From 1973: "Prices have reached a level [which is] restrictive to the avg collector, ...and unr

Longacre

I was reading the Stack's catalog which includes the John Adams collection of Indian Peace Medals. In the catalog, QDB writes a very nice bio of Mr. Adams. QDB mentions something that Adams wrote in 1973. I quote below:

"With inflation accelerating on a broad front, John expressed the view in print that 'prices have reached a level which are not only restrictive to the average collector, but which are also unreasonable in the abstract.' ... [An] option would be for 'we wolves [the buyers of coins] to go on strike' and pay only a certain percentage of the newly established 'basal values'."


Does this statement from 1973 sound familiar? Are we at that point today? Do we collectors have an obligation to try to keep prices in check (to the extent possible), so the masses can afford coins? What do you think?

thelawnet

<< <i>I was reading the Stack's catalog which includes the John Adams collection of Indian Peace Medals. In the catalog, QDB writes a very nice bio of Mr. Adams. QDB mentions something that Adams wrote in 1973. I quote below:

"With inflation accelerating on a broad front, John expressed the view in print that 'prices have reached a level which are not only restrictive to the average collector, but which are also unreasonable in the abstract.' ... [An] option would be for 'we wolves [the buyers of coins] to go on strike' and pay only a certain percentage of the newly established 'basal values'."


Does this statement from 1973 sound familiar? Are we at that point today? Do we collectors have an obligation to try to keep prices in check (to the extent possible), so the masses can afford coins? What do you think? >>



Obviously there is a lot of greed. People are buying not because of the love of the coin but to sell in a year or two's time. But also collectors are happy to pay high prices because they believe they will be able to resell at the same or higher level.

I'm quite surprised reading this board how much money people seem to spend on coins. I'm assuming that there are a lot of people here with several hundred k to several million in surplus cash to spend. I guess I am very conservative, but I'm reluctant to put more than about 1% of my net worth into collectibles, which don't pay any income, and have relatively high transactional costs to trade.

Unknown

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shirohniichan

Real estate development is very similar in comparison, developers also foolishly think home prices will increase year after year and the inventory that they accumulate will always be sold for a certain % more.

Yea, verily.

When I came home from school in the early 1980s to watch Jonathan's bullion quotes on channel 22 (UHF, for those of you who remember), it looked like gold, silver, and all coins would only continue their relentless climb out of my reach. Once the silver bubble burst, gold and coins came raining down with the silver shrapnel.

Once the coin bubble bursts, many will be back where they were in 1983 waiting until their collections to go back up before they sell anything and waiting for things to fall even more before they buy again. Collectors who aren't speculators will continue buying to add to their collections, especially those who've been sitting on the sidelines over the past years watching insane prices realized at auctions.

Coinosaurus

Oh, come now. As if collectors (and dealers for that matter) haven't been colluding in auctions for years.

If you are sitting with your buds during an auction, are you going to run one of them up? I think not. That is one form of collusion that is perfectly legal. There are others that are more conspiratorial, and less legal.

2ndCharter

Do we collectors have an obligation to try to keep prices in check

Are you advocating government price controls of collectibles?