Are you a member of the dreaded Vast Middle Market™ in the coin world (aka the milquetoast people)?

Longacre

In another thread, an excessively prominent board member made the following statement:

“I want to know about how the vast middle of the market is doing. The billionaires and their trophies mean little to me.”


At first, this statement did not phase me. But then it got me thinking. I am not sure who here would admit to being a member of the dreaded Vast Middle Market™, as this collector puts it. To me, the members of that market are the ordinary, plain vanilla, colorless collectors, typically described as milquetoast people. It is the billionaires and their trophy coins that are written about on the front pages of Coin World, not the Vast Middle Market™ denizens.

Who here dare admits to being a member of this market?

adamlaneus

What's in it for me?

RYK

I consider myself to be in the Upper Middle Market.

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>It is the billionaires and their trophy coins that are written about on the front pages of Coin World, not the Vast Middle Market™ denizens. >>

The top story in the May 3 edition of Coin World is about design recommendations for the 2011 Native American dollar coins.

PerryHall

Guilty.

ColonialCoinUnion

<< <i>

<< <i>It is the billionaires and their trophy coins that are written about on the front pages of Coin World, not the Vast Middle Market™ denizens. >>



The top story in the May 3 edition of Coin World is about design recommendations for the 2011 Native American dollar coins. >>



Was one of the recommendations to put a billionaire on the 2011 Native American dollar coin?

AMRC

I am the son of immigrants who came to this country with a with a sixth grade education. I have never spent more than $10,000 for a coin in my collection, although at the next Heritage auction I have a bid in that would be over that should I win. I own one top-pop Morgan VAM, but the rest of my set barely ekes me into the top 50. I am not "dreading" a thing. I am having the time of my life. Anyone not buying the top pops is somewhere in the middle anyway. It's all good. I am not sure it would be as fun if I had Millions to throw into it. But that may be just rationalizing the fact that I do not have millions I can invest in coins.

MikeInFL

I will admit to being a card-carrying member of the Vast Middle Market™.

Do I win a prize?

50LargeCentz

Im here with ya's.

I have no shame in being in a 'sub' class of coin collectors. Like in life, theres always 'us' on the bottom.

StubbyMcNumbthumbs

I must confess to being one of the excessively elite members of the Upper-End .... of the Low Market.

I do, however, aspire to one day become a member of the Middle Market.

Does that make me a milquetoast wannabe?




edited to correct my low-marketesque grammar.

rgCoinGuy

<< <i>At first, this statement did not phase me. But then it got me thinking. I am not sure who here would admit to being a member of the dreaded Vast Middle Market™, as this collector puts it. To me, the members of that market are the ordinary, plain vanilla, colorless collectors, typically described as milquetoast people. It is the billionaires and their trophy coins that are written about on the front pages of Coin World, not the Vast Middle Market™ denizens.

Who here dare admits to being a member of this market? >>



Welcome home Longacre. Working for "the man" means you are probably not a billionaire.

SanctionII

The particular "Market" I am a member of depends on the person who looks at my collection.

To some, I am far below being in the Vast Middle Market, given that they would view my coins as "DEDS" ["Detrious, Effluent, Dreck and Sludge"].

To some others, I am in the Upper Echelon of the Top Tier of the Market, given that they would view my coins as "BAD" ["Beautiful, Awsome and Desireable"].

To some others, I am in the Vast Middle Market, given that they would view my coins as OK ["OK"].


Detrious, Effluent, Dreck and Sludge sounds like a great name for a law firm

SanctionII

"Milquetoast"

Does this mean that to be a member of the Vast Middle Market one can not have a tan or have ancestors that derive solely from Northern European stock?

Bear

One must define what the vast middle market is.Do we use
dollar value of coins, dollar value of collection or other measurements?

Then one must estimate what percentage of collectors that
fall in that sector.

Only then, can we make the decision how it and they are doing.

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>Was one of the recommendations to put a billionaire on the 2011 Native American dollar coin? >>

I didn't read the article, but maybe so, if they're thinking of using some sort of a casino design.

lcoopie

If you are talking logarithmically, using base 10,
I may qualify for middle class,
3 more than some,
3 less than others.

