Neil Edwards loves his coins.
On March 15, the Davenport man came to the 88th annual Port City Coin Club Show in Muscatine looking for rare “W” mint mark quarters — what collectors call West Point quarters. He’d saved $4,000 for the hunt.
“I didn’t find my quarters, but I did end up spending $1,500 on some old, interesting Morgans,” he said, referring to the Morgan silver dollars now heading home with him.
The Davenport man is the kind of customer many coin shops and shows have relied on for years. He’s a serious coin collector. But he refers to himself as a “flipper” — an investor who buys and sells coins with the goal of making a profit.
Investors chasing profit are changing — and challenging — coin shops across the region, driven by one factor: gold and silver prices have spiked sharply in recent months, with gold peaking above $5,600 an ounce and silver surging to more than $120.
Coin shops typically serve as a primary local market, buying from the public and selling to refineries — but that volatility is making consistent profit margins hard to sustain.
Numismatic News, a top magazine in the coin world, put it this way: “The record prices now being realized for gold, silver, platinum and copper are impacting the hobby in ways previously unanticipated. … When the value of a common silver dollar that only a year ago sold for about $40 now sells for more than $120, not because of increased demand, but due to its intrinsic value, this gives even the most focused collectors thoughts of profit-taking. … Both new and well-seasoned coin collectors are being challenged by this sudden shift in values.”
Gallery
That shift in values and metal prices have impacted numerous coin shops in Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois.
One of those coin shops is Rock River Coins & Jewelry in Moline. Owner Rich Holman said these changing times have been especially tough on many people in his business that often sell the silver and gold coins they buy from the public to refineries to be melted down. In some cases, those refineries have stopped buying, thereby cutting into the cash flow of coin shops, and even causing some shops to temporarily close because of the volatility of the market.
He added that Rock River Coins & Jewelry has not closed its doors because his business offers a big diversity of products. In addition to coins, Rock River offers everything from pocket knives, watches, toy race cars and even has a section devoted to Elvis Presley, complete with records, photos and a bust.
“I have a lot of regular customers come in here all the time, but there’s also people deciding to come in for the first time to buy or sell coins… I tell them there’s never a bad time to invest,” said Mr. Holman.
He’s seeing roughly equal numbers of buyers and sellers — when prices dip, the buyers arrive, when prices climb, the sellers do. He expects that pattern to hold for another six months before the market steadies, with gold settling near $6,000 an ounce and silver near $200.
Muscatine coin show
Gold and silver prices were on the minds of many at this year’s Port City Coin Club Show in Muscatine.
Alex Ralston of All American Bullion & Coins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said his business began seeing increased customer traffic last fall, peaking in January.
“The big sellers right now are people who bought coins 10 years ago. Now, they are getting four times [as much for] their investments. … Prices are falling a little now, but they’re still very high,” he said.
In the short term, he expects prices to keep fluctuating — but trending higher over time.
“In 10 years from now, these prices you see today (for gold and silver coins) will be cheap,” he said.
John Huntington, a retired businessman from Johnston, Iowa, was at the show buying and selling from his coin side business. He’s seen more buyers than sellers lately — a sign, he said, of how many “stackers” are in the market. Stackers buy coins as an investment and sell when the price is right.
One of his priciest offering was a $20 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle gold coin at $5,300.
“There were a lot of people buying silver at the show. But I did have some people — people from the younger generation — buying nickels and pennies. That’s a great start for people getting into numismatics,” he said.
Attendees came in search of everything from investments to collectibles to coins that simply caught their eye — and many hoped the history behind the coins mattered as much as the price.
“There are a lot of great stories with these coins and paper money. … There’s always something to learn from them,” said Nevin Roberts, a former history teacher and longtime collector who helped organize the show.
Heather Minson of Wilton, Iowa, came with her husband, Austin, to learn about old coins inherited from his great-grandmother. They were also there to invest — the couple recently bought their young daughter one ounce of silver in the shape of Santa Claus.
“She doesn’t care about that now, but she will when she gets older. … We’re here today because of all the unique coins and we would like to learn more about them,” Ms. Minson said.
Lee Roe, owner of Hill Top Coins in Marion, Iowa, worked the show with business cards listing what he was buying: silver dollars from 1935 and earlier, pre-1965 coins with 90% silver content, war nickels from 1942–1945, wheat and Indian head pennies from 1958 and earlier, and scrap gold and sterling silver.
His business remains strong, he said, because true collectors — not just investors — keep coming. But he knows the investor crowd isn’t going anywhere.
“Good coins will remain good coins, but the bullion side of the market — silver and gold — will remain volatile. It’s going to be an exciting ride for the next few months,” Mr. Roe said.
