By Douglas LePre, Senior Portfolio Manager at Blanchard and Company, Inc.

I recently went to the American Numismatic Association (ANA) National Money Show that took place at the Dallas Convention Center over the March 4 weekend.

I opted to attend as a non-dealer just to see what was really happening in the market.

As a life member of the ANA, admission on Friday was free. Upon arrival I received an ANA member credential to gain access to the show, so that made it a bit easier for me to blend in as an attendee. Even though this show boasts about having more than 500 dealers in attendance, I still found myself leaving the show without having made a single purchase, and I was very underwhelmed. I went to the show with money to spend but ended up leaving with every last cent pun intended.

I also ran into a few issues that, quite frankly, I didn’t expect.

I took the time to walk the entire show, stopping at most all of the tables to see what was on display and what was for sale. Some dealers had items at their tables that they really just want to show off rather than sell, which means they are heavily overpriced!

A few dealers had some beautifully toned coins, but after inquiring about price I felt as though they should have been wearing a mask and six-shooter saying, Stick em up! The prices were ridiculous.

I did see a few other items that piqued my interest, but when trying to gain the attention of the dealers who rented the table, they were either not there or too busy talking to their show neighbor about things other than coins. The reason I know that is because I was standing there being ignored for a long enough period to listen to their conversations. On these occasions, I just moved on.

All in all, there seemed to be more dealer-to-dealer trading than there was selling to the public. That may be due to public attendance being pretty lackluster at least in comparison to shows Ive attended in the past. Or, maybe its yet another sign of how the market is changing.

The highlight of the show for me was having the opportunity to view firsthand some of the amazing coins that came out of the D. Brent Pogue Collection, and I can only compare that experience to walking through the Colosseum in Rome or seeing the Mona Lisa for the first time. It was absolutely like taking a trip back in time completely awe-inspiring! The Proof 1804 Dollar and 1822 Half Eagle were front and center along with many of the other coins from the same collection, and I must say they were some of the nicest coins that I have ever seen brought to market.

In addition, the ANA Museum Showcase display had many items of real interest. One of the many items there was the off-metal 1943-S bronze Lincoln Cent that recently sold at auction for $211,500. I quite frankly was very excited to see this rare error coin, but upon viewing the display, the coin had been mounted vertically underneath a very bright light shining down directly on the coin, which distorted its details. It was a real shame that such an interesting numismatic curiosity was displayed so poorly! This was a lost opportunity for the ANA to generate even more excitement for our hobby because visitors to the show couldn’t really get the impact of this rarity.

As I had not been to a show in a while, I have to say that attending this affair in Dallas reconfirmed that I am blessed to work for one of the largest companies in the coin market. The amazing number of rarities that come through our doors has never been more evident to me than right this very moment.

After walking the show and being privy to the amazing rarities that are still available for sale on any given day, Pogue Collection included, I have complete faith that this market is alive and well. I do, however, think that the market has changed in regards to how people are buying and selling coins. My suggestion to anyone looking to enter the rarities market is to find someone who not only knows the market but also loves what they do, and when you do, stay with them for those very reasons.

All markets over the past 20 years have changed evolution is natural. This market is no different; what some call advancement, others consider regression, so you have to be able to embrace the change as it happens in order to continue to grow with the market.

Auctions have their place, but they also have their shortcomings.

And coin shows seem to me to have become a dealer-to-dealer exchange for the most part, with some bullion trading hands.

While I dont want to be accused of judging a book by its cover, I do think its fair to judge a coin dealer on their available inventory! Quality coins are now where the smart money goes, and the question becomes: How readily can you find them?

Happy hunting!

Almost three months into 2016, nothing has changed. Gold is still up about 16%, although its rally has stalled around $1,260. Meanwhile, the major stock indexes like the Dow Jones and S&P 500 have clawed their way back into positive territory for the year since hitting lows around Feb. 11.

But those who think the worst is over for U.S. and global financial markets and therefore that its time to reduce gold holdings in favor of stocks could be in for a rude awakening.

Housing report tanks: The existing-home sales report for February was the latest wakeup call that the U.S. recovery remains precarious. Sales plunged 7.1% in the largest month-over-month drop since July 2010. Moreover, the National Association of Realtors delivered a somber assessment of the tapped-out American worker.

Home prices and rents outpacing wages and anxiety about the health of the economy are holding back a segment of would-be buyers, observed NARs Larry Yun.

The home-sales report was accompanied Monday by the Chicago Federal Reserves National Activity Index, which contracted back to two-year lows, while last week heavy-equipment maker Caterpillar was forced to issue sales and profit forecasts below analysts expectations.

