The Craziness Continues

[Coinery 1,011]

Hhmmm, this is not really helping my negative collecting vibes! someone please make me feel better with collecting VF's!!

I'm off for a walk in the garden to smell the roses!!!!

How about...all the VF's could likely follow the trend, so you're getting richer by the day! And, if they don't, you can buy lots more coins! Best of both worlds :-)

The variability is a pain in arse though I have to admit! Starting a particular type of collection, only to find you're priced out of the market before you complete it to your satisfaction, is a bit of a drag!

[coin watch 1]

Hhmmm, this is not really helping my negative collecting vibes! someone please make me feel better with collecting VF's!!

I'm off for a walk in the garden to smell the roses!!!!

How about...all the VF's could likely follow the trend, so you're getting richer by the day! And, if they don't, you can buy lots more coins! Best of both worlds :-)

The variability is a pain in arse though I have to admit! Starting a particular type of collection, only to find you're priced out of the market before you complete it to your satisfaction, is a bit of a drag!

Feeling a little better with that thought!! Thanks

[DaveG38 401]

Hhmmm, this is not really helping my negative collecting vibes! someone please make me feel better with collecting VF's!!

I'm off for a walk in the garden to smell the roses!!!!

Depends on what you collect. I have a complete run of milled halfpennies, back to 1672, with the exception of the James II 1686 (anybody got one cheap?). The 1689 is probably the rarest, and even the best example available is only around VF and costs an arm and both legs. As a result, mine is a good fair at best, but it fills a gap, and is probably the only one I'll be able to obtain, unless I wait forever. I'm quite comfortable with the idea of gap fillers, until something better turns up, simply because I can always sell on the spare, when an ungrade appears - if I'm lucky its price will have gone up too, so its a win win for me. In some ways too, I get satisfaction from the filling of spaces and the eventual upgrades which all adds to the interest of collecting. For me, a collection of top grades would be very nice, but once achieved has nowhere to go, or is an unattainable goal, whereas my way gives me a constant ongoing interest.

Does this help?

[Rob 3,106]

Great cars!! I fully appreciate a decent vintage! though I hate driving today!

Anyway just getting back to coins on this nice sunny Sunday afternoon, which incidentlly I was feeling very happy with until I read some of these posts! Again I can't help but feel negative agian about these latest price trends in the auctions. OK the prices have increased beyond my aim for the better top end coins that interest me, so as a collector I am now left with the moderate 'run of the mill' coins!?! So what now?....More of a concern is the lack of interest in the coins that fit into the next grade down, I don't mean the Ebay fodder, but the moderate coin even with a 'ticket' which in some cases not reaching the estimate as shown in this Spink auction and others.

Oh well maybe I should aim for these lower grades for a possible bargain.....or are they?

Help very low again with collecting!!!!

Buy fewer coins, but don't drop your standards. They might cost more at the moment, but somewhere in the future prices will stabilise or drop back. It has always happened and always will in the future. Over the long term, some you will pay too much for and some will be a bargain in retrospect. If you are in it for a hobby, things will even out eventually. I have bought fewer coins because I feel some of them are going to silly levels. Interestingly, I found out that I spent less last year than in any other since 2003. Part of this must be that as time progresses you have fewer gaps to fill, but there have been many occasions where I've said I'm not paying that much however desperately I would like it. It doesn't stop me spending on something where I am unlikely to see another anytime soon though.

[coin watch 1]

Some interesting thoughts here!!

I'm thinking back in positive mode at the moment with the thought that the 'VF' market is the stronghold of the collector interest, and so if this collector base stays strong in the 'mid' market then the long term outlook indeed should be good. Which is more than can be said for the crazy top-end at the moment...Look out for the cliff edge big spenders!!!

[TomGoodheart 380]

I've been thinking along the same lines. In my case it helps that there's not much material out there that I really want at present, so gives me an opportunity to save my pennies. Plus there are still some, as far as I can tell, unrecognised scarcities I can be looking out for. The upswing in prices isn't likely to make it any easier or more difficult to find them, so hopefully there's scope to pick up what other people think of as an ordinary coin for a reasonable price.

