Why Do They All Show Up At Once?

Mintage is just part of the story to be honest - it's all about demand.

The bigger story is about demand. From my observation, it's usually the developing countries that are happy to pay ridicious amount of money, only to find out that it's probably not as valuable as it could have been. Good example such as China, Russia, India, Mexico.

Supply can be a funny thing - depending on the metal prices, they can be melted down. There's one thing to be certain - mintage will always be less than what has been declared by the mint (unless there has been restrikes or wrong figures have been provided). You may have sellers that reckon some coins are valuable and hoard a sizeable percentage, only to sell them off at a discount as they need the money. Deceased estate etc - you can name them all.

I really don't understand what you want, glarus; of course I am sorry for my poor understanding to English. Can you elaborate what is the purpose of this post?

I bought coins (mainly silver coins) from ebay since 2006. I started to collect or buy coins in Hong Kong from 2004 and now collect over 1400 coins. I possess some of the coins you told in the post.

Bermuda Crown 1959 (bought about 4-5 yrs ago by US$26)
Czechoslovakia 100 Korun (bought about 3 yrs ago by US39.0)
Romania 500 Lei 1941 (bought about 3-4 yrs ago by HK$280)
Mexican 5 Peso 1947 (bought in 2004-05 by HK$75)

maudry, thank you so much for that information! Now, at least for the '86 piedfort, it all makes sense. It also answers one question I failed to ask: why are there so many of the 1986 and so few of the 100 Francs coins minted in other years, piedfort or otherwise? For those of you unfamiliar with these coins, the 1986 commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty.

Although no one called me out on it, I apologize for my unqualified use of the term "premium." I was referring to premium over melt value. One of the things I've learned is that circulated world silver, as well as many commemoratives minted before the business of commemoratives got out of hand (Liberian coins with Marilyn Monroe, etc), sell for close to melt on ebay. Some coins do have a following, and condition, availability and key dates do affect pricing. Since my original aim was to accumulate silver while having fun (as opposed to just stacking bullion,) I view "melt" as the true value of the coin and anything above that as the numismatic premium. I have strayed from my original aim enough that to me now, not all coins of equal fineness and weight are alike. I will pay above melt for something I don't see often that's in nice shape. But it's not because I want a "collectible," it's because I like the design or I fancy "the chase," and I haven't yet landed one.

gxseries, your comments feed into something I've been wondering about regarding the '47/'48 Mexican 5 Pesos. I've often wondered whether a small number of parties are buying of most of them, and whether they were in one of those countries with newly-rich people (China, Russia, India). Another possibility is always that someone's melting them, but in this case it doesn't make sense since they sell for $28-33 when melt value is $25. Yet another possibility is that someone is advising others that they're good for hoarding because the weight/fineness markings make up for their being foreign, and because they carry a lower premium than Morgan/Peace Dollars.

I think I can partially answer my own question about Europe, at least with the eastern European coins. When I first started out, I read or heard somewhere that collectors primarily collect their own country's coins, and no country is into coin collecting like the U.S. My main interest is 835/1000 coins. There are relatively few with a 25 grams weight, and fewer still that are readily available and in decent shape. Judging on the basis of ebay seller locations, those from Romania and Latvia never left home. I imagine mintage numbers are meaningless for those, since anything could have happened to precious metals stuck behind the Iron Curtain.

One more strange observation from Ebay-land. As I watch several auctions for the same type of coin, I'll sometimes see one get bid absurdly high. I have no idea why. One coin will be XF+ from a long-time seller, with 3 days left in the auction, and one looking circulated for sale by a much newer seller and with 4 days left will suddenly get bid up to $10 over melt value.

I have to imagine the Internet has really changed world coin collecting. Before the Internet, we were probably a rare breed in the U.S. I mean, who would want coins of various sizes and shapes featuring leaders, historical figures and national symbols made by people who speak funny and eat weird food when you can have a bunch of coins that all look the same except for the year and "P", "D" or "S"? I'm definitely a "world" type of person (I love to travel, try cuisines, etc), so it was a natural fit for me. I love the variety, and care not at all about years or mint marks. I hope I can give back here some of what I've learned. I don't have the depth of knowledge that others do, but for the coins I watch, I tend to know the "catalog" type of information and am good at identifying unknowns.

Impressive statistics swamperbob !
I also noticed a slow down in fake postings on ebay - at least from China... maybe they are going to be sold in a less visible way (small dealers, small auction sites, etc ...)

It turns out that occasionally a stash of one type of coin can be released into the market. If they are sold off in small bulk lots, it is possible that a few sellers may all appear at once.

That sometimes happens with ancient coins, where a hoard is discovered, and sometime later (perhaps years) they appear on the market. In this case it pays to be wary, because job lots of fakes are sometimes produced.

Yes, we need something above "Pillar Of The Community" :D

There may be another factor at play(pure hypothesis): a collecting life cycle. Perhaps a particular rare coin is held by the same generational group of collectors.....at some stage the economic and collecting patterns are such that that group of collectors sell at approximately the same time....likewise there is a group of buyers who will snap up the items......and who will hold the coins for a similar period.