Secret Shanghai accord at work?: These three reports help suggest that recent stock-market gains are unsupported by economic fundamentals. So whats the reason for the rebound in stocks? Renewed accommodation from central banks, thats what. Some analysts think top bankers secretly agreed at the recent G20 meeting in Shanghai to take the dollar down a couple of notches to juice markets.

To any conspiracy theorists, its all become quite clear, IG strategist Chris Weston wrote. There is a global coordinated central bank effort to weaken the [dollar] in play, which in turn has led to a massive de-risking in equity and credit markets.

Whether or not a conspiracy is the reason for the market surge, Goldman Sachs is calling the Feds unexpected slashing of its interest-rate hike pace from four to two a major dovish surprise for markets, with interest rates declining across the curve and the dollar falling against other developed market currencies.

Desperation of money printing: The Feds dovish stance followed similar moves by the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan. This money-printing magic is whats driving stocks higher in recent weeks, argued Jeff Sica of Circle Squared.

Virtually nothing has changed with corporate earnings, he told Fox Business last week. What weve had is three major central banks launch this desperation of money printing, low interest rates, negative interest rates. So what weve seen is not only are these central banks willing to jeopardize the future economies of their respective countries, but they are willing to do just about anything to cover whatever theyre trying to cover and save this market. The problem is what theyre doing is theyre delaying the inevitable. Remember the Fed came out and they said when they were starting to raise interest rates, maybe get some sanity back; they came out and they said that raising interest rates was good for us, normalization. Now Janet Yellen comes out and [is] clearly dovish, clearly against raising interest rates. And now shes telling is that not raising interest rates is good for us. This is a very confused Fed, and when you have a confused Fed, eventually youre going to realize they dont know what theyre doing.

Fed fueled 93% of stock gains since 2008: Central banks are powering the current stock rally, and in fact the Feds trillions of dollars worth of monetary stimulus is responsible for 93% of the gains in equities since 2008, according to economist Brian Barnier, principal at ValueBridge Advisors and founder of FedDashboard.com.

And not everyone is buying this recent rally as the real deal. For one thing, volumes are thin. On rallies like this, we like to see an endorsement from money flow and from value trading and from volume, and thats one aspect of this move that falls a little bit short, Chris Verrone of Strategas Research Partners told CNBC.

Since the Feb. 11 low, average daily volume on the S&P has been about 35% less than what it was in the first four or five weeks of the year.

Not fully confident in S&P: Moreover, ETF fund flows went negative between Feb. 11 and last Friday. This is a sign that people are thinking that the U.S. markets are overbought at these levels, and moving their money to emerging markets and even gold, said Mohit Bajaj of WallachBeth Capital. People are not fully confident that the S&P is going to stay at these levels.

Moreover, a Bank of America note found that in the week ended March 11, the banks hedge fund, institutional and private clients sold $3.7 billion, the most since September and the seventh consecutive week of withdrawals, Bloomberg reported.

Meanwhile, JPMorgan analyst Marko Kolanovic also told CNBC that the rally has been the result of short covering by momentum investors and is not necessarily based on market fundamentals.

And as Mark Hulbert noted at MarketWatch, its not uncommon to see large moves higher during a bear market. Hulbert observed that since 1900, the average major bear market has featured six rallies of at least 5%.

Very little to do with fundamentals: The economic fundamentals simply arent there to sustain the equities rally long-term. The question everyone should be asking is what has really changed in the last three months? saidJohn Canally of LPL Financial Global concerns, while slightly less, are still there.

Im not buying anything;Im sitting on my hands and waiting, addedMichael Woischneck of Lampe Asset Management. I would definitely sell this rally because its totally central-bank driven and has nothing or very little to do with fundamentals.

Too much of a good thing can sometimes come with a downside,” BlackRock strategist Russ Koesterich also warned. The stage could be set for a return of volatility and another selloff.

But its this temporary renewed momentum in stocks that has slowed golds advance. Its also important to note that traditionally, the yellow metals seasonal strength ebbs slightly in March after the Lunar New Year gold-buying holiday is celebrated across China and other Asian countries in early February.

The next week of data will be key to determining where the U.S. economy is headed, with new-home sales, durable-goods orders, and GDP estimates all on tap. And with some top Fed officials still talking up the necessity of raising interest rates as soon as April or June, stocks could face a volatile road ahead if that tightening actually materializes, lifting the veneer off this dead-cat bounce of an equities rebound.

Standard Chartered and the Silver Institute both have issued predictions that global silver production is set to shrink in the coming year and beyond.

Now another major bank, Societe Generale, is making the same forecast. It is predicting that supplies of newly mined silver will drop 9.2% this year and 13% in 2017.

This dearth is partly because the output of base metals also has shrunk, and silver is often recovered as a byproduct of mining operations that are primarily seeking zinc, copper, lead, and the like.

