The DWN Market Report: An Appreciation

Around four years ago, a close friend of mine who is not only a very successful businessman but a passionate coin collector made the following comment to me while we were at dinner: "Doug, you need to start a coin blog. Collectors like me are starved for unbiased information, and there's nowhere on the web to find it." With this comment, the raregoldcoins.com DWN Market Report was born.

Around four years later, the number of DWN Market Reports now numbers over 150. At an average of 1500+ words per blog, that's more than 225,000 words or a decent-sized book. I don't think I've repeated too many topics, and I've tried really hard to keep fluff to a minimum. I'd like to think that for many coin collectors, the DWN Market Report has become the go-to source for those who want a high quality educational experience.

So...I'd like to take a few minutes of your time to let you know what the DWN Market Report is--and what it isn't.

About once a month, I get a comment that is somewhere along these lines: "I LOVE your blog. Its like a college course in coins." (or) "I learn more about coins and the coin market from your blog than anyplace else on the web." I love comments like these. To me, an educated collector is a collector who operates out of confidence; not fear. He buys more coins, I sell more coins; we're all happy.

What I try to do with each blog I write is to provide information that any gold coin collector, from beginner to expert, will find useful. Around one-third of the blogs deal with the how's and why's of the market: what to collect, where to find it, what to pay for it, how to grade it, why to sell it, etc, etc. The rest of the articles tend to address specific groups of coins and the collectors who love them: Civil War gold, San Francisco gold dollars, New Orleans double eagles, three dollar gold, etc.

At one time, I wrote blogs that recapped coin shows. I've more or less stopped doing these, except for FUN and the Summer ANA, because they are boring to write and read, and because they are self-serving and trite.

What the DWN Market Report isn't:

-Its not a recap of all the coins that I've sold in the last week. If you want to know what I've sold, look at my website on the day after a major show (when I have the most coins) and three weeks later (when I am nearly out of coins).

-Its not me bragging about how great business is. If you want to know, my business is doing just fine, thanks, but aren't you more interested in Charlotte quarter eagles than my new clients from Charlotte?

-Its not a recap of what I had for dinner last night or how my 45 minute stay in Phoenix was extended to 45 hours due to a thunderstorm.

-Its not an attack on the ANA, the grading services, the PNG, the auction houses or anything/anyone else that I'm feeling cranky about. My Mom always told me to say something nice or don't say anything at all. Mom, I'm pretty certain you were 95% right...

-Its not a lightning rod for controversy.

I've had a few people criticize my blogs for not being more in your face. If you know me at all, I'm not an in your face type or person. I'll teach you how to recognize originality and show you photos of original coins but I'm not going to "out" coin doctors or discuss the latest doctoring techniques. That's just not how I roll. I'll leave that to other coin bloggers...

You came to raregoldcoins.com expecting choice and rare United States gold coins that were fairly priced and for which an active two-way market is made. The DWN Market Report is a reflection of this: clean, concise and taut; the prose equivalent of a well struck, nicely toned early half eagle. And this is what I strive to provide to my readers.