Why Is It So Hard To Find Common World Coins On Ebay?

It's hardly worth anyone's time to sell a coin worth less than $5 individually, anywhere except in a physical junk bin.

It costs about $2.50 to ship a small package that has a 99% chance of arriving, or you could cheap out and try to send it in an envelope with 1-2 stamps, but the odds of it making it through the mail would drop to about 75-90%. I have lost more than a few packages from sellers who tried to save a buck.

If you need to have this coin for less than $1, you'll have to look for it in a coin lot. I think I have seen 2-3 of these in various Soviet lots, but none that I bid on.

Also for what it's worth, I have gotten some very nice Soviet coins from ebay sellers located in Eastern Europe. I wouldn't buy extremely rare or expensive coins from them, but the shipping is usually cheap and fast.

I think the answer to your question is that the majority of the coin dealers/sellers are interested in only precious metals and/or expensive coins. As someone put it, you'll find that in a 'junk box' I don't consider my collection junk but way too many dealers (and other collector's too I'm afraid) do. There was a topic in another thread asking if folks thought coin collecting was dead. In part I would have to say yes. I also collect common, circulated (can be uncirculated) coins from around the world. An OFEC collector. I have very little silver, no gold and only really want to expand my types. Forget it on ebay unless you can get sets or lots. So your winning bid is $0.99 but to ship it takes $5.00. I have had some luck doing multiple purchases from a seller as it cuts down on the per coin cost of shipping but then I'm buying coins I wasn't really looking for. I usually just justify it by saying 'hey, I don't have that type'.

I have been searching through dealers' junk boxes at shows and in shops, for more than 30 years. The finds from this source, which cover the whole of numismatics, form the numerical bulk of my collection.

I mainly search the $5, $10, and $15 per item junk boxes. Only occasionally search the $2 boxes as well, but the volume to look through is huge, and therefore time consuming.
Still lots of World silver to be found in junk boxes in the price range that I search through.

Thanks for the answers everyone. I would buy this coin at a coin shop or show, but none of the dealers in my area have this coin. That is why I am trying to get it on ebay.