Well continue to see mine cutbacks this year and that will play into the hands of silver, Saxo Bank strategist Ole Hansen told Bloomberg. This will give silver its long overdue attention.

High ratio signals crisis: Meanwhile, the gold-silver ratio or the number of ounces of silver needed to buy a single ounce of gold continues to hover around 80, give or take a few notches.

In modern history, the gold/silver ratio has only been this high three other times, all periods of extreme turmoil the 2008 crisis, Gulf War, and World War II, Zero Hedge noted.

Not only does a high ratio signal potential crisis conditions, but its also a bullish signal to buy silver.

As of Monday, the gold-to-silver ratio just fell below 80, and the last three times that happened silver outperformed gold by 60 to 302 percentage points in the next two or three years, Bloomberg reported.

25% jump in annual silver Eagle sales?: Investors who watch this ratio have been piling in. Silver American Eagle bullion coin sales have topped 13 million for the year, despite the U.S. Mint continuing to allocate, or ration, coins to its authorized network of wholesalers.

Silver analyst Steve St. Angelo went so far as to predict that silver Eagle sales will likely jump by 25% in the first quarter due to deteriorating market conditions. There are two weeks remaining in March and the U.S. Mint will likely sell another 2 million.This will put total silver Eagle sales for the first quarter at 15 million the highest ever.

With 47 million silver Eagles sold in 2015s record-breaking year, 2016 could prove to be another, even bigger milestone for the Mint. Now is the time to invest in silver, when the ratio is signaling a potential move higher for poor mans gold.

One of the most famous and valuable coins of all time is on a victory tour overseas, and its been drawing large crowds during its various stops in Europe.

The 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollar that sold for a record $10,016,875 in 2013 is on display in London this weekend, after previous stops in cities such as Prague, Warsaw, Stockholm, and Dublin. Joining it on these rounds has been another famous rarity: an original copy of the Declaration of Independence, made in 1776 and valued at about $4 million.

The Flowing Hair coin is believed to be the first U.S. silver dollar ever struck and could potentially have been handled by George Washington himself. Minted on a hand-turned screw press, only about 150 issues of this date are known to exist from the roughly 1,758 minted in Philadelphia. Once part of the Cardinal Collection, this coin has been owned by some illustrious collectors, including Colonel E.H.R Ned Green, W.W. Neil, and Amon Carter Sr. and Jr.

Graded as an impeccable Specimen 66 by PCGS and sporting a green CAC sticker, the coin also is the only such 1794 dollar with a silver plug, inserted to bring it up to a standard weight. Surrounded by 15 stars (one for each state at the time), a Lady Liberty with flowing locks adorns one side, while a bald eagle is depicted on the other.

Despite the fact that the iconic coin is so striking, the BBC asked the question in a March 17 feature: What makes this coin the most valuable in the world? Answer: Rarity, condition and cultural value.

For a visual representation of this coins explosive value, just check out this chart of its gains over a roughly 70-year period, using the sale years and prices listed by the BBC. (The coins whereabouts up until Greens purchase in the 1920s are unknown, although it reportedly was in government storage for much of the 19^th century.)

As the chart illustrates, this Flowing Hair dollars value has skyrocketed over time, putting to shame gains by stocks, bonds, and even gold bullion. Of course, a coin like this one only comes around once in a super-blue moon. For those with massively deep pockets, the coins current owner reportedly is open to the right offer.

But the right price is likely out of reach for most people. Nonetheless, numerous lesser-tier rare coins can also provide proportionately superstar returns, as well as aesthetic enjoyment, to those with the eye to invest in them. With decades of experience in numismatic collecting and investing, Blanchard and Company is here to help coin enthusiasts achieve the utmost with their rarities.

Is it the moment weve all been waiting for? Last week Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer noted something unusual: We may well at present be seeing the first stirrings of an increase in the inflation rate.

But on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve ignored Fischers comment and kept interest rates on hold, citing global economic and financial developments that continue to pose risks.

Whats more, it reduced its expectations of raising rates four times this year to just two. And despite Fischers take, it also lowered its inflation forecast to 1.2%, down from the 1.6% it predicted in December.

Systemic risks boost gold: The gloomy outlook, which saw the Fed cut its U.S. GDP target to 2.2% from 2.4%, sent gold soaring. After festering near $1,230 ahead of the meeting, the metal jumped about $30 and back above $1,260.

The Fed decision implies that economic growth is weak, Van Eck Associates fund manager Joe Foster told Bloomberg. A weak economy and the inability to have effective monetary policy creates all sorts of financial risks,risks in the banking system, risks to the economy, and those type of systemic risks are what gold rises on.

Key gauges see rising prices: But is the Fed missing the inflation boat? Not only is gold often an early indicator of inflation, but three major price indicators suggest that inflation is starting to take hold and at least inch toward the banks 2% target.

