The Business of Numismatics: April 2026 Greysheet Editor's Letter

Record high precious metals prices are no longer a novelty, but rather a puzzle that the industry at large is grappling with.

As reported previously, there are delays from the top down with regards to processing and settlement of large bullion transactions. At the top are the refiners, who are faced with unprecedented amounts of work to handle all of the scrap and coins needed to manufacture into fresh deliverable product. At the micro levels, dealers, especially those with coin shops, are waiting to be paid from such deals and thus are forced to adjust how they do business, at least temporarily.

When silver plummeted at the end of January, many pundits and market observers thought that the while metal would settle and stay in the $70 to $80 range. Now that it has rallied back above $90, those who were holding out to sell have now capitulated, drawing even more metal into the market. It will take many years to evaluate the impact of how many coins that previously had numismatic value ended up in the melting pot.

I write this column from our Whitman Baltimore Spring Expo and, while dealer-to-dealer business has been pretty strong, there is a sense of fatigue. There has been a succession of national or semi-national coin shows in consecutive weeks, which was a scheduling anomaly that does not occur very often. So product is moving, albeit at a slower pace. Meanwhile, in the auction environment, important coins continue to bring record prices, as evidenced with the recent James A. Stack, Sr. sales, among others. This month’s feature article delves into some of the prices realized at that sale. As always, it is important to look at record prices in context rather than a vacuum. The Stack’s Bowers Spring Showcase sale features more big ticket items, including a 1943-S Bronze Lincoln Cent that is certified PCGS AU55 with an elusive Gold CAC sticker. Other headliners include a PCGS/CAC PR67+ 1879 Flowing Hair Stella and an NGC MS67+* 1907 Rounded Rim $10 Indian.

There was also some excitement at our Baltimore show in the form of the new Semiquincentennial circulating coinage. While still not common in wider circulation, there were some of the new dual-dated dimes and half dollars on offer at the show. Seeing them in person, the mint has created a very good-looking product. The week of the show also saw the release of the dual-dated Proof American Gold Eagles via the U.S. Mint website. The one-ounce coin, which has a mintage limit of 25,000 pieces, was released at an initial price of $6,100. The half-ounce coin has a maximum mintage of 18,500, while the quarter-ounce and tenth-ounce are at 21,000 and 29,000, respectively. There is much hope in the industry that all of these America 250 coins will spark the interest of new collectors in much the same way that the Statehood quarters did. Whitman has a full suite of new products to house and store these coins, which we fast tracked to get out onto the market. We hope many new collectors fill these albums!

Sincerely,

Patrick Ian Perez, patrickp@whitmanbrands.com