World Colonial

This marketing effort is targeted to NCLT where the predominant buyer spending any meaningful money seems to be predominantly "stacking" or buying it for other financial reasons. They aren't hobbyist collectors since there isn't any substance to this collecting. Anyone with the money can buy any of these coins or sets in as little as one day, except maybe with some arbitrary holder and label combination. Unlike circulating coinage, there isn't even any variation in appearance for something like 98% or 99% of it either. It's the ultimate widget buying.

Stacks conducts intermittent cryptocurrency auctions on their site too, though I wasn't aware of it by Heritage. With the quick prior look I made of the Stack's listings, apparently, someone did create physical "coins" representing actual Bitcoin at minimum. I haven't read up on it so can't provide any specifics, as I have zero interest in it. I'd guess these physical versions might sell at nominal premiums to the electronic Bitcoin and higher premiums for those like XRP which last I checked were valued at less than $1. Given the widespread use of "crypto", it's feasible for these physical representations to trade as a form of collectible, but to a point only. A physical coin version of Bitcoin isn't interesting enough to sell at substantial premiums as a collectible longer-term, unless the supply is very limited or the underlying "currency" completely collapses. At $25,000+ now, it's hopelessly uncompetitive as a collectible, except to financially motivated "widget" buyers which is speculation. This should hardly be shocking to anyone who will evaluate the topic impartially. The same principle applies to a lesser extent to NCLT (more so the bullion type collectible coins) and also somewhat to common pre-1933 US classic and most common "world" gold. It applies less to ASE and Morgan dollars despite the (likely) substantial financially related buying because most of these coins are a lot cheaper.

I'd attribute it to the apparently more widespread belief that society won't let them financially fail. The incentive structure incentivizes people to take big risks. If you are a portfolio manager, it's not your money, so underperforming your benchmark means customer leave while there is "safety" in being wrong if this house of cards collapses. At the individual level, it's even worse now after mortgage moratoriums, rent and student loan forbearance, and paying some people more not to work than when they were working. It's completely insane. There is a manic mentality that seemingly no matter what happens, the irresponsible should always expect to get bailed out. The only thing that is going to change this widespread thinking is extended widespread actual austerity, not doing without something trivial like cable TV or a smart phone. Read that too, and there is quite a bit of truth to it. Worth somewhat more than that

Same thing could be said of gold, silver, or coins. The difference though is that crypto is actually literally nothing.

For me, the biggest gap in what dealers offer their buyers is timely updated inventory. If anyone could ever make it economically feasible to dealers at scale, it would certainly have potential value to me as a collector of coinage which is difficult to find. Aside from eBay, there are other aggregator sites like VCoins and MA Shops but it's limited. I presume more dealers don't participate because the value proposition isn't there for them. Don't know how it does or may differ from your effort.

Excel I also don't collect any US coins, if your product is built around that. Also, if you eventually intend to market it for a fee, the landing page seems to indicate it's more for coin dealers versus collectors. I don't see much of a market from collectors, unless it's free and you intend to generate revenue from advertising.

Here are some facts on the Liberty nickel series from an independent source, the Heritage Archives as of mid-2022. I covered the Heritage Archives in a prior thread last year though cannot remember the exact date. This thread included some disclaimers on the data limitations which I will not repeat here. Circulation strikes Proofs $200-$500 29/84 28/84 $501-$2,500 40/99 34/99 $2,501-$10,000 49/108 52/108 $10,001-$50,000 77/108 93/108 $50,001-$100,000 No sales T-86 (last with a sale) $100,000+ No sales T-68/81 (three 1913 sales) I didn't evaluate below $200, as it isn't financially meaningful, but presume the ranking is higher since a noticeable of the 112 series aren't available below this price point.

Depends what kind of collection you or anyone else wants. I don't make impulse purchases and hardly ever buy anything for my "side collections" anymore either. I did just buy one of the tougher dates in the Boliviano series though. It's a set I intend too eventually complete. I'm also looking to sell coins from discontinued "side collections" and past impulse purchases. However, I recognize that most others prefer to have broader variety than I do. One way I look at it when contemplating a sale is whether I would buy the same or similar coin for about the same money (in my case, if available). If the answer is "no", time to sell.

What exactly are you trying to accomplish? If you contacted this source to communicate a "want list" for an already existing MS-67, this might work. If you contacted them to find a candidate MS-67 ungraded where they will submit the coin to "make" the grade for you, I'm predicting you're going to be waiting a long time. As in, you're never going to hear back from them. The return for the time effort isn't there for any seller. Something else? If so, what?

Just saw this thread. Sure, buy it if the buyer likes it as a collectible. But while the mintage is low, this isn't a low number for any coin in close to comparable quality. 2481 also isn't a low enough number where this coin will ever be difficult to buy. My answer is "no". This coin is included in the "Top 50" moderns book profiled in two old threads on this forum. I never posted in either but will revisit the topic in the near future.

Big difference between "most" and "all". 1/2C, cents, 2C, 3CN, and nickels weren't gold or silver.

