Could a slowdown in the fine art market be a bad sign for the high end coin market?

Michigan

From USA Today:

Shares for famed auction house Sotheby's slid nearly 30% to close at $35.84 Thursday after an impressionist and
modern art auction Wednesday netted $269.7 million, below an estimated range of $355.6 million to $494.2 million.
A Bank of America Securities report out Thursday said the results suggest a slowdown in the market. Twenty of the
76 works of art on offer failed to sell, most notably Vincent Van Gogh's "Wheat Fields", one of his last paintings.

Longacre

I think we have already seen a slowdown in the numismatic market. I've been reading reports that the Wall St. bonuses are going to be only in the six figures this year, rather than seven figures. Obviously their lifestyles are going to have to change when making so little money. That includes spending less on hobbies, art, and coins. I think once the high end collectors flee, it will trickle down to the masses.

Steve27

The falling stock market and subprime loan fiasco are the real drivers.

291fifth

The answer to your question is yes. It appears that the big money players are now being affected negatively. One of the real problems is that the extent of the sub-prime loan mess is still unknown. It is now obvious that many large firms that should have known better were heavily involved with sub-prime loans. This is causing a crisis of confidence among investors.

Michigan

The recent 1/4% cut in the prime rate by the Feds did nothing to quell the negative turmoil in the market, not a good sign.

Hugegut

Jeez... one bad auction and the shares drop 30%? That's harsh.

shorecoll

It wasn't just a bad auction, Sotheby's guaranteed the rare paintings and had to buy them at the low estimate. The Van Gogh was guaranteed at $20Mn, Ouch!

Michigan

<< <i>It wasn't just a bad auction, Sotheby's guaranteed the rare paintings and had to buy them at the low estimate. The Van Gogh was guaranteed at $20Mn, Ouch! >>




The fine art market is extremely competitive between the major auction houses so sometimes they have to make guarantees like
this to get consignments. The auction I'm sure was planned months ago but the timing turned out really bad.

RTS

Let it sink...as a collector the money spent on my coins is purely enjoyment money like going to McDonalds, flying to NYC to renew my friendship
with Les Demoiselles D´Avignon or a new pair of Jermyn IIs - once the money is spent it is spent and if my large cents are worth
anything more than what I paid for them then all the better but matters little to me if all the values of all coins drop by 100% (maybe I
can get a 1827 Sawtooth on the cheap) though I wish no harm to the livelihood of the handful of coin dealers
I consider human-beings.

Barndog

Bush did it, of course