There are still coins there, but I'm starting (at long last) to hold back and consider whether I really want the coin at that price. Particularly if it doesn't have the eye appeal I want, despite other plus points such as provenance. So maybe in the long term this will be a good thing if it teaches me restraint!

[Rob 3,106]

Some interesting thoughts here!!

I'm thinking back in positive mode at the moment with the thought that the 'VF' market is the stronghold of the collector interest, and so if this collector base stays strong in the 'mid' market then the long term outlook indeed should be good. Which is more than can be said for the crazy top-end at the moment...Look out for the cliff edge big spenders!!!

The VF market has to encompass the bulk of collector interest because there simply isn't enough EF or better material to go around once you go back to the 18th or 19th century or before. The down side of this collector base is that they also have less disposable income to spend and are the first to batten down the hatches when the economic tea leaves are unfavourable. That is why it is always the middle markets that suffer first and most.

[coin watch 1]

Some interesting thoughts here!!

I'm thinking back in positive mode at the moment with the thought that the 'VF' market is the stronghold of the collector interest, and so if this collector base stays strong in the 'mid' market then the long term outlook indeed should be good. Which is more than can be said for the crazy top-end at the moment...Look out for the cliff edge big spenders!!!

The VF market has to encompass the bulk of collector interest because there simply isn't enough EF or better material to go around once you go back to the 18th or 19th century or before. The down side of this collector base is that they also have less disposable income to spend and are the first to batten down the hatches when the economic tea leaves are unfavourable. That is why it is always the middle markets that suffer first and most.

I can definitely see this happening with the VF's as this is where my concerning thoughts have been of late, and as you say the middle markets suffer first and most, but I have decided to stay positive in my thoughts and say this 'mid' market although maybe taking the bulk hit first should be the steady 'ship' in the long term.

When the top end starts to sink then what ship are the 'new' collectors going to jump to!?

I feel quite happy with this positive way of thinking! I won't be reading any more posts....just in case

[Rob 3,106]

Some interesting thoughts here!!

I'm thinking back in positive mode at the moment with the thought that the 'VF' market is the stronghold of the collector interest, and so if this collector base stays strong in the 'mid' market then the long term outlook indeed should be good. Which is more than can be said for the crazy top-end at the moment...Look out for the cliff edge big spenders!!!

The VF market has to encompass the bulk of collector interest because there simply isn't enough EF or better material to go around once you go back to the 18th or 19th century or before. The down side of this collector base is that they also have less disposable income to spend and are the first to batten down the hatches when the economic tea leaves are unfavourable. That is why it is always the middle markets that suffer first and most.

I can definitely see this happening with the VF's as this is where my concerning thoughts have been of late, and as you say the middle markets suffer first and most, but I have decided to stay positive in my thoughts and say this 'mid' market although maybe taking the bulk hit first should be the steady 'ship' in the long term.

When the top end starts to sink then what ship are the 'new' collectors going to jump to!?

I feel quite happy with this positive way of thinking! I won't be reading any more posts....just in case

I can only speak for myself, but it will probably mean more coins bought as the overpriced items become more sensible. It might also mean the scarce choice VF pieces come back to earth. There have been more than a handful of VF-gVF hammered items that have gone for EF prices of late.

[Peter 615]

I've got to a stage of VF+.Fillers have been upgraded.I've got a few low grade varieties.

With hammered a full flan and ID is important.Grading them is a thankless task (as struck can mean crap)

[Peckris 579]

Some interesting thoughts here!!

I'm thinking back in positive mode at the moment with the thought that the 'VF' market is the stronghold of the collector interest, and so if this collector base stays strong in the 'mid' market then the long term outlook indeed should be good. Which is more than can be said for the crazy top-end at the moment...Look out for the cliff edge big spenders!!!

The VF market has to encompass the bulk of collector interest because there simply isn't enough EF or better material to go around once you go back to the 18th or 19th century or before. The down side of this collector base is that they also have less disposable income to spend and are the first to batten down the hatches when the economic tea leaves are unfavourable. That is why it is always the middle markets that suffer first and most.