1. Although the overall Producer Price Index (PPI) declined in February, the core measure that excludes food and energy prices rose 0.9% in the 12 months through February. That was the largest gain since July 2015 and followed a 0.8% increase in January, Reuters noted.
2. Additionally, the most recent Personal Consumption Expenditure index (PCE), the Feds favored model, posted a core gain of 1.7% over the year.
3. And the February core Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed a 2.3% advance over the year, its strongest annual gain since 2012, U.S. News & World Report noted.

Trigger for next recession: Even a foreign journalist, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard of Londons Telegraph newspaper, seized on the U.S. inflation picture in an article titled U.S. inflation rears its ugly head as global cycle nears danger zone, calling the nascent signs of inflation the trigger for the next global recession.

The Fed must acknowledge the uptick in the inflation stats in their statement if they truly are dependent on the data, wrote Peter Boockvar at The Lindsey Group.

Win-win for gold: Whatever the Fed does with interest rates this year, some analysts are seeing win-win scenarios for gold. If the Fed does nothing and says, You know what? Were not going to raise the rest of the year, it will crush the dollar and gold will go up higher, Bloomberg metals expert Ken Hoffman told the network before the Wednesday Fed meetings conclusion.

If they come out and say, Hey, were going to raise a bunch of times, the dollar will go a lot higher, yes, but then these goldbugs think thats going to crush the rest of the world. Look at China, who has spent a trillion dollars defending its currency, which it wants to get much weaker. A stronger dollar would put even more pressure on China, and who wants China going into the tank, and that makes people rush to gold, so the goldbugs think they win no matter what. Theyre looking at this as a big buying opportunity.

Hard to control inflation: One danger in the Feds decision to hold rates in place is that it might be misreading the potential for inflation caused by its decade of near-zero rates and massive amounts of quantitative easing. After all, the Fed has been a notoriously lousy economic forecaster.

And inflationary wildfire is nothing to play with. As former Fed chief Paul Volcker famously told the Economic Club of New York in 2013, All experience demonstrates that inflation, when fairly and deliberately started, is hard to control and reverse.

If the Fed is wrong about inflation in 2016 and beyond, just as it was wrong about the gravity of the subprime-mortgage crisis in 2007, the most prudent course of action is to get prepared with precious metals.

Audit the Fed is a cry often heard by its critics, who are intent on uncovering the cozy relationship between the central bank and Wall Street. But if you needed the damage done by the Federal Reserve on everyday savers quantified, look no further than a study by NerdWallet.

The personal-finance Web site used data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis to compare Americans post-tax disposable incomes and savings rates in 2006 versus those in 2016.

Its findings? The Feds zero-rate interest policy and quantitative-easing money-printing exercises have cost savers a whopping $7.7 billion over the past decade.

Years before normalization is felt: While Wall Street saw the S&P 500 stock index gain 60% thanks to this monetary heroin of cheap money, Joe and Jane Six-Pack have seen their savings accounts go nowhere, and the U.S. economy has managed to eke out only negligible growth in the 2% to 2.5% range.

Despite the fact that the Fed raised interest rates for the first time in almost a decade in December 2015, the trend is unlikely to change soon, CNBC predicted. Even if the Fed gets back on the path to normalization, it probably will be years before savers see significant rewards.

This lack of rewards has driven many savers into markets they dont quite understand, like stocks, in a desperate search for yield. Alternatively, all too often these savers on fixed incomes, many of whom are senior citizens, have slogged on earning next to nothing from bank accounts and money-market funds because they are paralyzed by the thought of gambling and losing on stocks in their twilight years.

Its a reality that people who have fixed incomes do rely on savings accounts. Thats something we would recommend against, said NerdWallets Devan Goldstein. Somewhere in the toolkit between savings accounts and an index fund is a low-risk but slightly higher return vehicle.

Gold delivered in past decade: And there is another alternative. Other options to consider are alternatives such as real estate or precious metals, Goldstein noted, according to a CBS News report on NerdWallets findings.

The tide is once again turning toward precious metals, even more decisively now that negative interest rates are rapidly replacing zero interest rates in Japan and Europe.

And look at where these savers might be had they allocated some of their capital into gold. On Jan. 1, 2006, the price of gold was about $514 an ounce. Ten years later, on Jan. 4, 2016, the price was at $1,077. Thats a gain of 109.53%! With the price now at roughly $1,229, gold has returned 139.11%

And certain types of rare, numismatic gold, silver, and copper coins have seen even higher gains.

With the Feds low-rate policies clearly stiffing savers for a decade now, savers would be insane to keep banking on simple deposit and money-market accounts. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result. The alternative to the Feds inflationary thievery is clear: gold and silver bullion plus rare coins.