Buying In A Soft Coin Market

I think the third type of collector is missed here. Fun & Profit. Which I am. I have my serious collection and then I have my fun filler collection. I like looking through my coin book and seeing filled holes even if they are low grade. I know that later I will upgrade them with higher grade coins.
Also I don't see how people could collect purely for profit. There are a lot easier ways to make money. Hell, my mutual funds are making me more money than coins right now.

numismateer,you should be thankful that there aren't very many collectors like yourself.There are tens of thousands of Canadian collectors,yet very few significant "highlight"coins.
You are right in saying the type of coins you seek simply aren't available in times such as this,but for the vast majority of collectors it truly is a buyer's market

It seems everyone has silver fever.I see that .9999 silver rounds and Canadian mint rounds and silver unc sets are going for book price. The old 1800 and 1900 high grade are going high,trend prices for these are under priced.The average Joe collector will find low grade silver at below trends if you can find the right seller.

I agree 100 % with Danlos concerning what buyers are looking for in today's Marketplace. Therefore, collectors should use this time frame to enhanc their Collection to the max. I have spoken to many collectors who have had high end coins with "no reserve", finding out that the reason behind this madness was the bullion craze!
I myself nailed a gorgeous I.C.C.S., dark olive green, 1947, Pointed 7, Quad HP silver dollar, MS-64, for a mere $2K. This is an example of dozens of coins I have managed to acquire as a result of the Economic slow down!

Glenn

Tamarin: looks like I'll have to toss foreign coins into schoolyards!
You say the market has peaked. How long, if you don't mind my asking, have you been selling coins? (I'm trying to fatten up my brain. ;) )

Libertad, I was a collector for a long time and have been actively selling in various ways for fifteen years. Yes, I even put in time on ebay for four years. The market for coins is getting thinner. The avalanche of mint products has not been helpful. The explosion in electronic media has deprived the hobby of many young people who, formerly given the chance and time to explore such a pastime, have now found other pursuits more meaningful. You have to catch the young. It's not the hobby's fault. There's been far too much competition for their attention.

I think a lot of it is this-- used to be, you'd walk into your coin shop, see something you liked, and there was a certain amount of "I don't know when I'll see another, I better get it while I can" attitude. The world was smaller.


Now with ebay et al you know for sure that most any coin except the true rarities are available prettymuch at any point. Couple that with more and more finite grading available than in years past, this makes the driver those who want nicer examples of the same coin.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it seems to me in years gone by it was more about what coins you had than it was about how nice they are. With that trend reversing it is not surprising to see a rise in the high-end prices and a drop in the low-end.

Edited to add:

Economy undoubtedly plays into this too... most people who would collect lower-end stuff do it on a lower-end budget. Such as me. I'm a low-end collector. I have a limited budget but also would rather have 10 cheapo coins to 1 high-grade just the same. I like having a "hoard" and dislike having to worry as much about degradation of my coins due to touching them, them getting toned, etc. I have a few high grade coins but am always worried about them. Did I replace the dehimidifier gel packs recently? Should I store them in that cardboard box, or will it outgas? Oops I dropped that one, did it get a ding?