I can definitely see this happening with the VF's as this is where my concerning thoughts have been of late, and as you say the middle markets suffer first and most, but I have decided to stay positive in my thoughts and say this 'mid' market although maybe taking the bulk hit first should be the steady 'ship' in the long term.

When the top end starts to sink then what ship are the 'new' collectors going to jump to!?

I feel quite happy with this positive way of thinking! I won't be reading any more posts....just in case

VF has always been the trickiest grade for dealers to dispose of. There are any number of date run colllectors who are happy with Fine or thereabouts, which is why the bottom end has always tended to hold up comparatively well. And at the upper end there are those who want the best possible, which translates to EF or better. VF tends to be the arena for the first group when or if they upgrade (excluding those who buy rarities who may well hover around VF especially if that's all that's available). So I would say that VF is an area to collect where you will gladden the heart of dealers, who may offer you some good bargains if you spend often with them.

[Red Riley 2]

I must say that if I do go for another classic, I might just be tempted by a Jensen Interceptor. Performance isn't much short of the Aston, parts are much cheaper, cubic capcity is enormous and the styling again is brilliant. And more importantly, the price is under half that of an Aston. On the other hand, that's a whole lot of coins I shall have to forego! Mmmm, tricky decision.

You would probably need your own oil well. Somebody above mentioned Stags. I had one late nineties/early noughties. Lovely styling and sound superb but required a bottomless pit of money. Nothing was built to last and it began to seriously erode my capital, so sadly had to sell and bought a big brute of a Riley 2 1/2 litre saloon instead. Built like a tank, weighs a ton and a half and very much made to last. Will do nearly the ton but might take 5 miles to stop and at 17 miles a gallon...

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack this thread. I just lit the blue touchpaper and retired!

[Accumulator 52]

I must say that if I do go for another classic, I might just be tempted by a Jensen Interceptor. Performance isn't much short of the Aston, parts are much cheaper, cubic capcity is enormous and the styling again is brilliant. And more importantly, the price is under half that of an Aston. On the other hand, that's a whole lot of coins I shall have to forego! Mmmm, tricky decision.

You would probably need your own oil well. Somebody above mentioned Stags. I had one late nineties/early noughties. Lovely styling and sound superb but required a bottomless pit of money. Nothing was built to last and it began to seriously erode my capital, so sadly had to sell and bought a big brute of a Riley 2 1/2 litre saloon instead. Built like a tank, weighs a ton and a half and very much made to last. Will do nearly the ton but might take 5 miles to stop and at 17 miles a gallon...

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack this thread. I just lit the blue touchpaper and retired!

I do like the Riley's, especially in the two-tone coachwork. Most classics require an uncapped oil well or two!

[Peter 615]

A guy I worked with had the AA following him around in his MG.

It will be a cayman for me when I upgrade.Although Mrs Peter has a Hyundai S111 coupe,when I swapped her Pug 307 diesel for this I had tears,and every bonus

Just very little goes wrong,it clunks,gets serviced and thats it.

[Boomstick 0]

I must say that if I do go for another classic, I might just be tempted by a Jensen Interceptor. Performance isn't much short of the Aston, parts are much cheaper, cubic capcity is enormous and the styling again is brilliant. And more importantly, the price is under half that of an Aston. On the other hand, that's a whole lot of coins I shall have to forego! Mmmm, tricky decision.

You would probably need your own oil well. Somebody above mentioned Stags. I had one late nineties/early noughties. Lovely styling and sound superb but required a bottomless pit of money. Nothing was built to last and it began to seriously erode my capital, so sadly had to sell and bought a big brute of a Riley 2 1/2 litre saloon instead. Built like a tank, weighs a ton and a half and very much made to last. Will do nearly the ton but might take 5 miles to stop and at 17 miles a gallon...

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack this thread. I just lit the blue touchpaper and retired!

Wouldn't happen to be red, would it??

[Peckris 579]

I must say that if I do go for another classic, I might just be tempted by a Jensen Interceptor. Performance isn't much short of the Aston, parts are much cheaper, cubic capcity is enormous and the styling again is brilliant. And more importantly, the price is under half that of an Aston. On the other hand, that's a whole lot of coins I shall have to forego! Mmmm, tricky decision.

