CINCINNATI HOSTS ANA

Monday, March 23, 1998

        Cincinnati ANA was a very good show for most of the dealers. The ANA committee always takes it upon themselves to do an extremely aggressive job of dressing up our hobby; presenting our best side to the collectors who attend. There are many ANA staff members who do a tremendous job in presenting a national show. Cincinnati was the beneficiary of this latest responsibility.

        It is becoming more apparent, at major shows, that certain areas of the market have much more demand than others; further, the current supply is not satisfying this voracious demand. Accurately graded coins are the key issue here. If the coin is priced according to its true grade, it is very likely that the dealer can find a buyer for it. Although, price is not as important as quality. Dealers and astute collectors realize that prices have increased over the last few months. It is no longer as crucial to question, "What is Bid?" but, "What is Ask?" There are many more buyers in today's market than there are sellers. Quality coins are difficult to purchase because the price rise is not as apparent as it should be. Price guides follow an antiquated Bidding system that does not exist for 90% of the coin market. Bidding only works for generic issues. "Every coin is an island unto itself". This is what makes coin collecting so interesting to so many.

        Key coins for sets are extremely active as dealers who try to fill the needs of the collector are experiencing heavy volume. These dealers are finding that sales to knowledgeable collectors take up very little time. The collectors, who may not be as advanced, take a little longer. In fact, novice collectors may be too concerned about price, and may miss out on buying a nice coin because when they finally make the buying decision, they find that it has already been sold to someone who was quicker on the trigger. For the novice collector, he/she should not be too concerned by missing out on an apparent good deal. If this is utilized as part of their education, they will realize that next time, if the desired coin is of acceptable quality, then the price is of secondary consideration. It is much better to have colleagues question the price of a coin than it is to disagree on the quality. This is one of the reasons that some dealers are able to command two times the suggested wholesale value of a coin. The quality is so superb that the coin does not really have to be graded, but it is reassuring. The collector is quite obviously advanced and is comfortable with the reputation of the selling dealer. We are at the point where dealers may want to challenge novice collectors to learn so that they too can be comfortable in buying quality coins rather than buying coins with price as the main consideration.

        While visiting with hundreds of dealers in Cincinnati, the conclusion is that we are experiencing a re-growth of collectors. Individually, the dealers may not realize this because they may have gained but one or two new customers. However, when you survey the entire bourse floor, and find that most dealers have an increase in new customers, this adds up to an increase in overall demand. And many of these new customers will eventually take much of the generic coins off of the market, as well as some of the low-end material because it is a natural transition to be price conscious as they begin their collecting experience. How the dealers treat the new customers-soon-to-be-collectors, is what will determine how many other potential collectors we will initiate over the coming years. Not every new customer will spend a month's overhead on coins today. What about tomorrow?