The Atlanta Coin and Collectibles Expo has real potential. It’s held in an excellent facility which has seen many great shows in the past—including at least one ANA convention. It’s well-run by friendly and efficient people and it has an aura of class that is sadly lacking at most other shows. In fact, it is only missing one thing…attendance. There just weren’t a lot of collectors at the show.

A review of my book “Gold Coins of the New Orleans Mint 1839-1909” was recently featured in the on-line publication “The Esylum” dated October 1, 2006 and listed as Volume 9, Issue #40.

As I have mentioned before, I have long been a fan of the low mintage Three Dollar gold pieces struck during the 1880’s. I like these coins because of their very low original mintage figures and their relative affordability. Even though the Three Dollar gold series is currently showing a slowdown after two or three years of intense activity, these particular issues are still in great demand.

You my have heard the slogans “brown is the new black” or “50 is the new 40” used in the mass media by some trend-sniffing writer. I’ve sensed a new trend in the area of rare gold coinage and it’s as follows: “New Orleans Eagles are the new New Orleans Double Eagles.” I know…it sounds silly. But give me a chance to prove this and I think you’ll realize it makes sense.

Going into Long Beach week, I was reasonably certain there was no way that this was going to be a good show. Unlike past Fall Long Beach conventions, this one was only a month after the year’s largest show (the Denver ANA). Gold had taken a terrible beating in the last month and prices for generics had dropped considerably. And many dealers had real cash flow considerations, having recently spent large amounts of cash at the ANA auctions.

I am seeing signs that we have been in the midst of a market correction in numismatics. Not a big correction, but a downturn in prices nonetheless. It is hard to say if this correction will continue for some time or if it is temporary. Looking at the history of the coin market and its continual swings up and down, I would say that the near-future of the market is a pretty tough call to make.