How Hard Have The Great Lakes Series Tanked? Look At This

Your point is well said Dcadon. Sometimes this section of CCF reads exactly like a stock forum looking back at good and poor picks in terms of investment yield.

We all collect as a hobby and enjoyment of these themed coins, and when I buy cool errors they are even harder to judge prices, and with an even more limited resale market. But no matter what we collect it still hurts when markets turn or in this case the manufacturer, the RCM seems to be treating this hobby like the beanie babies or the sports card fad a few years ago. This is a nice hobby lots of good friends just sad to not meet the same thoughts with the few RCM people that I have voiced concerns over at the last few RCNA. I am hoping with some large RCM dealers starting to heavy discounts that the RCM will get stuck with lots of unsold inventories and a change of thoughts regarding the collectors in mind.

I think we can categorize this "hobby" from what was stated in this and other threads/ forums.
1) The collector buys for their appreciation of the particular offering and don't care about aftermarket prices.
2) The collector/ flipper buys for their appreciation of the particular offering as well as to make some money to continue to enhance their collection. They have aftermarket concerns.
3) The flipper as a "business" to make money (no less than a dealer) and very concerned about aftermarket prices.

I'm number 2 but not much of a flipper. When I buy an offering I don't like to see that I could purchase it 6 months later for 75% (or less) of the original price and that's from RCM dealers.

I too probably fall under number 2. However I haven't sold anything in over a year and I don't like the current ebay paypal practice. It feels risky, when profits are small and you don't sell enough to use losses as a business write off. It was fun meeting new people on ebay.

However, who likes paying full price for any item, only to find it months later at discounted prices. Like Kuh said 5 yrs ago, 10% off was a bargain. Its the way it should be, bargains should be a rarity not the norm. There's nothing wrong wanting to get the most bang for the buck. I started buying mint direct, so not to pay inflated prices in the secondary market. Back then it was cheaper to buy mint direct with free shipping.

I have been looking at solds on ebay the last couple of days. The big dealers still get issue prices for their coins. Some coins still sell above issue. It seems it mainly coins from 2013-2015 that sell below issue on select ones. Too many coin issues were produced and many good coins got lost in the noise.

A few good sales in past years has made everyone bargain hunters! So people keep waiting for deeper and deeper discounts. Eventually with lagging sales, dealers will offer the bigger discount.

Also when you compare BINs with auctions, auctions always do poorly. Yet BIN prices are still quite healthy, they do take longer to achieve, this is where patience pays off.

Who knows where the changes will be in the next 3 yrs. The prices could stabilize. Since 2012 they were way up and now heading down the past couple years. The thing is not to panic. Yes nclt seems like reading the stocks, because people are concerned with getting good value. There are many ways to determine value.

some get scared by weakening prices, and sell so they get something back. These are the ones that further contribute to weaker prices by flooding a weak market. It really is supply and demand at work. The past few years world mints have over supplied the market.

Also places like ebay have made it possible for anyone to be a seller. This must have some effect on the hobby too. Problem is also how a collector perceives the hobby. Is it growing or declining. This will color how that person behaves in the hobby. A lot of crowd mentality is displayed on the threads. Then there is the greater economic influences. Lets face it the Canadian dollar has lost a lot of value, so this will slow collectors from buying, as essential items increase in price. So there's a number of things that impact the hobby. Only time will tell which direction it will go.

I would like to hear what changes the long time collectors and dealers have seen. Maybe someone will start another thread to discuss trends of the past. As lower mintages are relatively new, starting sometime this century.

I'm a buy and hold for my price kinda' guy for what I've purchased to date. I sell on Kijiji so no fees unlike eBay/ paypal scenario
I'm not willing to take too much of a loss and hope the appreciation on some other purchases absorb the little loss on others

About a year ago there was no RCM dealers offering any rewards or discount programs, now the other than CP, the next few has their version. These dealers would not offer discounts if the markets are well, and no matter how you slice it you can't blame the situation on the buyers, we did not crank out a coin a day, never adjusted prices to bullion value, allowed endless commissioned units, have a few surveys that went no where, even my rep who agrees that there is way too many offerings but like he said, hard to argue with 2/3 sellouts, there comes a time when the market place will talk, like right now, but we as collectors are not the one to blame, clearly it's a RCM short term marketing decision to crank out as many units as the market will bear without the long term consequences. As for CP walk into any outlet around the GTA, they are full of coins and many has stopped ordering new coins as nothing is moving. Know one would buy a collectible if you are 98% sure this product will be cheaper months down the road.

Its true no one in their right mind will buy a collectable, if there's a 98% certainty of savings later. This is why I am having a hard time deciding whether or not to buy the 2 oz GITD coin. I want it for its subject matter the wolves and mountains. Don't care about the glow effect. I am trying to maximize my collector $, makes some coins hard to time.

The first isn't under issue, so its hard to say what this one will do.

The Great Lakes are amazing coins, with the different enamel. Its sad they got lost in the noise of so many releases. I think they really need to be displayed in the case, for the full impact. I'm not really sure what happened with this set. Many people were pumped about the set, its thread was several pages long.

I can understand the O Canada coins tanking with a mintage of 40k. They shouldn't of done a second set so soon. Then like someone pointed out, they do a theme to death. It was an affordable way for a beginning collector to get into the hobby. Not everyone can afford to drop $100-$200 monthly on coins. We tend to forget budgets are as varied as the collector. It shouldn't just be an elitist thing if the hobby is to survive long term.