June 28, 2022
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8 min read
and with it, comes the somewhat slower pace of the numismatic market. Some observers have lately professed gloom and doom, but we are not seeing that, nor do we expect it. We've discussed the reasons many times over the past 18 or so months. Great coins continue to sell very well. The summer Baltimore show was much more active than I had envisioned, and the serious collector market appears very much alive and well. But it is always true that attention turns to outdoor activities and family vacations this time of year, and coins tend to take a back seat for a couple of months. That is, until the ANA's World's Fair of Money rolls around in August, and then, all heck breaks loose! The WFoM is an immersive, nearly week-long numismatic extravaganza that we highly recommend you participate in. If you travel to a coin show only once per year, then flip a coin and alternate between winter FUN and summer ANA. Winter FUN is a fabulous experience, a gigantic show and a heck of a lot of...sorry...fun. But summer ANA has a completely different vibe. There are more club meetings, more informative presentations, more opportunities to meet, interact and socialize with like-minded collectors, and dealers tend to save inventory and special coins for the show. The "summer doldrums" really help to make the WFoM special - since dealers are somewhat less actively selling during the summer, they tend to arrive at ANA loaded for bear.
This year, the ANA's WFoM is being held at the Donald Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL, as it has been often in the past several years. I love the location. Travel is easy...the center is nearly adjacent to O'Hare. Hotels are plentiful and right across the street. There are good restaurants in walking distance. And, the upper mid-west is a hotbed of collector activity. Brian Greer and I always share tables at the big Chicago area shows (Central States and ANA), and we'll be doing so this year as well...tables 1520 and 1522. Much more info to come, but for now, check all the details here. And please make your plans. We'd love to see you there!
There is some progress to report on the PCGS grading situation. You'll recall that this time last month, we had 30 open orders representing 1300 coins, and dating all the way back to Feb 3, 2022. Well, we finally got that order back! Those grades posted on June 21, the order shipped on June 23, and it arrived back here yesterday. That's a mere 20 weeks to the day, from entering the order in their system, to shipping the graded coins back. In the last week, grades on 6 orders have posted, and we have all but one of them back - the 6th is due tomorrow. So, progress, even if limited. We're down to 24 open orders, but still over 1000 coins. 1024 to be exact. Normally we would have added to the total in the interim, but we're taking a break from that. NGC got the 150 or so coins we sent for grading last week. Fingers crossed that goes well.
CAC too, is running at or beyond max capacity, and has extended the current pause in regular tier submissions at least thru July 15. We're concerned that timing may make it hard to get coins back from grading and CAC for the ANA, but we'll navigate that as best we can. We do earnestly hope to see CAC back in fighting trim very soon. They have become a very important part of our business model.
We will be taking a short vacation at the Delaware shore, thus the office will be closed from July 16th through July 24th. Please do not leave a message on the office phone, as we will not be checking them during that time period. Of course, you may email and we always encourage the placing of orders, but response times will be slower, and shipping won't happen until the 25th. The 25th is gonna be a big shipping day, and we relish the challenge!
We have a new book in stock, and I forgot to mention it last month. The Bust Half Nut Club (BHNC), an organization I have been a member of since 1993, has published a new and long-awaited guide to Capped Bust half dollar die states. "Die State Progressions of the Capped Bust Half Dollar Die Varieties 1807-1836" is a hugely informative new guide to the known die states of this immensely popular series. It is also a very convenient, small size, is easy to carry to shows, wire bound so it lays flat, and very reasonable in cost. It is available in print and/or in PDF format, in any combo you'd like. We are the sole distributors, and you can find 'em here. We've used our copy daily since it arrived. While there, please consider getting one of the last few copies of Dick Graham's seminal work on Reeded Edge Bust half dollars. We are down to the last 4 or 5 copies, and when they're gone, that's it. Also, we still have Winston Zach's amazing first volume on Contemporary US Counterfeit coinage, Robert Powers' very interesting new works on Large Cents and Steve Tompkins' excellent first volume on Flowing Hair and Draped Bust half dollars. Buy a book - or two - for your numismatic library today! You won't go wrong.
Please take a look at all of the newly listed coins on our website, including a few of the notable highlights listed below. The 1883/2 FS-304 nickel is a really sweet example of this very popular overdate. Our 1823 O.109 is a superb quality specimen of this truly rare die variety...one I've never cherrypicked. The 1895-S dime is amazingly original, and a great value too. Any higher grade, and the price gets big, fast. Our 1889-O dollar and Dick Graham's 1839-O GR5 half dollar are spectacular, rare coins. But my favorite coin this month is the wonderful 1793 S.13 Liberty Cap cent, in an Old, Green Label holder. '93 Caps are my favorite US coin...elegant, from the all-important, first-year of mint operations, and rare. They don't often come nice, or really even decent. This is a nice one. Many of these magnificent coins are CAC approved, and all are DKRC vetted, and available on a first-come, first-served basis. These and many other important and desirable coins are yours for the considering here. And make no mistake, there are hundreds more to come. Please make a habit of checking back frequently.
We discuss this in some form every month, but it always bears repeating...we love (and need) to buy coins! Or take them in trade. Please consider offering us some great coins, or even some nearly great ones. Actually, we'll be happy to buy whatever you've got, and we have very effective sales channels for everything, including "stuff", bullion, decent collector material, and - of course - the truly great coins. We'll be tickled just to have the opportunity to explore buying from you or trading with you. You might be surprised at what your coins are worth, and we need them more than ever! So please, see us at an upcoming show, call us at (301) 570-7070 or email to discuss.
A quick reminder about how our website works may be in order, since we are a little bit different than many other coin dealer's sites. We are a full e-commerce site. You simply place a coin or coins in your cart, and checkout. The coins are net priced and ready to go. All the payment options are available at checkout, including mailed payment, if you prefer to send a check or MO (or you intend to arrange a trade or layaway). As soon as you checkout, the coin is removed from inventory, and is no longer available for sale (it may show as "on hold", but that is purely semantic...an order has been placed and the site is waiting for us to do some internal processing). There is no mechanism to actually hold a coin, and if we are out of the office, it generally isn't possible for us to create an order for you (the behind the scenes, admin portion of the site is complex and I cannot create an order for you on my phone, but on the public side, you can very easily). It sometimes happens that a customer leaves a message on our office phone that they'd like a coin, but by the time we get the message, the coin has sold. Or, you may get us while we're driving or busy at a show, and we can't help immediately. We really don't want that to happen, and it's very easy to avoid...simply place your order on the site instead! All coins in our inventory are one of a kind, and are thus subject to prior sale.
Lastly, take a look at our listings on eBay (seller ID: DavidKahnRareCoins). Every week, we sell 30 to 35 coins on eBay in completely unreserved auctions that start at .99 cents. That's right - good quality, PCGS & NGC-graded, US collector coins that you can buy at whatever price you set. We also have fixed-price material available on eBay, so please check out our offerings there. And please keep in mind that our eBay and website inventories are completely different!
In the meantime, please be smart, be safe and stay healthy. We plan on seeing each and every one of you at the next show!