July is traditionally a sleepy month for the coin market, as dealers enjoy a week or two of summer vacation before the juggernaut that is the American Numismatic Association summer convention, set this year Aug. 10 to 14 in Boston.

When counting the pre-show and associated auctions, the ANA World's Fair of Money provides more than a week of intense activity for the market.

The introduction of the summer Florida United Numismatists show – this year July 8 to 11 in Orlando – has cut into the traditional July lull, and the raging bullion market has further cut into dealers' time for rest and recreation.

After the FUN summer show, there are no major shows until the ANA convention, but for a Professional Coin Grading Service "trade and grade" in Las Vegas, which is a pre-pre-ANA show stop for many dealers to acquire inventory to take with them to the ANA convention.

As the collectible coin market remains steady but hardly robust, demand for gold provides welcome profits for many coin shops that have seen demand for fine jewelry and collectibles – often sold with coins – decline greatly in the past year.

This year, July seems to be especially active, as dealers keep shops open to deal with public demand for gold, with gold's fluctuation keeping things interesting.

For example, just a week after a June 28 high of $1,262, gold was trading in the $1,180 range on July 6, as both domestic and global stock markets rallied and gold became less attractive to investors.

Generally, generic gold coins still haven't generated the heat that American Eagle gold and silver bullion coins and, to a lesser extent, gold modern commemorative coins continue to show in the market.

Major wholesalers are keeping busy buying large quantities of gold coins to sell to telemarketers and even individual investors are buying physical gold bullion in quantities.

Perhaps scared by the recent corrections in the stock market and signs that point to another potential economic downturn, these investors are going to local shops and buying gold in bulk, hoping to buy something durable and of lasting value.