Leaderboard

I've yet to decide whether this is a terrible thing or not. Bottom line is that it seems to me that coin collecting has changed hugely from when the last decent collections were formed. Between the 1920s and, say, 1970s some fairly major collections were formed by teachers, pharmacists, solicitors and the like. They weren't all filled with top end material (although some were) but a steady scholarly approach meant that a good representative collection could be formed. Where there was a challenge it was as much for the need for patience as cash, as rarer pieces were less unaffordable and more that you'd have to wait your turn to get one. But for the most part I suspect that is no longer possible. Whether because of the number of buyers or amount of money available to buy, it seems to be becoming increasingly difficult to fill gaps in collections. I don't know what's happening to those coins because I don't know any 'investors'. They might be being collected and researched and studied. Or they may be locked straight into vaults only to see the light of day when next presented at some auction house. The terrible thing would be if collectors like me and Dave etc have to settle for lesser material because all the better pieces are taken out of numismatic circulation and transferred to the Fine Art market. However if those coins are carefully held and will become available to regular collectors in time (ideally after the taste for coins as investments cools a bit and prices return to more sensible levels) then it wouldn't perhaps be so bad. Obviously I don't expect the coins I want to return to the prices they were 5 or 3 years ago. Any more than I expect a house to cost what it did in 1980. But I'd like to think that a decent proportion of the coins I still would like to obtain will remain affordable. Otherwise I might as well pack it in today.

Within reason Well, look at it this way ... an investor has a $50 million portfolio. They put just 2% into alternatives. That is still $1 million. Sorry, I must have dropped my wallet with that 50 million in. We're talking real world Jaggy, which means for people who do a regulär job and have a mortgage and other outstanding Bills to pay monthly I've every sympathy with your POV Dave. Sadly though, it's the few with well-lined pockets who actually form and dictate the market, at least, at the highest end of quality and rarity. Don't get me wrong Peck, i have a fair bit more now after being taken on by my company last year instead of through an agency, my salary has doubled, but i'm not going to be throwing money at coins just because i have more, i'm still going to pick and choose but i still want value for my har earned money.

I wonder if people are trying to sell them on Ebay :lol:

I've annotated two of Dave's varieties.

It is good to see Chris posting again BTW how do I get a Taxi into my motorbike? I think Chris found the magic mushroom field in Germany.