Hearing of a "hoard" of coins conjures up images of surplus, oversupply and the uncommon that suddenly becomes common. This happened in 1962 when hundreds of thousands of the formerly rare Mint State 1903-O Morgan dollars surfaced in the form of $1,000 canvas bags of silver dollars that had been locked in a vault at the Philadelphia Mint since 1929.

The values of the previously few known Uncirculated examples of the 1903-O Morgan dollar quickly plummeted from between $1,000 and $2,000 each all the way down to about $25.

However, the opposite effect occurred when the LaVere Redfield hoard of more than 400,000 silver dollars, most graded Mint State, of various issues, common and rare, were skillfully marketed and disbursed. Market prices for these coins actually rose substantially during the next several years during the late 1970s in an expansion of the collector and dealer demand for silver dollars in general.

The recovery of a large hoard of Mint State 1857-S Coronet gold $20 double eagle coins from the SS Central America, which sunk during 1857, caused values for this coin issue to fall as these coins were sold. Mint State and high-end circulated examples of this coin issue fell substantially in their values during the early 2000s, and then recovered about half of their decline as the momentum of the hot gold coin market drove prices higher.

The recent announcement of the hoard of high-grade gold coins recovered from the SS New York is more likely to stimulate the market, resulting in even higher values. As these gold coins are from the Charlotte, Dahlonega and New Orleans Mints, there are unlikely to be large quantities of single-issue coins.

Charlotte and Dahlonega Mint gold coins have been popular in their own right for generations, but according to rare gold coin expert Douglas Winter, gold coins from the New Orleans Mint represent an emerging market on its own.

The Charlotte and Dahlonega Mint gold coins, especially, were notoriously softly struck, making high-grade examples look worn. As a result, a great many of them have been harshly cleaned. Experienced collectors prefer examples with original "skin" (surfaces). The SS New York hoard of rare gold should sell out quickly.