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Have you ever considered cornering the market in a coin?

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  • I'm trying!!!!!

    Guess which coin(s)!

    image
    TPN
  • carlcarl Posts: 2,054
    Great Idea. I think I'll try that with the 1913 Liberty Head Nickel.
    Carl
  • sumduncesumdunce Posts: 1,247 ✭✭✭✭
    BTW, I am not talking about varieties, I am talking about the whole enchilada.

    Enchilada? I thought we were talking about coins? image

    As far as varieties or not, on my budget I will take what I can get.
  • It has been done in the saint gaudens double eagle series one owner for the 1933.At over 7 mil.$ for onne coin could get expensive.
    GTS
  • BaleyBaley Posts: 22,663 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Now, why don't you just tell us exactly which Bust Half die variety you have accumulated? I am suspicious you had the only six copies, sold three leaving you with 50% of six, and then sold another one leaving you with two of the original six whic would be 33 1/3% of your original six. In any case it sounds like I need one of your coins.

    Mozin, I'm referring to the 1807 draped bust O.115, of which there was at first one known, then two, and now three.

    BTW, I am not talking about varieties, I am talking about the whole enchilada.

    Oh. Well, RYK, when you mentioned the 1854-O huge O i thought you might mean varieties.

    If you mean the whole enchilada then you are CERTAINLY not referring to cornering the market for a given coin in a specific grade as some folks seem to think.. image

    Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry

  • Conder101Conder101 Posts: 10,536
    Well I own about one half of one percent of all the surviving 1796 draped bust cents. And about 20% of all the 1802 NC-2 large cents. 50% of all the Warwickshire 340bis Conder tokens, 100% of the Shropshire 13bis Conder tokens.
  • RYKRYK Posts: 35,798 ✭✭✭✭✭
    If you mean the whole enchilada then you are CERTAINLY not referring to cornering the market for a given coin in a specific grade as some folks seem to think..

    Correct. Using the 54-O Huge O again as an example, there is a PCGS population of twelve coins and an NGC population of twelve coins. I am talking about trying to buy as many of those 24 coins as possible, in addition to any ANACS or non-problem raw coins that might be encountered. There are quite a few seated coins that have similar low population numbers.
  • braddickbraddick Posts: 24,219 ✭✭✭✭✭

    If you HAD that strong desire to corner the market with a specific coin, what would it be (fifteen years later)?

    peacockcoins

  • sweetwillietsweetwilliet Posts: 2,315 ✭✭✭

    Wow, old thread. At one point, I was collecting as many 21-d pcgs pl Morgans I could find. I think I got up to about 4 at one time. Can’t remember the pop off the top of my head, but there aren’t that many of them. Got just one now.

    Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.
    Will’sProoflikes
  • ctf_error_coinsctf_error_coins Posts: 15,433 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Absolutely B)

  • orevilleoreville Posts: 12,080 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I might have already cornered the market in the Daniel Carr 1000 Amero gold tokens (1 oz size) .

    Not intentionally but as an alternative gold holding.

    The entire mintage of his last three years of such gold Ameros ( 2012 to 2014) was 14 per year. I have more than half of them. They are awesome.

    A Collectors Universe poster since 1997!
  • RandomsRandoms Posts: 164 ✭✭✭

    Yes. I have no vast fortune. However there are coins in grades that trade infrequently enough that you can take off the market

  • Namvet69Namvet69 Posts: 9,107 ✭✭✭✭✭

    What would be truly diabolical would be to buy up a particular coin year, melt them all except for say a bakers dozen and then reveal your maniacal plan to the world! Austin Powers, we need you. Peace Roy

    BST: endeavor1967, synchr, kliao, Outhaul, Donttellthewife, U1Chicago, ajaan, mCarney1173, SurfinHi, MWallace, Sandman70gt, mustanggt, Pittstate03, Lazybones, Walkerguy21D, coinandcurrency242 , thebigeng, Collectorcoins, JimTyler, USMarine6, Elkevvo, Coll3ctor, Yorkshireman, CUKevin, ranshdow, CoinHunter4, bennybravo, Centsearcher, braddick, Windycity, ZoidMeister, mirabela, JJM, RichURich, Bullsitter, jmski52, LukeMarshall, coinsarefun, MichaelDixon, NickPatton, ProfLiz, Twobitcollector,Jesbroken oih82w8, DCW

