The proof is in the Proof by David Albanese Hello to all, I hope your winter was a good one and as all of us are, I'm sure you're looking forward to spring. I know I am, although I must say our winter here in Western NYS wasn't so bad. As the new coin year gets rolling along major auctions seem to be keeping pace with the marketplace. Although I've noticed that in some major auctions there has been a noticeable shortage of really nice material of any consequence. One thing if you noticed - the over abundance of 09-SVDB Lincoln's. They seem to be coming out of the woodwork!! This sort of shatters the myth of this being a true rarity except in super high grade, and then I would consider it a "condition rarity" as I mentioned in a previous Market Talk. Since then the number of this date has been prevalent in many auctions. An area of good opportunity in my estimation is the Proof type arena, both silver and gold. Looking at populations there are some real opportunities here for sure! One thing I like about Proof coinage is that there are no real surprises lurking out there. You know that their mintages are low and most all survivors have been certified. I was very pleased to see that PCGS has started a program of paying a bounty for crack out inserts so a clearer picture can emerge from the true numbers certified by them. As we know a common practice is to crack out high end coins in a effort to upgrade the coin and thus a false number for many coins appears in pop reports. I feel that this up trend in market will continue for quite a while as new money continues to come into the market by investors and collectors who are new to the coin hobby. This is very healthy for sure as coin collecting can be a very rewarding endeavor if approached correctly. Many astute investors are realizing that coins are a very safe haven for some of their capital especially true rarities where only a tiny handful exists today. I further believe that true rarities will continue to be sought after and they should be considered "Works of Art" - part of our great American Heritage. I feel these are absolutely some of the safest investments in today's world. Looking back at the pricing history you'll see that the bottom has never really fallen out but rather has proven to stay a worst steady and for the most part risen over the years. So stay tuned for a great year and I hope you find the coin of your dreams. As always if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact us any time. Cheers, David Albanese, President, Albanese Rare Coins, Inc. David Albanese is a Nostomania coins advisor, and can be reached at his outstanding web site. Visit our Coin News Archive.