Canadian Coin Market Going Forward

From the little I have heard, the high-end market is doing well, but the low end market has softened a bit. How that would affect your collection I do not know.

Take some of your best pieces and seen what a good dealer would pay for them (but don't sell), and compare that to coin trends. That will certainly give you a few clues.

Coin Trends is pure fiction for the most part. Just try searching recent auction results from icollector, Heritage and other auction sites with archived results. Even an ebay search, and click on the 'Sold' button to see what stuff is actually selling for...

I haven't bought a Charlton in 2 years since I moved out of country. I will have to get one shipped out and see whats changed. I appreciate the feedback!

Right now it's easier to sell a $10,000 coin than a $10 coin. There are tons of collections and collectible coins coming on the market. The high end market is relatively stable, the average coins in common grades are below 50% trends and will continue to fall until they get captured by metal spot prices. I recently priced a set of 40 +- MS-65 (couple of MS-66) Canadian Large Cents that had a trends value well over 60k but average sales around 36k. As PC mentions...Canadians are not buying coins...Americans are...It's one of the reason why I even move certain Canadian coins into NGC/PCGS holders which opens up the bigger US market.

What issue was pre-1858?

As others have said, I think the market for nice key date and condition rare Canadian coins is doing fine. Much of that is being sold to U.S. collectors taking advantage of the exchange rate and no taxes, or duty. Everything else, not so much.

Like many of you, I have a fair amount tied up in my Canadian coins. I don't mind, because I really love collecting them, learning their history, and studying how they were made. In my more retrospective and lucid moments, I have to admit to myself that I probably will not come close to breaking even when I eventually sell. Perhaps I may someday be surprised by affluent millennials coming into the hobby in middle age, but I am not holding my breath. Quite frankly, and barring some crisis driving the hysterical masses into hard assets, there just are not enough YN's in the hobby to justify such an expectation.

I consider myself a avid proponent in the current renaissance of one cent varieties. Quite simply, they fascinate me. I am glad that some of you have become interested in them. Even so, I am pretty certain nobody is ever going to get rich off of them. I believe this for several reasons. One, things we think are rare today may not be rare tomorrow, as more old collections and small hoards get re-examined for varieties. Two, several early (2000-2010) variety collectors are sitting on multiple copies of "rare" varieties, gathered before most current variety seekers entered the genre. Three, most collectors are excited by the hunt and want to find varieties, not buy them, and certainly not pay inflated prices for them (with the usual exception of high end collectors competing for the best of the best). Four, there just aren't very many hard core Canadian variety collectors; only one or two hundred in my opinion. Five, although the recent literature helps promote variety collecting, this happened once before in the 1950's and 1960's, then faded until only recently revived. I fear it could fade again. If you do not believe my premise that investing large sums of money in varieties will not make you rich, take a look at all the overpriced Canadian variety coins available, but not selling, on E-Bay.

I am sorry to be pessimistic, but I prefer collectors, and specifically variety collectors, spend their money with their eyes open, a thirst for knowledge, and realistic (IMO) expectations. They tend to stay collectors longer that way. My advice on collecting coins is similar to my advice on gambling. If you can afford it, collect because you enjoy it and do not worry about the return on the money you spend. Go into a casino because you like to gamble and do not take money there that you cannot afford to lose.

All just my humble opinion.

I was never about "collecting" .. it was about learning and then sharing knowledge. I'm happy now that most of my hunting has ended and I can just help others understand what they have and some history behind it/them. I'm now what my son called me .. par for the course .. think about it.