You would probably need your own oil well. Somebody above mentioned Stags. I had one late nineties/early noughties. Lovely styling and sound superb but required a bottomless pit of money. Nothing was built to last and it began to seriously erode my capital, so sadly had to sell and bought a big brute of a Riley 2 1/2 litre saloon instead. Built like a tank, weighs a ton and a half and very much made to last. Will do nearly the ton but might take 5 miles to stop and at 17 miles a gallon...

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack this thread. I just lit the blue touchpaper and retired!

Apparently the Stag's well-documented troubles were largely cured by the addition of an oil cooler and a different oil pump. I read about it in a Triumph magazine - typical bl**dy BL compromise on what should have been a superb motor.

[Peter 615]

Drove by a smoking stag on the way to a party in Hendon and my mate asked the owner for a light...Oh the pleasure of a 2.8 Capri

[azda 978]

Drove by a smoking stag on the way to a party in Hendon and my mate asked the owner for a light...Oh the pleasure of a 2.8 Capri

I used to dribble over the TR7 as a kid

[Red Riley 2]

Wouldn't happen to be red, would it??

No, it's black!

[Red Riley 2]

Apparently the Stag's well-documented troubles were largely cured by the addition of an oil cooler and a different oil pump. I read about it in a Triumph magazine - typical bl**dy BL compromise on what should have been a superb motor.

Were they heck! The engine was a complete disaster from top to bottom and no amount of remedial work was ever going to cure it. The back axle wasn't much better. Mine seized solid while driving, broke in half, collapsed onto the road pulling the handbrake cable with it and sending me slewing across a duel carriageway showering oil everywhere. I'm lucky I'm still here!

[Peckris 579]

Apparently the Stag's well-documented troubles were largely cured by the addition of an oil cooler and a different oil pump. I read about it in a Triumph magazine - typical bl**dy BL compromise on what should have been a superb motor.

Were they heck! The engine was a complete disaster from top to bottom and no amount of remedial work was ever going to cure it. The back axle wasn't much better. Mine seized solid while driving, broke in half, collapsed onto the road pulling the handbrake cable with it and sending me slewing across a duel carriageway showering oil everywhere. I'm lucky I'm still here!

Sounds like you had a particularly bad one Derek - the archetypal BL "Friday afternoon" job. Though according to Wikip the surviving examples run particularly well having had the endemic problems ironed out by owners upgrading parts to the level BL should have adopted in the first place.

[Red Riley 2]

Apparently the Stag's well-documented troubles were largely cured by the addition of an oil cooler and a different oil pump. I read about it in a Triumph magazine - typical bl**dy BL compromise on what should have been a superb motor.

Were they heck! The engine was a complete disaster from top to bottom and no amount of remedial work was ever going to cure it. The back axle wasn't much better. Mine seized solid while driving, broke in half, collapsed onto the road pulling the handbrake cable with it and sending me slewing across a duel carriageway showering oil everywhere. I'm lucky I'm still here!

Sounds like you had a particularly bad one Derek - the archetypal BL "Friday afternoon" job. Though according to Wikip the surviving examples run particularly well having had the endemic problems ironed out by owners upgrading parts to the level BL should have adopted in the first place.

It really isn't true. The engine was so poor it really needed replacing with a Rover/Buick V8. I covered 25,000 expensive and headache strewn miles in my Stag. There is a large industry devoted to keeping Stags on the road and so you would expect them to say something along the lines of; '... with care, the original engine can be made a reliable and long lived unit'. It's balderdash. The engine was, is and will always be rubbish. The car was being developed at the time of the BL merger and early on in the story, Lord Stokes gave the Triumph engineers a Rover V8 saying 'see if you can make this fit'. After a couple of weeks they came back and said it was impossible. Soon after launch, when it had become clear that the 2997 Triumph V8 was a lemon, what was the first mod the aftermarket industry industry offered? You've guessed it.

BL? Tsk.

[choolie 0]

Out of interest, what was the auction from which this topic began?

Edited April 20, 2012 by choolie

[HistoricCoinage 122]

Out of interest, what was the auction from which this topic began?

Spink.

[choolie 0]

Ah the rolls royce of coin autions. Thanks