RedTiger

My collecting philosophy is "average coins at average prices," and I'm proud of it.

kaz

Consider me middling-mid-middle market, I'll take fig preserves on my toast, thank you.

Walkerguy21D

"Are you a member of the dreaded Vast Middle Market"
I guess I resemble that remark.....both as an owner and a peddler of such coins to the vast unwashed masses....

19Lyds

Not me!


I'm in the Cinnamon Toast Crowd!



Yum Yum!

Dentuck

What about the market of coin collectors with vast middles, from eating too many hamburgers and bourse dogs --- too much milque and not enough toast, so to speak?

As for me, I'm completely off the market's radar. I'm an exonumist.

GritsMan

I ASPIRE to the Vast Middle, but am not there yet!

mumu

I'll wait for the dreck thread to get started.

pursuitofliberty

The Vast Middle Market

yep ... that's where I live ... and thankfully only a few even have an idea of what I am up to next

Man, I like it here!!

Bear

Perhaps it is best not to undertake vast projects

with half vast ideas.

kranky

With any luck I'll graduate from the Middle Lower Market someday.

"Give me your culled, your Poor,
your unsearched wheat cents yearning to breathe free.
The wretched refuse of your coffee cans.
Send these, the dateless, bulk junk box to me.
I lift my loupe beside the closeout bin!"

JCMhouston

I am a member of the Vast Middle Market™, and things seem to be doing quite well in the areas I specialize in. In fact, if prices keep rising as much as they have done in the past 24 months I may have to graduate to the Slightly Less Vast Upper Middle Market™.

MrSpud

I just collect the crumbs that fall off of the milquetoast. But I probably enjoy my collection more than the trophy collectors.

Coinosaurus

Maybe you should put a dollar amount on it and then we can better judge.

Is the "vast middle market" like the "silent majority?"

okracer

I have an IHC that my dad bought for me at my 1st coin show, at age 8.....

....so I have the best collectable coin in the world!......my trophy!

....I'm clearly Uber Upper High-end Market....

AJ2525

Not sure but last weekend I overheard a dealer say he wasn't selling higher level coins but was selling lots of $10 to $50 dollar coins.

Baley

I'm collecting at no more than 2 std deviations from the mean.

Face it, if you're collecting more than about state quarters from circulation and a annual proof set, and less than about five figure coins, then you're in the middle, too.

edit: as for all the adjectives like "dreaded" and "milquetoast", sticks and stones, I know you are, but what am I? and I'm rubber and you're glue

lkenefic

Since coins are but a fleeting hobby for me and I really don't care about owning a million dollar coin even if I had that kind of money, I suppose I'm "milktoast". Perhaps it's just me but throwing money around at that level is somewhat like dining on exotic and endangered animals just because you can. These people are two dimensional and they bore me. I guess I'm trying to make my mark on the world in other venues. Making the cover of Coin World simply because I've got a bunch of money and labeling others as "milktoast" because they don't is just adolescent behaviour. Leo

bidask

Hey, Tennesee and Kentuckey avenue are part of the game. Sometimes I land on them.

BaronVonBaugh

<< <i>I am the son of immigrants who came to this country with a with a sixth grade education. I have never spent more than $10,000 for a coin in my collection, although at the next Heritage auction I have a bid in that would be over that should I win. I own one top-pop Morgan VAM, but the rest of my set barely ekes me into the top 50. I am not "dreading" a thing. I am having the time of my life. Anyone not buying the top pops is somewhere in the middle anyway. It's all good. I am not sure it would be as fun if I had Millions to throw into it. But that may be just rationalizing the fact that I do not have millions I can invest in coins. >>



If buying in the $10,000 range would put you there, then I guess I would be in the lower market.
I have only hit $1250 three times. Two of them currently list for about $3000 though.
I have had them for several years. Usually I try to stay under $100.

mumu

I cant say that if I had the means I wouldnt venture into the stratosphere, but I cant see how coins at that level are not more about social status than collecting. I cannot imagine the joys at that level being anywhere near the joys of coming across a type B in your hoarde of washingtons, or a double die lincoln in change. There's just too much financial thought and planning that goes into say a $500,000 coin. The there joy seems more loaded in the decision process than the actual coin, or in the process of having gotten to the point where you are wealthy enough to gather such coins.
In more clear terms lets say you win the powerball and now have the means to collect whatever you want. I'd think the joy of winning the powerball would live long enough to overshadow the joys of having bought anything with it afterward. But again, I wouldnt mind being there.

