Greysheet: SILVER ROARS, CSNS ON DECK

Precious metals have been an interesting story in the past five trading days, with silver jumping well over the $16 level while gold has trended slightly down. This is an increase of nearly one dollar in the space of four trading days, or better than 5%. This type of price movement is usually positive for demand for physical bullion products, especially for those who only buy occasionally. Meanwhile, the yellow metal has fallen below the $1,230 level after trading comfortably around the $1,250 range. This has tightened the gold-silver ratio which we wrote about a few weeks ago.

The upcoming Central States coin show features a U.S. coin and currency auction conducted by Heritage. Over 5,800 coin lots will cross the block in five live floor sessions and one online-only session. The evening session on Thursday the 28th is the popular Platinum Night session with 393 lots. Highlights include three 1792-dated coins: a silver half disme (Judd-7) graded NGC MS63; a pattern disme in silver (Judd-9, and which realized just under $1 million in January 2015) graded AU50 by PCGS; and a pattern disme in copper (Judd-10, from the Garrett and Simpson collections) graded SP64 by PCGS. The ex-Gardner 1871-CC Liberty Seated dime is also on offer. It is the finest known example of this famous coin, with the designation of Specimen-65 by NGC. Three coins of the $50 denomination will be also sold: one each of the round and octagonal Panama-Pacific issues, and the finest known Humbert gold slug, graded MS63 by PCGS. Two key-date coins which have their centennials this year are up for grabs: a PCGS MS65 Full Head 1916 Standing Liberty quarter and a MS65 Full Bands 1916-D Mercury dime. The show itself is in its 77th anniversary, hosted by the Central States Numismatic Society, a club spanning 13 Midwestern states. Over 300 dealer boothholders will be in attendance.

NATIONAL COIN WEEK: APRIL 17-23

The theme for this year’s 93rd National Coin Week is “Portraits of Liberty: Icon of Freedom.” Promoted by the American Numismatic Association, the celebration features special events at ANA headquarters in Colorado Springs and online. According to the ANA website, the “events and educational content focuses on the representations of Liberty on coins and paper money around the world, from ancient to modern times.” It also an opportunity for collectors and dealers to engage others about our hobby, especially those who are in the field of education.