Why are your coins rare?
cladking
Posts: 28,646 ✭✭✭✭✭
In the 1-18-05 Numismatic News (pg24), Richard Giedroyc takes an interesting look
at rarity from a seldom seen viewpoint. Essentially he is saying that there are var-
ious reasons that coins become scarce or rare and that factors like age, mintage, and
demand are not necessarily the driving factors. Read the article since I'm not doing
it justice.
So in your favorite series, types or areas, why are some of these coins rare? Where
are the surprises in your favorite coins?
at rarity from a seldom seen viewpoint. Essentially he is saying that there are var-
ious reasons that coins become scarce or rare and that factors like age, mintage, and
demand are not necessarily the driving factors. Read the article since I'm not doing
it justice.
So in your favorite series, types or areas, why are some of these coins rare? Where
are the surprises in your favorite coins?
Tempus fugit.
0
Comments
I will comment after I take a read through it.
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
Finally, they are rare because I overpaid for each and every one of them.
Camelot
have a jelly donut and fehgeddaboitit !
My off the cuff comments are:
1. What is the definition of rare? In general I think of "rare" in terms of supply and demand. If 500 coins exist and 100,000 collectors want to own the coin, then the 500 coins are "rare". If 500 coins exist and not a single collector wants to own the coins, then the 500 coins are not "rare". If the definition is not tied to supply and demand and is simply numerical comparison (a mintage of 100 coins for a specific date with a survival rate of 10%, thus 10 coins would be rare while a mintage of 1 billion coins with a survival rate of 40% would not be rare).
2. Difficulty in defining "rare" or "rarity" is similar to providing a definition of "property". What is the definition of "property"? What does it mean when someone says "This is my property"? Would the definition of "property" change if every person on earth except you died or vanished? (From the Anglo-Saxon legal point of view "property" is nothing more than a set of rules that apply to determine who is entitled to the use of, possession of and control of a particular thing (i.e. a pencil, coin, house or car)).
3. My coins (well at least some of them) are "rare" to me simply because they have meaning, importance and value (sentimental and/or economic) to me. Perhaps they are also rare because they (hopefully) are of high quality. Since I have them, since others do not have them, since others would want to have them and since I have what others want, I get something out of the hobby that makes the money and time invested in the hobby worthwhile.
Don't know if what I have said makes any sense, but there you have it.
Because they're hard to find.
David