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 Replies: 7 / Views: 1,306 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
541 Posts |
When I started collecting, proof sets were sold by the mint for 2.10 each! Then the prices of mint products (world wide not just the US), started climbing to record heights. Over the years I found that often the secondary market prices were lower than the issue prices. Trying to explain this to a widow or heirs can be very unpleasant. Every now and then I see people talking about high issue prices. When I say be patient and try buying later on the secondary market, I am often told that the items will cost more then. I assume these are younger and more enthusiastic collectors than I am. It is true over the years I have seen some coins sell for more than their issue prices but more often than not I see the opposite. The best example from my collection are the coins from Samoa honoring Dr. Wilhelm Soft KM 40-42, six coins from 1 tala in copper-nickel through 10 talas in silver and 100 talas in gold. Mintages run from 250 pieces for the rarest gold coin to 5000 pieces for the C-N coin. The coins were not sold as a set and had to be purchased individually. The total issue prices for all five coins was $433.00 in 1980. When I finally decided to collect the full set it took me about 5 years to find the coins at a total cost of $265.76. Was I lucky? Yes, in that I had the time and patience to do it that way. Was this a fluke? No, I still see the gold and silver coins at less than melt value on occasion. Like I said earlier it can go both ways but more often than not a patient collector will eventually be able to find a better than issue price deal on the secondary market.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7273 Posts |
I've been picking up modern comm's at a little over melt.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1484 Posts |
Interesting topic. When I was younger, I used to keep a U.S. list of "good deals," based only on mintages and coin values. Little did I know then it's all about economics (supply and demand). Today, I know it doesn't matter (to a point) if the mintage is relatively low if no one really wants to buy the coin in the future. That's oversimplifying for sure, as preferences change (remember when Morgan dollars weren't a particularly hot commodity?), but in the end it really boils down to the coin's (or set's) popularity. Edited by halfamind
09/04/2021 1:18 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1484 Posts |
Example of a supposed "hole-filler" deal from personal notes, 1987: Barber dime, 1909-S, mintage 1 mil., G-04. Red Book prices (that's what was in my home library then), 1958, $1.50; 1974, $2.75; 1986, $2.75. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
17883 Posts |
The same thing has happened in the UK. In the 1970s Royal Mint proof sets cost around £6 and usually held their value or could be sold for a modest profit after a few years. Now the sets cost £155 with all the NCLT coins and fancy packaging. Even an expensive dealer like Richard Lobel sells them for less than the original issue price after a few years. There are of course occasional coins like the Kew Gardens 50p and the first colour silver Proof Peter Rabbit coins that have increased dramatically in value! |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
2180 Posts |
Mostly true - certainly so for most issues this century.
Some of the Franklin Mint coins of the 1980s have somehow proved the exception to this though, though I suppose even though they were modern junk back then, they generally fit in well with other coins in the series (i.e. they didn't commemorate any old thing).
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
7933 Posts |
If we could predict future trends in supply-demand balance, we would not be spending time on Coin Community Forum.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7273 Posts |
I've been an active buyer on the 2ndary market for a while and the vast majority of mint items sell for cheaper. Examples include most modern collectibles and for a while proof ASE and age. But lately proof ASE (American Silver Eagles) have gone up from $48 in January to $75 now. There are some things that the US Mint has hit the price out of park, the 2019 S Enhanced Reverse Proof Silver eagle was $65 and now sells for $900-$1000+, the V75 silver Eagle was $70 and I sold one for $420 a few days later. I'm expecting the Morgan and Peace dollars to do the same thing. People complain about the low mintage items selling out in minutes but when there is an upside, everyone wants to profit (collectors and non) So yes, a lot of mint items lose value in the future, but a few don't. Figuring out which is which sometimes is a challenge. |
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Replies: 7 / Views: 1,306 |
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Posted 09/04/2021 1:15 pm
