What is the sense in complaining about the "fact" that truly rare and/or special coins are

SeaEagleCoins

Please correct me if I'm wrong... but doesn't the term "rare" implicitly define something as "hard to find" or "not often seen"?

It just seems to me that complaining about the lack of "rare" coins to be a bit... well, dare I say... silly... Of course they are hard to find... they are "RARE" ...

...and again, correct me if I'm wrong... but I have always thought that the word "special" was to be used for those things or experiences that are a "cut above" the norm... not something that will be encountered on a regular basis... Premium Quality, so to speak ... so that is what makes it stand out as "special" ... if every coin was "special", it seems to me that the allure might fade a little... that such coins would not be so "rare" afterall... and hence, not worthy of any "special" premium...

It just seems like a no-brainer to me... if I could find coins that are supposedly very rare or special at every show on a regular basis... well gee whiz... I would begin to think that such coins are really not all that rare or special...


To lament the lack of such coins ... over and over... as if something is wrong with the market because of such a lack... really makes me wonder if the complainer(s) actually understand(s) the true nature of "rarity" and "special" ... and what that implies...


I'm just sayin'








edited for clarity in the thread title... please excuse me, as I am a bit anal-retentive at times

ricko

Excellent point.. I have found however, that coin collectors tend to be (in general) a whining bunch of nit picky malcontents. There is always complaints (here, at shows etc) about this or that minor irritant or imagined slight. Basic immaturity for the most part. Cheers, RickO

ANACONDA

Coin collectors are just a sample from the set of humans....complaining is a common activity.....people often want to blame their unhappiness on something other than themselves.... It may be that coin collectors are just who we hang out with.....I've worked at a few places including places I owned and the break room is usually host to more than just talk about flowers and happy shiny people.

My opinion is that if Helen Keller wasn't a whining complaining person, then I probably shouldn't be either.

Now, moving from the human condition to the 'rarity condition', rarity is always relative within a set and also when comparing sets. In the world of early rare herpetological books, something that has a population of 200 isn't rare but then there aren't 80,000 collectors of them like there are of coins.

Finally, when prices are weak, rare coins (as opposed to circulating coins.....coins you use to buy things with) are usually not offered for sale by the owners because if they are inclined to sell, they will be more inclined to wait until prices are not weak. You can figure out the rest of the thought on your own.

So, often the complaint about the situation of the current unavailability of certain rare coins is a comment impliedly that prices are weak AND a comment expressing dissatisfaction with being able to buy.....the time when you want coins readily available (when you're a buyer) is when coin prices are weak however that's the time when availability is usually lowest.

Here....watch this if you couldn't find anything to buy recently or if you've heard enough complaining......music is the great emotional manipulator........:

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj7DPB2zGN0)

rhedden

My thoughts exactly. I will add that most "rare coin dealers" make the majority of their profit by selling... Common coins. Why? There aren't enough rare ones available to keep a steady business going. There are a few who only deal in premium, truly rare material, but your typical B&M shop must deal in common Morgans, wheats, and circ. Buffalos by necessity. I am sure they would rather receive complete collections of Bust dimes now and then, but they just don't show up.

There is an interesting corollary to the "rare coins are rare" statement. That is, "collectors of rare coins are also rare." How many people collect $5 early gold by date? How about those assembling a complete date/mm set of Seated quarters? There are few of these coins around, the prices are high, and the number of collectors pursuing them is therefore tiny. On the other hand, we have the ever-popular and very appealing CC mint Morgan Dollars, which have survived in astounding numbers, are affordable in typical grades (relatively speaking), and also attract astounding numbers of collectors. Can you think of any other commodity where demand increases in proportion to supply? Coins are a strange market, indeed, whether "rare" or not.

bidask

a buyer from heritage once told me most coins are not rare

BillyKingsley

I think it is just the only way some people can express the dissapointment they feel when something they want is currently unavailable.

mumu

<< <i>Excellent point.. I have found however, that coin collectors tend to be (in general) a whining bunch of nit picky malcontents. There is always complaints (here, at shows etc) about this or that minor irritant or imagined slight. Basic immaturity for the most part. Cheers, RickO >>



Like complaining about tarnish?

TahoeDale

I noticed a very distinct pricing increase in "rare" hard to find dates at FUN. Maybe 50 to 100% over guides, and sufficiently high to make me cringe. I think the prices were where they were, because once sold, there was nothing to replace them--all others in the dealers case would be common.

But the coins didn't sell--no one I spoke with thought they were buys, no matter how seldom they could be found in the grades indicated.

But a whole slew of proof gold was available-- coins that were more expensive that the rarities above noted. And pricing was more in line.

Rarity is expensive, even at lower levels of grade.

RYK

I am not sure that it is necessarily a "complaint", as much as it is an observation, in that rare coins (however you choose to define them) are more or less available than they were last week, last month, last year, three years ago, etc.

ANACONDA

<< <i>a buyer from heritage once told me most coins are not rare >>



Since all he did was buy for the largest coin dealer in the world (now primarily an auction house and I suspect within out lifetimes, to be the largest auction house in the world....), no wonder he said that.

It's like the guy who captains the Maid of the Mist giving his opinion about the rarity of water.

ANACONDA

But a whole slew of proof gold was available-

The Japanese are dumping their proof gold in anticipation of the decline of the Holy American Empire.

roadrunner

The Japanese are dumping their proof gold in anticipation of the decline of the Holy American Empire.

Sheesh. The market reports I read keep saying that all the good proof gold has been headed to Asian for years and not coming back.

roadrunner

ANACONDA

Sheesh is correct....I was just yanking all yankable chains.

By the way, you heard about the new Taco Liberty Bell, right?

Halfhunter06

Thats a good statement. I'll talk about an example using the 1909-S VDB.

Everyone knows this coin is highly desired and is one of the top coins in any Lincoln Collection. Dealers know this, and having an example in thier case at shows will attract those people searching for their own piece.
That could lead to a illusion that the 09-S VDB is not rare and can be found anywhere, simply because one may see a few available at shows. Dealers usually are not going to have coins such as the S VDB unseen behind thier tables.

BAJJERFAN

I would guess that even at FUN that the sum of the coins on the premises is about 0.0001% or less of the total collectible pool of coins in existence. People buy them to own them, collect them, hoard them or realize a profit from them, not to flip them at the next show.

BigE

<< <i>But a whole slew of proof gold was available-

The Japanese are dumping their proof gold in anticipation of the decline of the Holy American Empire. >>




This point is clearly a more important one than "the declining value of the dollar" in relation to the value of rare US coins, the decline of world power status would have a more striking effect on them------BigE