NumisMedia Market Report: Gold and Silver Still the Focus of Buyers

Posted on 11/16/2010

Since this time last month, gold has moved from $1,309 to the $1,380 mark and has since fallen back to $1,323 — an increase of $14 for the month (at the time of this printing). However, you may notice a slight decrease in premiums for common-date US gold, as compared to last month’s charts.

The $20 Saint has a current FMV of $2,610, down from $2,670. That is a decrease of just over two percent, while gold increased about one percent. If you thought US gold coins were a good buy over the past few months, you should be awestruck by our current market conditions.

The year began with gold at $1,121 on January 4 and is now up by more than $200 since. With this upsurge in gold, you would think the prices of all gold coins would have jumped accordingly, but that is not the case. The following chart will show you the FMV for a variety of US gold, with specific grades comparing them in January 2010 to the current November FMV.

January 2010 November 2010 % Change
$1 Gold TIII
MS 60 $300 $318 -+6%
MS 63 $1,000 $1,220 +22%
MS 64 $1,310 $1,590 +21%
MS 65 $2,530 $2,190 -13.5%
$2 ½ Gold Liberty
MS 60 $414 $510 +23%
MS 63 $1,220 $1,160 -5%
MS 64 $1,410 $1,310 -7%
MS 65 $2,750 $2,190 -20.4%
$2 ½ Gold Indian
MS 60 $348 $378 +9%
MS 63 $910 $1,030 +13%
MS 64 $1,720 $1,640 -4.5%
MS 65 $4,390 $3,920 -10.7%
$5 Gold W/M
MS 60 $450 $522 +16%
MS 63 $1,250 $1,110 -11%
MS 64 $1,660 $1,470 -11.5%
MS 65 $4,560 $3,750 -17.7%
$5 Gold Indian
MS 60 $528 $546 +4%
MS 63 $2,280 $2,000 -12.3%
MS 64 $4,200 $3,310 -21.2%
MS 65 $20,590 $16,200 -21.3%
$10 Gold W/M
MS 60 $880 $950 +8%
MS 63 $1,970 $1,560 -20.8%
MS 64 $2,980 $2,220 -25.5%
MS 65 $6,560 $4,940 -24.7%
$10 Gold Indian
MS 60 $870 $920 +5.8%
MS 63 $1,890 $1,420 -24.9%
MS 64 $2,900 $2,040 -29.7%
MS 65 $6,380 $4,310 -32.4%
$20 Gold TIII
MS 60 $1,570 $1,730 +10%
MS 63 $3,030 $2,390 -21.1%
MS 64 $4,090 $2,780 -32%
MS 65 $6,950 $5,000 -28.1%
$20 Gold Saint
MS 60 $1,650 $1,740 +5.5%
MS 63 $2,010 $1,890 -6%
MS 64 $2,280 $2,010 -11.8%
MS 65 $2,850 $2,610 -8.4%

Please note that we included the MS 60 grade because it most closely resembles how the price of gold performs. As such, all of the MS 60 coins show an increase on par with the price of gold since January. The smaller denominations tend to show an increase in MS 63 as well. However, as the quality improves, the FMVs for coins have fallen considerably since January. Acquiring $10 Indians in MS 65 in January would have cost you $6,380, based on the FMV. Today, you could purchase $10 Indians in MS 65 for $4,310, a decrease of 32.4%. Dealers know this is about as good as it gets when it comes to adding US gold to their inventories, even with the challenges we face in today’s economy.

The point is, gold bullion has increased more than $200 since the beginning of the year, while you can still buy many Mint State US gold coins for less money today. If you went back just three years, when gold was in the $790 range, the comparisons are even more dramatic. The $10 Indian in MS 65 had an FMV of $6,690. The FMV is down 35.6%, while gold has increased 67%. The fact is, you can buy US gold coins today at much better premiums than in the past. With any future increase in demand, it's a safe bet that premiums will begin to increase.

With the rise in metals, silver has jumped to the $25 mark. There has been an intense increase in demand for anything made out of silver, including Morgan and Peace Dollars, silver coins, bars, etc. Silver Dollar bags are one of the hottest items on the dealer teletype systems these days. Even though there are some sellers of common dollars, the demand far outstrips the current supplies. Competition is very strong, partially because silver dollars are more affordable to the average buyer, while not everyone can afford gold.

This article is a guest article written by:

The thoughts and opinions in the piece are those of their author and are not necessarily the thoughts of the Certified Collectibles Group.


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