  • vulcanizevulcanize Posts: 1,408 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Back when the 2021 Morgans and Peace were initially announced, my kid and I thought of grading and then pairing up my 1921 Peace dollar extras with the 2021 Peace to offer as a special on eBay and then quickly shelved it because it was definitely not worth the time, effort and the monies.
    Then the mint delays/rescheduling happened plus by then, he had already made enough money to buy his own first ride. :smile:

  • vplite99vplite99 Posts: 1,328 ✭✭✭✭✭

    RYK might have the resources to do this, but few of us do. This is a strategy that could take quite a long time but could be very profitable. Or if the target falls out of favor with collectors, or you have underestimated the population, the losses could be massive. Good luck!

    Vplite99
  • cameonut2011cameonut2011 Posts: 10,169 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Yes. If you count cameo designations or PL designations, I’ve accomplished it twice. One coin all DCAM for the issue and for a certain early U.S. coin the entire designated prooflike population for the series.

  • yosclimberyosclimber Posts: 4,855 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited February 23, 2022 4:25PM

    @vplite99 said:
    ... This is a strategy that could take quite a long time but could be very profitable. Or if the target falls out of favor with collectors, or you have underestimated the population, the losses could be massive. Good luck!

    Most likely it will yield losses, as explained earlier in the thread.
    You are buying at increasing prices over time. And when you sell, you have to sell slowly, at decreasing prices.

    It's been tried recently, on 1909 Matte Proof Lincolns,
    https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/928292/collector-owns-53-1909vdb-matte-proof-lincoln-cents-with-link-to-cw
    and on the 1856 "upright 5" gold $1.
    https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1071588/hoard-of-150-165-year-old-pre-civil-war-gold-dollars

  • 2windy2fish2windy2fish Posts: 836 ✭✭✭✭✭


    Kinda did! I know this is a US forum however coin folks will appreciate the story…i bought a “Roll” of these several years ago….i have sent a batch of 5 or 6 in for grading several times…lowest grade was a 67…a few 67+….and roughly 15 have were graded as 68! i the last three are in grading now and i have sold roughly half so i still think i have the market…obscure as it is…i have it!!

  • DNADaveDNADave Posts: 7,281 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I bought 10 Mel Wacks camp David counterstamps (1000 made) back when they were $40 on eBay. Would have kept going but they jumped up to over $100 each and I stopped. Now they’re rediculous but I still have 10 and one of those is a design prototype

  • jkrkjkrk Posts: 987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I thought about it but didn't have the "coin" to buy one 1933 DE. :D

  • TurtleCatTurtleCat Posts: 4,628 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @nwcs said:
    20 centers. But I completely lack the buying power.

    Lol, it’s still true for me after all these years. As an aside, I always wondered if I should have tried to reactivate my old account instead of starting over when I came back to the forum…

  • raysrays Posts: 2,421 ✭✭✭✭✭

    If I had the capital, it would be fun to (quietly) buy up all the 1955 DDO Lincoln’s that appear on the market over a couple of decades. The estimated surviving population is around 3,000 coins so it wouldn’t take that much to corner the market.

  • AotearoaAotearoa Posts: 1,519 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I actually did consider buying up every S-215 1801 Draped Bust LC I could find. It's only an R.4 coin but they seem scarcer than that. Then I considered how few people actually care about S-215 DBLCs...

    Smitten with DBLCs.

  • raysrays Posts: 2,421 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited February 23, 2022 6:31PM

    @Aotearoa said:
    I actually did consider buying up every S-215 1801 Draped Bust LC I could find. It's only an R.4 coin but they seem scarcer than that. Then I considered how few people actually care about S-215 DBLCs...

    Exactly, too obscure.

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,420 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @rays said:
    If I had the capital, it would be fun to (quietly) buy up all the 1955 DDO Lincoln’s that appear on the market over a couple of decades. The estimated surviving population is around 3,000 coins so it wouldn’t take that much to corner the market.

