One of the biggest numismatic stories of 2013 — the blockbuster sale of the legendary Eric P. Newman coin collection — should serve as an inspiration to everyone who loves coins. Newman began collecting coins in the 1930s and spent only about $7,500 in all. The end result? This November his collection commanded more than $23 million.

That number is impressive, but it’s dwarfed by the mega-millions making headlines in the fine-art world, most notably the record $142.4 million fetched by Francis Bacon’s 1969 Lucian Freud triptych. A price like that signals a bubble building in art. In contrast, rare coins are nowhere near bubble stage. Economist Raymond Lombra has shown that coins only really take off after gold rises, and gold is in a correction mode this year.

“In the fine art realm, $1 million doesn’t go that far,” Coin World editor Steve Roach noted. However, as Eric Newman has taught us, you can assemble an impressive coin collection for far, far less than $1 million. Let Blanchard and Company show you how to build an equally impressive coin collection that will give you endless enjoyment, rich rewards, and a lasting legacy for your loved ones. Wishing you all the best in 2014.

Newman coins fetch $23 million

“The top end of the rare coin market has never been higher,” CoinWeek noted in October. “Whenever something truly special is offered for sale, a new price record is set.” And perhaps few coin collections are more special than 102-year-old Eric P. Newman’s. In November the St. Louis lawyer’s 1,800-coin collection returned more than $23 million on his $7,500 investment. A rare quarter-dollar from 1796, the first year the denomination was produced by the U.S. Mint, sold for $1.5 million. Other top sellers included a 1795 U.S. silver dollar in almost pristine condition that sold for $910,625, while another one from 1799 fetched $822,500. As for Newman’s 1852 Humbert $10 gold piece, the only privately owned version of such a coin from the U.S. Assay Office, renowned numismatist John Albanese gushed, “Unbelievable, almost unreal.” Read more

Asian investors piling into coins

Coin collecting and investing continue to take off in Asia, with both NGC and PCGS expanding their footprints in China in recent months, to cater to its increasingly wealthy citizens. Reuters detailed the growing trend in its Nov. 29 article “Cash is king: Asian investors look to coins for big returns.” As Laura Philomin noted: “In a world of market volatility, rare coins might be worth their weight in gold — and maybe even more. While stocks have struggled to produce steady returns, coins are powering ahead and attracting attention from Asian investors.” TS Sinnathuray of Mavin International told Reuters: “Not enough good-quality coins are surfacing. Those who have these good-quality coins tend to keep it as part of their collection.” Watch video

Wealthy hoarding rarities in “freeports”

On Nov. 23 The Economist profiled the convergence of several trends of interest to gold investors in its article “Freeports: Uber-warehouses for the ultra-rich.” High-tech, high-security warehouses are springing up in so-called “freeports” at airports around the world: in Luxembourg, Switzerland, Monaco, Singapore, and Beijing. “The world’s rich are increasingly investing in expensive stuff,” it reported. Noting that “investment in art and other valuables has shot up,” it listed several reasons for the “buying binge” trend. “One is growing distrust of financial assets. Collectibles have outperformed stocks over the past decade, with some, like rare coins, doing a lot better, according to The Economist’s valuables index.” Read more

Art megasale signals hidden inflation

The record-shattering Nov. 12 sale of Francis Bacon’s triptych painting made waves through the entire art world — and even to CNBC. “Some argue that the sale is giving us a message about inflation that investors aren’t getting from the action in gold, the Dollar Index, or the government’s official consumer price index data,” CNBC noted. “What we’re seeing is massive asset price inflation generated by what the Fed is doing,” Lindsey Group analyst Peter Boockvar told the network. “And while they continue to want us to look at the lack of consumer price inflation, asset price inflation is just inflation under a different name.” ConvergEx Group strategist Nicholas Colas added: “If the dollar loses value over time, that’s going to leave collectibles in a pretty good spot. Anything that is rare or scarce and that people want is going to go up in value a lot.” Read more

Q: What’s the difference between date collecting and type collecting?

A: Collecting by date means assembling a group by every date and mint of a particular denomination and design of a U.S. coin. For example, one might acquire a set of Walking Liberty Half Dollars (1916-47), Peace Dollars (1921-35), or $2.50 Indian Gold coins (1908-29). Variations can occur with some date sets, and often a collector will acquire a single coin for each year of a particular coin design type.

A type coin collection differs from a date coin collection because the collector is after one coin of each design type in a particular area of U.S. coins. One example: the classic U.S. commemorative coins (1892-1954). This sprawling date set covers 144 different issues, sometimes with multiple mint issues.

Whatever direction one takes depends on preferences and budget. However, a type set can always be expanded to include more or all the dates within the set. The variations in type collecting are endless. In addition, Blanchard and Company has taken much of the guesswork out of the process by creating a number of highly recommended sets, including the 4 Piece Indian Set, the 4 Piece Liberty Set, the 8 Piece Mint Set, and the 12 Piece Mint Set.

Q: Should unslabbed or uncertified coins be cleaned of blemishes or discoloration?

A: Take a cue from the ancient physician Hippocrates, who reputedly recommended that doctors “first, do no harm.” And that means do not clean your coins. In fact, try not to handle the coins at all. They should only be gripped around their edges with a thumb and forefinger, and even then, lintless cotton gloves are highly recommended. The more wear or damage there is to the coin’s surface, the less the coin will be worth. In fact, the value of some coins is actually enhanced by natural toning and patina that build up over time. Above all, don’t ever use abrasives or acids to clean coin surfaces. Don’t even roll the dice with more harmless chemical solutions. Unless you are an experienced specialist, the answer to “how do I clean my coins?” is, quite simply, “don’t clean them.” Shop your coins around at local coin clubs and reputable coin dealers (such as those with Better Business Bureau accreditations) to first determine whether a coin is valuable.

10 oz. S.S. Gairsoppa Commemorative Silver Bar

The hunt for sunken treasure has captured the imaginations of countless adventure seekers, and collectors and investors alike jump at the chance to add shipwreck silver to their collections and portfolios. Here is your chance to own shipwreck silver with a unique World War II provenance.

In the early days of World War II, the British cargo freighter Gairsoppa set sail from Calcutta, India, in December 1940. Loaded down with 7,000 tons of silver, pig iron, tea, and other cargo, the Gairsoppa found itself alone and running out of fuel in the North Atlantic. Spotted by a German Focke-Wulf Fw 200 airplane, it was doomed. Just 14 hours later, a German U-boat commanded by Ernst Mengersen fired four torpedoes, one of which hit the ailing steamship. It sank shortly after the attack, and fewer than a handful of crew members survived.

After a 10-year search, Odyssey Marine Exploration located the Gairsoppa wreckage 300 miles southwest of Ireland’s Galway Bay. In the deepest and heaviest recovery of precious metal from a shipwreck site in history, Odyssey recovered about 3.2 million troy ounces of silver from depths deeper than the Titanic. Odyssey salvaged 2,792 1,000+ oz. silver ingots, 462 of which were distributed to the public. The remaining bars were melted down and reminted in 2013 as 1 oz. S.S. Gairsoppa Commemorative Silver Bars, offering a more affordable — but equally exciting — way for collectors and investors to capture an authentic piece of World War II history.

In partnership with Odyssey, Blanchard and Company, Inc. is proud to offer both the massive original ingots as well as these newly issued 10 oz. bars. Each of the latter is stamped with a certified S.S. Gairsoppa Shipwreck Silver Seal on its obverse, with the image of the S.S. Gairsoppa imprinted on its reverse to commemorate the ship and crew and identify the origins of the silver.