I recently bought and sold a coin that I hadn’t handled in quite a few years: a Gem Type Two gold dollar. For those of us of a certain age, this is an exciting coin and one that got me to thinking: is this a type that is underpriced or overpriced? My thoughts on this subject follow. Back in the 1980′s, my mentor in the rare coin business, Paul Nugget, told me an interesting story about Type Two gold dollars.   
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Why are some coins clearly undervalued? I could answer this question existentially and say “because some have to be.” But the answer to this question is worth a little more exploration. Here are some things to consider about the valuations of coins. First and foremost, many of the areas of the rare coin market are thinly traded.   
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When someone really, truly figures out how to properly compile and market an accurate, real-time pricing guide for United States coins, they are going to become very wealthy and very popular. Because, at this point in time, the pricing mechanisms for most rare United States coins are a mess. Let me explain what I mean. Let’s say you want to buy an 1858-C half eagle graded AU55 by PCGS or NGC.   
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An interesting recent trend in the rare gold coin market has been what I refer to as “value compression.” In years past, a small jump in a rare gold coin’s grade could mean an enormous jump in value. But the value jumps between certain grades are not nearly as great as they used to be. Why is this? I think the explanation is relatively simple.   
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Part of me wants to think that the gold coin market’s currently high values represent a peak and that a correction is due. But the more I look at the market, the more I think that it truly has legs and that prices are not going to go down any time soon. Here are a few reasons why I think the gold coin market is not going to drop any time soon: There are a lot more people looking to buy coins than there are people selling.   
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Almost every new collector makes mistakes, no matter what hobby he participates in. After many years of working with collectors, there are a number of common errors that I often see.   
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