    PCGS Coin Facts estimates the survival of 15,000 coins in all grades.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • BuffaloIronTailBuffaloIronTail Posts: 7,494 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The name escapes me.

    There actually was an individual who tried to purchase the entire mintage of 1931-S Cents after the total made became public.

    The story's out there somewhere.................................

    Pete

    "I tell them there's no problems.....only solutions" - John Lennon
  • raysrays Posts: 2,421 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @PerryHall said:

    @rays said:
    If I had the capital, it would be fun to (quietly) buy up all the 1955 DDO Lincoln’s that appear on the market over a couple of decades. The estimated surviving population is around 3,000 coins so it wouldn’t take that much to corner the market.

    PCGS Coin Facts estimates the survival of 15,000 coins in all grades.

    I think that’s too high. Mintage is estimated at 24,000. Dave Bowers estimates 3000-4000 surviving in his A Guidebook of Lincoln Cents, 3rd edition

  • daltexdaltex Posts: 3,486 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @braddick said:
    If you HAD that strong desire to corner the market with a specific coin, what would it be (fifteen years later)?

    You misspelled "seventeen".

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,420 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @rays said:

    @PerryHall said:

    @rays said:
    If I had the capital, it would be fun to (quietly) buy up all the 1955 DDO Lincoln’s that appear on the market over a couple of decades. The estimated surviving population is around 3,000 coins so it wouldn’t take that much to corner the market.

    PCGS Coin Facts estimates the survival of 15,000 coins in all grades.

    I think that’s too high. Mintage is estimated at 24,000. Dave Bowers estimates 3000-4000 surviving in his A Guidebook of Lincoln Cents, 3rd edition

    Like the 1950-D nickel or the 1931-S cent, I would think most of the mintage was pulled from circulation and saved.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Interesting idea.... Why not just invent the next hot item... Then you would control the market, and with a patent, collect royalties etc.. That way you have control right from the beginning. ;) Cheers, RickO

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,420 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @ricko said:
    Interesting idea.... Why not just invent the next hot item... Then you would control the market, and with a patent, collect royalties etc.. That way you have control right from the beginning. ;) Cheers, RickO

    You make it sound so easy. :D

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 34,328 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Never. It's a fool's strategy.

    The more you buy up, the higher the price becomes. When comes time to sell, you can only sell in drips and drabs, or you will depress the market.

    If you get control of all the food, and people are starving, that's one thing. When it's a luxury good, like a collector coin, it's another.

    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • amwldcoinamwldcoin Posts: 11,269 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Have you seen Bowers survival estimates for Barber coins? I would say they are off by somewhere in the neighborhood of 1000%!

    @rays said:

    @PerryHall said:

    @rays said:
    If I had the capital, it would be fun to (quietly) buy up all the 1955 DDO Lincoln’s that appear on the market over a couple of decades. The estimated surviving population is around 3,000 coins so it wouldn’t take that much to corner the market.

    PCGS Coin Facts estimates the survival of 15,000 coins in all grades.

    I think that’s too high. Mintage is estimated at 24,000. Dave Bowers estimates 3000-4000 surviving in his A Guidebook of Lincoln Cents, 3rd edition

  • amwldcoinamwldcoin Posts: 11,269 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @BillJones said:
    Never. It's a fool's strategy.

    The more you buy up, the higher the price becomes. When comes time to sell, you can only sell in drips and drabs, or you will depress the market.

    If you get control of all the food, and people are starving, that's one thing. When it's a luxury good, like a collector coin, it's another.

    Take the peoples food and they will come have you for dinner! :#

  • silverpopsilverpop Posts: 6,699 ✭✭✭✭✭

    i'll pass as i'm not into gambling unless i know the odds are in my favor and on this idea the odds are not even close to being in my favor

  • alefzeroalefzero Posts: 1,001 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Yes, a few times. At one time I had a ridiculous hoard of 1811 C-1 half cents.

  • Cougar1978Cougar1978 Posts: 8,458 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited February 25, 2022 12:41PM

    No. Simply out of my league. However I do buy /chase low pop coins where budget permits.

