What would happen to the US coin market if...
JohnZ
Posts: 1,732 ✭
all common coins were suddenly gone, and there was nothing left except for the high-end stuff? Would the high-end stuff suddenly become common and devalued? Or would it retain it's value? In other words, does the high-end stuff depend on the existence of common coins, or on collectible things in general?
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Russ, NCNE
I hate it when you see my post before I can edit the spelling.
Always looking for nice type coins
my local dealer
Its all supply and demand. Some coins in g4 are worth more than others in 70.
<< <i>does the high-end stuff depend on the existence of common coins >>
no, what's percieved as "high-end" depends only on demand.
K S
Coin collecting was extremely popular in 1964 and many people were concentrating
on the moderns of the time. There were many millions of people collecting BU rolls and
recent date proof and mint sets. Even those collecting coins from circulation were mainly
focusing on coins less than 35 years old except in cents they were a little older. Probab-
ly twenty million people were directly involved in buying and selling coins at a premium.
These collectors were blamed for the coin shortage of the time and silver was running
low in government stockpiles as they were trying to keep up with the spiking demand
for coin. The government and mint took numerous steps to punish and discourage col-
lectors. At this time the market for recent date coins collapsed and people stopped col-
lecting coins made after 1964.
More importantly there was a dirth of new collectors added to the hobby. Many of the hang-
ers-on departed in droves and each year saw little change in the number or composition
of collectors. In the intervening years the generations have come and gone but the ranks of
collectors has largely remained the same with a rapidly increasing average age. Over the
years large numbers of these collectors have enterred their peak earning years so there is
substantial money to support the hobby averting a collapse.
While there have been many billions of coins in circulation there have been almost no one
who has considered them collectible and this is likely the reason that the hobby couldn't
grow- - there were simply too few commonb coins. One had to purchase nearly any coin of
interest and the few "good" coins in circulation wouldn't be sufficient to form a real collection.
Today the hobby is growing again because we have the common states quarters available.
If I understand the question, the answer is that high end stuff is more valuable when it is part of a series in which there is a lot of low end stuff. So if the low end stuff vanished, the high end stuff would become less desirable and cheaper.
My specialty, patterns, is a good example. Virtually every pattern is a rarity and worth a grand or more. In other words, there are no "low end" coins in the pattern market. As a result, there are only a few hundred pattern collectors, and patterns are relatively cheap. By comparison, there are enough low end Liberty nickels that tens of thousands of people can collect them. As a result, tens of thousands of people "need" a 1913 Liberty nickel. That's the biggest reason why a 13 nickel brings so much more than a pattern of comparable rarity.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
By who's standards ??? Les
Relative to their rarity, yes, they're cheap. A pattern Flying Eagle cent with 50 known might be worth $2500. An 1856 Flying Eagle in the same grade (with thousands known) is a five figure coin.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.