. Errors that are eye-appealing, NGC or PCGS certified, and reasonably priced usually sell very quickly, although many other areas of the error market are very active as well. Double-denomination 11c coins have been active, as have missing clad layer coins, major striking errors, and unusual/rare off-metals. 

The lack of fresh National Park errors, or any errors for that matter on modern coins is noticeable in the market. Most coins for sale in dealers inventories are from the end of the state quarter series or earlier. There are very few modern errors on the market, and the few nice ones that do come up for sale generally sell for big money.

As with any area of coin collecting, if you take your time and buy attractive, appealing coins at reasonable prices, you will have a collection to be proud of, probably make money when you go to sell, and you will have a lot of fun doing it. Some collectors are building “date” or “series” sets of mint errors, but a lot of collectors just want errors that “catch my eye.” There is nothing wrong with either method of collecting, but you should make sure you’re buying quality coins and that you aren’t overpaying for them. Of course, sometimes dealers have priced a coin higher than another for a reason that may not be obvious. If you’re not sure why a coin is priced for a certain number, politely ask the dealer to give you some insight into valuing the error. They will doubtless be happy to explain (and if they wont, you probably don’t want to do business with them!) 

New Video 

A new video has been added to our video library, showing in brief the minting process for American Silver Eagles. It’s only 3-5 minutes, and is worth the watch. You will see some interesting bits of information about the minting process, and I have written out some notes of interest in the description area below the video. Here is the link to the video: https://sullivannumismatics.com/information/videos/minting-silver-american-eagles-west-point

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year

Thank you all for your continued patronage, and for giving us the opportunity to help you build your collection in 2014. We sincerely appreciate you business, and hope to continue to earn your business in 2015 by giving you great errors are fair prices and with good service. We hope you have merry christmas and a happy new year!