Who Drives Prices Up?

Hi there!
to the forum!




Prices are driven by supply and demand. If more people want a given coin than there is supply, prices go up. For example, if 100 people want a specific coin, but there are only 5 available for purchase, the price goes up.




I don't see how there could be a reliable source for that kind of information. I think the majority of collectors/investors would view information regarding which coins they bought and their motivations for buying them to be private.

The basic laws of supply and demand apply.

The coin catalogues allege that they base their prices on auction results. I allege that they gild the lily at least a bit. Perceived rising prices allow the retail collectors to help justify a purchase, especially where an item is offered at a large discount below the catalogue value. That has to be good for dealers because they then see the market as being more secure for their future business prospects.

I have often seen auction lots estimated considerably below the catalogue value, which I think helps encourage bidders.

Just consider how the real estate market goes when the opposite happens: the prices are falling. That is when the going gets tough, and only the best estate agents survive. I think the same applies to the coin market.

Having said that, I also think that the coin market is somewhat counter cyclical to just about all other markets. However, gold coins at present are heavily price influenced by the gold bullion market.

On this site coinvaluesonline.com you can see graphs of different US coins, if the price dropped significantly for a certain coin investors definitely lost money and it might be time to buy.
Unfortunately this site has only US coins and I do not know other sites with the similar features.
So knowing how much a certain coin was worth several years ago might (not necessarily will) help you to find a investment bargain. I accept that I may be wrong in my thinking.