Jeff Garrett: Price Points Matter

In the last few weeks, silver prices have performed more like a “meme stock” than its traditional hard asset, store of value play. Recently, silver peaked above $84 per ounce in Asian trading. Silver was up about 150% in 2026, making it one of the best performing assets of the year. This has been one of the largest one-year increases for silver prices in decades.

The rapid rise in silver prices is having a profound impact on the numismatic hobby. Anyone who deals in precious metals is seeing record amounts of business. This includes everyone from small coin shops to the biggest bullion houses. The amount of capital now required for many bullion transactions can be staggering.

For the last several weeks, many of the smaller dealers around the country have been forced to wait patiently for payment as bullion works its way through the system to refiners. Even some of the biggest bullion wholesalers have been forced to delay payments to their longtime clients.

The delays in payments have been a crucial factor in the compression of premiums for many forms of silver. The current wholesale price for 90% of silver coins is now $5 to $7 below melt. Circulated American Silver Dollars from 1878 to 1935 are also selling for below melt value. Sterling silver, which takes the longest for refiners to process, is selling for about 20% below melt value.

Some well-capitalized dealers are opting to avoid the steep discounts by sending material to the refiners and waiting for the full value. One large coin shop owner told me he just sent 10,000 Morgan and Peace dollars to the refiners for melting. Hearing about vintage coins being melted is enough to make most numismatists cringe.

One of the biggest impacts of soaring silver prices for collectors is the giant increase in the base price for collector coins. Common Mint State Morgan Silver Dollars have nearly doubled in a short period of time. Last year, you could buy 1986 to 2025-dated Silver Eagles for about $35 to $40 each. The prices are now closer to $100 each.

One of the basics of numismatic economics is that when prices are increased, you lose buyers. It is much easier to sell large quantities of one-ounce silver coins for under $50 than above $100 each.

For a long time, the bread and butter of many mass market companies was to produce interesting one-ounce silver coins for under $50 and sell them for around $100. This gave them margins that would allow for a generous advertising budget, and they would still make money. With silver prices around $80, the cost for many of the world mint issues will now exceed $100 and require a selling price closer to $200. At that level, sales will certainly face headwinds.

The US Mint is also facing issues with high price points hurting sales. The series of coins that have been produced under license with DC Comics have been lagging. They are pricing half-ounce gold coins at about $3,500 each, and sales have been anemic to say the least. Despite the popularity of Superman, buyers only have so much money.

For the rare coin market in general, there are some bright sides. Many collectors have been trading in bullion for rare coins they have always wanted. One of my retail clients recently traded a Krugerrand that cost him less than $1,000 for a very nice 1918/7-S Standing Quarter Dollar. It is a great time for anyone with bullion to consider trading up for rare coins that have only seen small price increases in the last couple of years.

Another benefit for the hobby is the constant news media attention to rising bullion prices. Gold and silver prices are now hot topics at cocktail parties around the country. Lots of individuals want to hop on the bandwagon now that silver prices are at record levels. Luckily for the hobby, some of these buyers will discover numismatics for the first time.

If gold and silver prices remain steady for the near future, buyers will have to get used to the higher price points. After time, premiums will stabilize, and $100 one-ounce silver coins will become the norm. Real estate prices are a good comparison. Prices for real estate have soared in most communities over the last few years. Anyone waiting for prices to come back down will probably be disappointed for a long time. Because of inflationary forces, elevated asset prices seem to be here for the foreseeable future.

During the last great silver boom of 1980, coin dealers used their newfound wealth to buy rare coins. That influx of fast cash made rare coins explode in value. The same could happen in 2026. Rare coins are starting to look like great values when compared to gold and silver prices.

Other Views from Industry Experts

Chang Bullock (Minted Assets)

Due to the sharp rise in metal prices, we have noticed several changes in the type of business we are getting right now. It is clear to us that there has been a greater inflow of customers buying items that are priced closer to metal, especially in what we would consider premium bullion pieces. These are coins that have some collectible aspects to them, like a specific theme and set mintage, but are missing the more elite collectible attributes such as High Relief or Proof finishes.

We have also noticed a very strong trend towards fractional gold sizes. We are selling fractional gold all the way down to 1/1000th of an ounce, as demand for affordable gold has risen sharply. We have also seen a diversification into alternative metals such as copper. Overall, business has been lifted, and we are seeing more first-time buyers purchasing from us. The only downside has been that staying on top of current market pricing has become more intense and what used to be a daily task has now become at least an hourly task.