    Coins & Currency
  • ConnecticoinConnecticoin Posts: 13,009 ✭✭✭✭✭

    At one time I had all 6 1943 PCGS MS66 CAC Gold Walking Halves. I upgraded 4 to 67 and sold the other 2 for 67 money. In retrospect, I should have kept them given the gold CAC mania now.

  • WAYNEASWAYNEAS Posts: 6,882 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Out of my league.
    Rich man's dreams, poor man's pockets.
    Wayne

    Kennedys are my quest...

  • MrEurekaMrEureka Posts: 24,332 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @BillJones said:
    Never. It's a fool's strategy.

    The more you buy up, the higher the price becomes. When comes time to sell, you can only sell in drips and drabs, or you will depress the market.

    If you get control of all the food, and people are starving, that's one thing. When it's a luxury good, like a collector coin, it's another.

    Are you familiar with the concept of a well managed promotion?

    Andy Lustig

    Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.

    Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
  • ScoobyDoo2ScoobyDoo2 Posts: 839 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Anything I could ever corner ~ nobody wants... I'd be cornering myself.

  • WAYNEASWAYNEAS Posts: 6,882 ✭✭✭✭✭

    It seems that just maybe that someone is trying to corner the market on the bags of Rhode Island Innovation dollars in bag bulk from the mint.
    Reports say that they all sold out in under 30 minutes.
    Wayne

    Kennedys are my quest...

  • TPRCTPRC Posts: 3,805 ✭✭✭✭✭

    For some reason, I seem to recall someone trying to do this with the 1809 dime. I think that is the piece. No idea how it turned out or whether he or she is still active. I think that is the date.

    Tom

  • shorecollshorecoll Posts: 5,445 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I remember having a couple of condition census CT coppers, 1 was #5 and 1 was #6 for their varieties (and both were ugly at that level, LOL) . A well-known colonial dealer told me they weren't worth much as only 4 people were working on a variety set so I had to wait for a new collector to come along to run the prices up.

    ANA-LM, NBS, EAC
  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 34,328 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @MrEureka said:

    @BillJones said:
    Never. It's a fool's strategy.

    The more you buy up, the higher the price becomes. When comes time to sell, you can only sell in drips and drabs, or you will depress the market.

    If you get control of all the food, and people are starving, that's one thing. When it's a luxury good, like a collector coin, it's another.

    Are you familiar with the concept of a well managed promotion?

    Maybe you should offer your services to the guy who owns most of the Matte Proof 1909-VDB cents. I don’t think that it worked out for him when he offered them on eBay for over $1 million.

    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • ZoinsZoins Posts: 34,366 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @RYK said:
    Have you ever considered cornering the market in a coin?

    I do this for exonumia when there's only one ;)

  • ZoinsZoins Posts: 34,366 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @RYK said:
    If you mean the whole enchilada then you are CERTAINLY not referring to cornering the market for a given coin in a specific grade as some folks seem to think..

    Correct. Using the 54-O Huge O again as an example, there is a PCGS population of twelve coins and an NGC population of twelve coins. I am talking about trying to buy as many of those 24 coins as possible, in addition to any ANACS or non-problem raw coins that might be encountered. There are quite a few seated coins that have similar low population numbers.

    It's a fun way to collect! Good luck!

  • ctf_error_coinsctf_error_coins Posts: 15,433 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Zoins said:

    @RYK said:
    Have you ever considered cornering the market in a coin?

    I do this for exonumia when there's only one ;)

    I just joined the exonumia club. I own one piece. It is unique. It is the coolest B) I have million questions about it. You will love it <3

  • FredWeinbergFredWeinberg Posts: 5,874 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I remember, back in the mid/late '70's, a major
    dealer (still around, and a VIP), cornered the
    market on Proof 1942-P Warnickels.

    Don't know the details of what happened when he sold the
    hoard, but it was dispersed in an orderly fashion, I believe.

    Retired Collector & Dealer in Major Mint Error Coins & Currency since the 1960's.Co-Author of Whitman's "100 Greatest U.S. Mint Error Coins", and the Error Coin Encyclopedia, Vols., III & IV. Retired Authenticator for Major Mint Errors for PCGS. A 50+ Year PNG Member.A full-time numismatist since 1972, retired in 2022.

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