Q. David Bowers
"The last segment of the disposal operation also caused quite a bit of ill feeling. Orders were sent in accompanied by remittances for a substantial amount, this procedure having been encouraged. However, allotments were then cut to a maximum of five coins. At the same time refunds were not forthcoming for a long period. Many stopped payment on their checks, and many canceled their orders completely. Many are still griping. The biggest coin dealer in the business still has a lot to learn."
In August 1966, Abe Kosoff conducted the American Numismatic Association convention sale. The catalogue came off the presses of the Sidney Printing and Publishing Company, parent organization of Coin World. Divided into four sessions, the auction comprised 2,205 lots. Cataloguing was the work of Abe Kosoff together with his son Steve and Mike Kliman. This was the seventh ANA sale conducted under Abe's direction.
Fund raising for the ANA Home and Headquarters building in Colorado Springs was being conducted, and members of the Association were advised that they could donate coins to be sold at the convention. Abe Kosoff catalogued such gifts, doing it as a commission-free service to the ANA.
Among the items in the catalogue was the first identified 1862 over 1 overdate quarter eagle to be sold at auction. This variety was unlisted until 1963, when it became known that Aubrey Bebee, the Omaha dealer, had discovered the variety. By 1966 it was noted that three specimens existed. In later years additional pieces came to light.
The Newport Balboa Savings and Loan Association, Newport Beach, California displayed its collection to hundreds of thousands of visitors during the late 1860s. The exhibit, first conceived by Ken Nichols, an old-time collector and dealer, and then brought to its final form by Abe Kosoff, was a comprehensive gathering of United States, world, and ancient issues-literally the history of numismatics and money. Many prize items, sets, and small collections acquired by Abe Kosoff were placed directly with the banking institution.
Abe Kosoff had little good to say for speculators and investors. Like many other old-time professionals, he felt that speculation caused erratic price movements and disrupted the market. In March 1967, when prices for rolls and Proof sets had fallen far below their highs of a couple years earlier, Abe Kosoff wrote the following in his Coin World column:
"In Proof sets the present crisis is the third time around for this series. The big bust, of course, was the 1957. Kosoff's Law was operating, everybody was buying 1957 Proof sets. It is reported that one insurance company had invested in 100,000 sets. These sets, you will recall, cost $2.10 each at the Philadelphia Mint."
Speculation was rampant, eventually the market ran out of buyers, and: "Before too many months had elapsed, thousands of sets had changed hands at $1.60 per set, and I know of one instance where an offering of almost 10,000 sets at $1.60 was turned down. The most recent craze will, I hope, teach a lesson. I'm afraid it won't, but we can hope.
"A coin has a premium because somewhere, sometime, some collector will want it for his collection. There is no other reason; that's it. If there were no collectors, no coin would have a premium. It's simple, yet speculators buy coins by the roll, by the sack, by the carload. These are coins for which there are not enough collectors.
"If a sack of Lincoln cents tears opens, 5,000 coins are looking for 5,000 collectors who need that date and will pay a premium. Chances are, however, that a given collector either got it out of another sack or simply at his bank.
"Now, I read in some of the trade journals that this is the time to invest (they call it invest, I call it speculate) in rolls of Uncirculated coins. They point out that prices are very low compared to the highs of two years ago. What they fail to tell you is that the coins they are touting were not worth the price two years ago and they are not worth the price today. There are just not enough collectors around to absorb those Lincoln cents. After all, in some years we have had more than 600 million cents struck, three for every man, woman and child in the country, or, if you think there are 10 million coin collectors, 60 for every coin collector-and you are assuming that the man who collects ancient coins only will also buy 60 of the Lincoln cents! There is another law, and I car take credit for this one, the law of supply and demand.
"Who is to blame? All of us. Collectors are dealers alike. The collector is to blame because he ceases to be a collector when he starts to speculate Let him stick to his collecting pursuits. This is the best investment-the strong collection. The deal is to blame because he encourages the collector speculate and he provides the coins forth purpose.
"No collector should buy even two identical coins for his collection, unless he wants to show both obverse and reverse. Otherwise, stick to the one coin you need for your collection.
"Avoid catastrophic conditions which had caused some collectors to mortgage their home to cover losses on coin speculation and have put many dealers out of business. Unfortunately, to, the 'dealers' were not coin men, they were con men. They were men of varied and vast misinformation. Their losses hurt them just the same are with them many legitimate coin dealers became enmeshed.
"I would like to close this subject, but before I do, I want to point out that roll collecting is always and all together injurious to the hobby nobody put away the 1909-S V.D.B. cents v would have to pay a lot more for an Uncirculated specimen than the current market price.
"If men like Bill Pukall didn't put away rolls, 1916 Standing Liberty quarters, the price of an Uncirculated specimen would be prohibitive to most collectors. I bought rolls of rare coins from Way Raymond in the 1930s. I still have some of there The existence of these coins makes it possible for today's collectors to acquire certain coins at a comparatively reasonable price.
"Contradictory? Not in the least. Let the deal, put these coins away each year. Do you begrudge him his livelihood? He doesn't encroach on your practice as an architect or as a doctor, or as plumber, or whatever field you pursue to earn your living. Leave it to the dealer to put the rolls away. By the time the coins are worth selling, the interest on his money will take care of the profit. But, the coins will be available, and at reasonable prices, because if you don't buy a roll, just the one coin you need, there will be enough coins for everybody at reasonable prices. You create the artificial rarity when you hoard a sackful of coins."