austrokiwi The issue you are concerned about is as old as coin collecting.
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Rarity versus Popularity
I see the same thing in most coin specialties. A really rare coin like an MTT original strike or the Emergency Pesos of the siege of Uruguay dated 1844 or most medieval small silver coins from defunct city states or for that matter most contemporary counterfeit coins are all far rarer than the sale prices imply.
Why? POPULARITY or as others say - Market value.
You know how to identify an original MTT strike but outside this group - there are a few hundred experts at most that can do the same. Those people form the "market". That is the same for most rare specialties. It takes the average dealer too much time to learn and therefore they DO NOT REALLY CARE. The same goes for the average collector.
It is simple human nature to focus on the popular and EASY to identify coins. The ones that get headlines in the Numismatist. That is reason behind the ridiculous speculation involving high prices for MS 65-70 common coins. Who among the investors
who bid over $60,000 for an MS65 1880-O
Morgan dollar can actually distinguish it from a really nice AU 58 which sells for $100. Is there any actual justification for the differential EXCEPT popularity.
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Posted 03/19/2015 6:54 pm
