The Price Of Poker Has Gone Up Recently

Great question and observation. I have noticed the same and have been thinking about the same. Mine are definitely not at the same level as yours, but some really strong prices across the board. Specimens (1970 and earlier), 1948 SD have all been really strong as well.

I completely agree on the small cents. TCNC has sold three or four MS66 1961s lately at $300+. These were more like $100 coins a few years ago. They just sold a 1956 MS66 for around $1500 and a 1984 MS67 for close to $500. These prices were unheard of a few years ago. I personally have taken advantage of the strength to sell off all of the coins I had bought over time that I later upgraded. Literally now all are gone and I made money on nearly all of them.

Good topic and I love your observations.prices have definitely increased.from what I can see a number of collectors returned to the hobby during the pandemic. many people were stuck at home and had extra cash on hand due to lack of consumer spending (most of us weren't spending much on restaurants, gasoline, travel, and entertainment during that time).I suspect also that a number of new collectors entered the hobby (people with more free time on their hands during the pandemic who discovered online coin auctions while trapped at home).as we have begun the climb back to normalcy out of the pandemic it seems that a lot of people are still very actively participating in the coin market.my hope is that this continues and the new collectors in the marketplace have discovered what a wonderful hobby we are all part of.
As a side note, the renewed interest in coin collecting and online coin auctions seems to mirror what happened with online investing during the same time period.

Sign of inflation.

Smart money getting rid of their depreciating fiat for something that is truly 'rare' and most likely will appreciate over time.