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 Replies: 23 / Views: 3,183 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
808 Posts |
While I agree the loss of this 90% silver is regrettable, one positive side effect of this destruction is that the market will eventually have to reassess the numismatic valuations on the surviving coins.
I agree with Libertad's point: For those with the interest and the means, there has never been a more important time to be a coin collector.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3692 Posts |
At the hypothetical $1500, imagine the demand that that would have to carry to come into fruition. Along with investor demand there would have to be some kind of new industrial demand that isn't there as of now. However, a good thing may come of it, that is, collectors will decide which coins are "best" or popular and they will vote with their hard earned money. Surviving populations will be much lower and coins will be rarer.
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Bedrock of the Community
 13014 Posts |
Definitely a lot of good points being brought up in this thread. Certainly agree it is regrettable that some of the coins would be lost, but one the positive side the remaining ones (especially if silver fell again) would be more valuable to a collector. I know I always love being able to get a coin with a low population so part of me doesn't think that would be all bad for selfish reasons.
But I think it was also interesting the talk about inflation. I think the 1500 mark or any high hypothetical marks impact would depend on how it got there. If were talking 30 years from now with big inflation the impact may be marginal on those collectable coins as they should rise with the change. However personally I dont think that holds true if there was say a silver shortage or others factors in play that caused that rise to occur more suddenly over just a few years in stead of gradually rising for decades.
Aside from how it gets there the economic conditions of the time I think will be the second biggest factor to determine the collectable survivability. It is true that short of SHTF there should always be a segment of the population well off enough to keep numismatic premiums on certain coins. However if they are the only ones able to buy it the collector base will be so small I'm not entirely convinced they alone could really keep premiums like that. If silver were to explode from a shortage or industrial need in a relatively stable economy I could see the premiums staying. If it was from the economy being on life support I think even the well off may just start stacking to either resell or just in case either way eliminating the premiums for the time being. Coins did however survive the great depression and assuming such a time didnt drag on forever I could see some surviving and the premiums one day returning, what kind of populations wed be talking about for high grade coins would be anyones guess
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
Under relatively normal conditions, where numismatists are still adding to their collections, the numismatic value is the premium that a collector will pay over and above the bullion value of a coin. In an economic collapse situation, the numismatic value of a coin could shrink to zero, leaving just the bullion value remaining. The bullion value can also take a price hit but rarely does so outside the normal ebb and flow of gold and silver prices. In a case where the currency of a nation is also collapsing, the "price" of the bullion could rocket upwards in response. Not that the actual buying power of the bullion is rising, of course, but the buying power of the currency is rapidly shrinking. This is why at the end of the Weimar Republic hyper-inflation, a loaf of bread cost 3 billion marks. This is the natural outcome for the "let's print unlimited currency to fix our other fiscal problems" mistake. Given this, it is very easy to understand why the Germans are not thrilled about inflating their way out of the current European financial mess. If we were smart, we would pay more attention to what others before us did and what happened to them as a result of their actions. This is a LOT easier, faster, and cheaper than having to relearn the same lessons over and over.  |
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Thats very true, but until now having real solutions does not win elections. We will see in a few months is that still holds true
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
Quote:
Thats very true, but until now having real solutions does not win elections. If so, then that will be one of the obituaries applied to democracy after it has gone the way of the dodo. |
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Valued Member
United States
376 Posts |
I try not to purchase anything with a high numismatic value for that exact reason.
Who says in the future if/when prices rise, that anybody will care about collecting? It's a very undetermined situation and I keep my attention to metal values because although prices could drop, they will never ZERO out, where collector value on some things might.
I'm no expert, just my opinion.
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
That is a fair point. Prices do change over time, but I would say there have been collectors since ancient times. Assuming financial systems dont collapse I dont see values just diving into nothing.
But if we could predict the future wed all be rich so who really knows
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Replies: 23 / Views: 3,183 |
First Page
Posted 08/24/2012 3:19 pm