John Brush (David Lawrence Rare Coins)

The rise in bullion prices has put a huge strain on the larger bullion companies, as payments have been delayed to wholesalers as the processing times have increased dramatically due to the rise in shipments and business. While this rise in the price of gold and silver excites many retail sellers, as it is an excellent opportunity for them to take some profits, the premiums have dropped dramatically causing some market confusion for the occasional seller. As far as the rare coin side of things, in which we operate mostly, we’ve seen a lot of added excitement with some folks trading their bullion holdings for rare coins.

There are also some excellent places in the rare coin market where the price of some $20 gold coins has not risen with the market adjustment, creating some great buying opportunities if things remain stable. Overall, the higher prices will cause some issues for smaller dealers who have to move quickly with their over-the-counter bullion purchases, but in the big picture, I think that it creates a lot of new attention and activity within the numismatic hobby!

Ted Anchor (APMEX)

Historically, for APMEX, runs on precious metals always bring in new collectors to numismatics. We saw this in 2011, we experienced it in 2020 as metals rose during Covid and we are seeing it again in late 2025 and early 2026, as metals are now at all-time highs. We have found that precious metals can sometimes be the gateway into numismatics as art, history and supply and demand from numismatics collide.

APMEX is very bullish when it comes to numismatics in 2026, especially on series that are tied to precious metals like pre-1933 gold and pre-1965 silver coinage. With the rise in precious metals, we are seeing a massive decrease in premiums, making it more palatable for some to enter into the hobby. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, APMEX has enjoyed consistent year-over-year growth in numismatics, and the high visibility of precious metals is what is driving people to the site, who then discover that APMEX also offers rare coins and paper money for sale, as well.

Don Rinkor (Rinkor Business Group)

The biggest impact to coin shops is managing the cash flow issues with the extremely high volume, and the sizes of the trades. Currently there is a 15 to 30-day lag time from shipping precious metals to large marketers, and getting paid for those trades. This is tough on smaller shops and dealers.

The high volume will continue while there is volatility in the market. I would expect the volume to decline if metal prices level out for a period of a couple of months. Bullion is getting the lion's share of attention, so collectibles seem to be taking a back seat to some collectors. I would expect this trend to correct if metals cool off.

Andrew Adamo (Bullion Shark)

This historical rally has had a significant impact on both the buy and the sell side of the market. As a retailer of rare coins, Bullion Shark has seen the effects of the rising metal prices firsthand. We are seeing a large influx of sellers who are either looking to take profits or simply feel it's time that they liquidate their coin collection.

On the other hand, the excitement around the market has brought in a massive influx of new interest in the market. The market saw a very similar sentiment in 2020 and 2021. However, the demand on the buy and the sell side seems to be stronger than ever.

Greg Allen (Greg Allen Rare Coin)

We submit 1,000-plus coins a month for grading. Most are 90% silver and are generally in the $25 to $1,000 price range. With the substantial increase in silver spot, we are reevaluating which coins to send for grading. In doing so, we are looking at the current cost of the raw coins and the current market pricing for selling the graded coins to our customers. Most of our sales are in quantity to retail dealers. In many cases, the market pricing for the graded coins has not caught up to make it economical to grade certain coins.

With regard to the latter, we are also talking to our customers about the market pricing necessary to justify grading certain coins. That is, if they wish to continue buying certain coins in certain grades, will the market support the price increases for certain graded coins necessitated by the substantial increase in silver spot? For example, prior to the recent rise in silver, we had been selling a PF 67 graded Half at $30, with our cost after grading being $28. Our cost now to buy and grade the same coin is significantly more leading to a significantly higher price to make the same.

For those that believe higher silver spot are here to stay, or may go even higher in the near future, look at the spread in pricing between various MS and PF grades, and consider purchasing coins in the higher grade where there has historically been a significant spread in the pricing between the various grades, but there currently is not. When the market eventually absorbs the significant increase in silver spot, you may benefit from significant premium differences for the higher graded coins. The same goes for gold.

Like most dealers and collectors, it will take some time getting used to silver and gold prices above $70 and $4,000, respectively. This week’s Florida United Numismatic (FUN) convention will be a great indicator of the effect bullion prices are having on the hobby. I’m sure it will be the topic on most attendees’ minds as they navigate record bullion prices and the impact on numismatics. Stay tuned for my post-FUN show report in a couple of weeks.

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