Harder And Harder To Find...

I don't think there is one answer to this and there are probably many contributors to this. Some I can think of are:

1. A lot of people returning to the hobby over the years and many have been upgrading their sets. These are folks that probably have a lot more disposable income today than when they left the hobby.
2. New collectors to the hobby working on type sets.
3. Stock market stinks, real estate is down, money has to go somewhere

No offense intended, but I have heard this said by collectors of almost any series you can shake a stick at. In fact, on THIS very forum a couple of weeks ago, someone was saying it's difficult to find high quality Ikes. And similar stuff about the various barber series.

I would posit there is a third possibility - it's natural to complain about not finding good stuff (AND at good prices). Or let's call it: Human Nature!

Coin prices are rocketing all over the place, everywhere you look. There certainly are exceptions, but in general, you're paying more today for Coin "X" than you were 2 years ago - irregardless of the series.

It seems to me that some of the factors are:

1. The Internet auction houses and online stores coupled with inexpensive digital photography have changed the face of coin collecting/buying/selling/investing!! It wasn't that long ago that dealers used teletype networks to buy and sell coins; local coin shops and shows were the collectors only sources of key or higher grade coins.

2. This hobby has attracted a lot of "investors" looking to build wealth in coins because the coins are easily stored and transported. Profits from coin sales can easily be sheltered from taxes because transactions under $5000 aren't scrutinized by the Feds very often.

3. The TPG vs. Raw controversy as well as the current fear of scams has caused key slabbed coins to rise in price faster than normal and may have caused owners of raw coins to decide not to upgrade at this time; consequently their coins aren't on the market. (I have to constantly remind myself that every "upgrade" I have ever bought was a "cast off" of some other collector!)

Regards,

afernbaugh

Don't overlook demographics. I " inherited" a large, valuable collection in 1972 and only recently became interested (I'm 45). I joined a coin club 10 years ago and never really got into it and the slide shows put me to sleep, so I quit. Now I find it fascinating...is it an age thing? If so, the ageing boomer population will have a huge effect on the hobby as they reach retirement and begin to spend time and money on it.

This hobby is not physically demanding like restoring old cars or building scale train layouts. It can be put away in a drawer and can give many hours of enjoyment without taking over half the basement and requiring constant physiotherapy. Again, this has a strong appeal to older hobbyists who enjoy having the full use of their limbs for other activities.

And the thirst for knowledge; we all have it but it evolves through life; in our 20's we have different interests than in our 60's. History is fascinating and coins ARE history. I can't believe how much world history knowledge I've picked up in recent months by studying and researching coins. Those little histories at the start of each country in Krause Catalogs are fun to read and it adds to your enjoyment and understanding of the coins.

This is a boomer hobby and it is going through an immense expansion. Good luck finding good coins!

I still see fine examples to purchase. They are everywhere. I think the cost of coins has risen. This is because the high end coins moved up. 'A rising tide, raises all boats.
As the high end moves up, all below move up. So when the 'deep cameo proof' doubles, the 'G4' doubles as well.
I also agree that the internet has united seller with buyer more effectively.

I've written about this and asked the same question over the past year or so. I basically only have an eye for nice circulated Type material, mainly 2-3-20 cent stuff. Other things too, on occasion. If I find something that has that great problem-free, original, VF+ circulated look, my eye goes right to it. Then I see if I think the coin is a value for how it's priced. That's how some of the many "unnecessary" coins have recently made their way into my possession in recent months. I can't NOT buy them. However, I've recently started to sell some of this stuff off. There's at least a couple of forum members here that are familiar with stuff I've sold and I'm selling (but not widely advertising).

I've been complaining that there hasn't been a lot of fresh material at my local shows for awhile. I have to admit, that at the last Colorado Springs show, there seemed like a lot of nice bust and seated material (lots of 1875-S 20-centers!) all over, but I was not in the buying mood at the time, nor had the patience to really look at all the stuff. Beyond that, there's been a dearth of this material. The problem is that the dealer sheets aren't really reflecting this. This means that the bids are still relatively low which in turn means they're not offering a lot for the nicer generic material. Hence, they won't have it to offer. Now, if you have some high end stuff to sell these dealers, that's a different story.

I think more people are selling their crappy coins because of the increases on price for certain series. So more of the junk is clogging the normal supply.

Most of my collection is foreign. For the mintage numbers, there is no relationship. I have a couple of which only thousands struck that are worth a little over melt. You cannot say the same for US.

Never could figure out why