Shamika

Hold on while I check last months bank statement...



Nope, I'm still not a biliionaire. I guess that makes me a "milquetoast collector".

melvin289

I do believe you have caught me in the act.

I can't believe I had to repost this because I couldn't list the roachs correct name.

Ron



Milquetoast the Roach from Bloom County

lordmarcovan

<< <i>Are you a member of the dreaded Vast Middle Market™ in the coin world (aka the milquetoast people)? >>

I once was a card-carrying member of that market.

Well, I used to be lower-middle-market, I guess. I'd buy one, maybe two coins over $500 in the course of a year. I can still count on the fingers of one hand the number of $1,000+ coins I have owned.

But even those days are gone. Now, post-recession, I can't even claim that. I'm Lower Market all the way, now. My current budgetary ceiling is around a hundred bucks, and not even that, much of the time. But I've dropped some of my more expensive pursuits and am having fun with love tokens, which are fairly cheap.

Kudos to Kranky, for the POTD (Poem of the Day):


<< <i>"Give me your culled, your Poor,
your unsearched wheat cents yearning to breathe free.
The wretched refuse of your coffee cans.
Send these, the dateless, bulk junk box to me.
I lift my loupe beside the closeout bin!" >>

Bear

LordM, good to hear from you again.

cladking

I am the pretender to the throne.


All kings must be clad and clad will someday rule.

lordmarcovan

If one could vote on kings, you'd be no pretender to the throne, Sam. You'd have my vote for king of clads, for sure.

giorgio11

<< <i>In another thread, an excessively prominent board member made the following statement:

“I want to know about how the vast middle of the market is doing. The billionaires and their trophies mean little to me.”


At first, this statement did not phase me. But then it got me thinking. I am not sure who here would admit to being a member of the dreaded Vast Middle Market™, as this collector puts it. To me, the members of that market are the ordinary, plain vanilla, colorless collectors, typically described as milquetoast people. It is the billionaires and their trophy coins that are written about on the front pages of Coin World, not the Vast Middle Market™ denizens.

Who here dare admits to being a member of this market? >>



I'm in! If you are excluding only the billionaires, I think ... er, hope .. that most of us are in that Vast Middle Market. If I'm wrong, this leads to two conclusions: 1. Inflation is a lot worse than I think. 2. I need to buy some more expensive coins. 3. I need to find a more plebeian forum, clearly the patricians rule here.

GritsMan

<< <i>With any luck I'll graduate from the Middle Lower Market someday.

"Give me your culled, your Poor,
your unsearched wheat cents yearning to breathe free.
The wretched refuse of your coffee cans.
Send these, the dateless, bulk junk box to me.
I lift my loupe beside the closeout bin!" >>

Billet7

I think I'm upper middle, lower tertiary, first class, second stage, Mickey Mouse section L4, upper secondary, vanilla market. It's very hard to market to me!

Lakesammman

market of coin collectors with vast middles, from eating too many hamburgers and bourse dogs

Yep - that's me - have another beer.

Barbercoin

What's the name of the social coin-class just beneath this one? I might be in that one.

relicsncoins

I'm on the lunatic fringe of the vast middle market.

LindeDad

Is there a lower middle class market, my quarters are slabbed? And I try to use Soy instead of milk.

ccrdragon

I am striving in earnest to rise from the dreck and make it into the lower lower lower middle class... I can count on one hand the number of coins that are in my collection that I have paid more than $100 for and I have never paid more than $1000 for a single coin in my life... but hey, I still enjoy the ride so what the heck!

KiltedOne

I aspire to be a lower market collector in the hopes that the government will start sending me free CAC approved coins on account of being numismaticaly underprivileged.