The lopsided proportion of Australian coins in holders are NCLT. Last I checked, PCGS graded more than NGC for pre-decimal (one of the few) but it's a very low fraction of the total. I have seen almost zero TPG coins in Noble Numismatics' auctions who I understand is the largest firm in the country. Someone told me it's due to export requirements (which makes no sense to me) but doesn't seem prevalent there, except by financially motivated buyers. I also suspect that at least a noticeable minority if not majority of NCLT is possibly owned by Americans, not necessarily locally.

Unless there has been a "meaningful" increase in TPG coins sold in Germany, predominantly likely not German bidders, though I will admit I can't explain any sudden change. I haven't looked at German auctions lately and never looked at German dealer websites, only MA Shops or eBay in the past. Germany is potentially somewhat different from other countries in the sense it's large enough where there is at least a potential resale market for the higher graded coins locally. 2nd or 3rd, after China. I don't believe there is much of one but could be wrong about that. This doesn't exist virtually anywhere else, outside of the countries already demonstrating a TPG preference: China, South Africa, and maybe Canada.

In the past at YE, Heritage used to issue a press release where they broke out their auction volume measured by value for each major category they offer. This included US and non-US coinage. I didn't look for 2022 but you can find prior years (2019 or so at minimum) with an internet search. This will confirm what I told you. In checking their archives for my last post, I did notice that the count for the UK has gone up noticeably since my last search. It was just under 40K the last time and now its 52K, about one in every eight "world" coins sold. I also noticed the gap is closing in the overall ratio (with the US) but it's still lopsided, both by volume and value. A low number of countries account for a disproportionate pct. of "world" volume: UK, Germany, Canada, Mexico, China, and France in that order with the UK in the lead by a "country mile", almost twice Germany (including German states) which is marginally ahead of all other except for France. 40% to 45% of the total. The archives don't provide an option to filter by sale date, and I didn't perform a manual count to try to quantify any change in distribution. I know the ratio of US vs. "world" in aggregate has decreased somewhat over time, but that's all. Heritage has Hong Kong based sales occasionally, so I assume much or maybe most of the more expensive Chinese and Hong Kong (colonial) coinage is consigned by locals since these sales commenced. I also infer that Heritage receives major European collections in the Netherlands, any other offices they have there, or any agents if they have any. Mostly though, that this coinage is consigned by and bought by US based collectors. Note, the last paragraph is an inference, not "fact".

The vast majority of Heritage auction volume, both by number of lots and value, is in US coinage. You'd know this if you had any familiarity with their auction archives. It's something like 5-1 US vs. "world" and "ancient" combined. 6-1 US vs. "world". This is by volume. It's even more lopsided by value due to the US outlier price level. Moreover, it's very likely (very, very likely) that the vast majority of "world" volume is also from US based collectors, not elsewhere. Who do you think is mostly buying and submitting most of this coinage? Yes, somewhat more graded coins showing up on eBay from non-US sellers and in non-US auctions but a distinct minority.

I'm interested in this too. Also this Yes, and anecdotal is all it will ever be. No money in chasing this information. down, even assuming it is available.

When I no longer work and assuming I am where I plan to be financially, I'll possibly change my perspective somewhat. For new "side collections", I'd be open to it at some point if I had access to buy it in person instead of on-line. I'd need to attend more coin shows which I can't now for personal reasons and wouldn't anyway if it came at the expense of my current coin budget. This is to buy lower priced quality world coinage not in a TPG holder which I can inspect personally.

Never really answered the question of this topic. Here are some reasons why I collect what I do versus something else: One: When I resumed collecting in 1998, I declined to collect US coinage due to the relative price level. The price level was much lower but so was my budget. My financial resources have increased as my work career progressed but not necessarily faster than the price level for potential interests in US coinage. Two: Too many coins are overpriced based upon any sensible evaluation of the collectible merits. US coins are the most overpriced but not the only ones. Three: With the internet, the vast majority of coins are too easy to buy and there is no challenge to it. No, collecting by TPG label, CAC stickers, US invented specializations, or some other narrow criteria doesn't change it for me. Four: My interest in a particular coin or series increases or decreases inversely to the price level, as I don't buy coins for "investment". I dumped most of my South Africa collection for this reason (after prices rose substantially) and wished I sold most of what remains. Five: I'm not interested in collecting "downward" with my primary collecting interest. This is subjective but it's definitely tangible. This varies by collector, but it is evident collectors think in this context generally. Six: I don't actively buy for my "side" collections, much less add a new one. I'll probably never complete my primary interest and regular buying for secondary interests or impulse purchases reduces my budget for my pillar collection. Seven: I'm not interested in losing money on coins I don't like enough. There are coins I used to own (since sold) which aren't very marketable.

Someone else here will know better than I do. I infer none of these coins circulated extensively even for this short period.

I don't know how the coin came to have its current appearance, but I don't see how it could have been though circulation. FDR's executive order happened within three years, making it remote that any coin of this date could have circulated enough. Maybe a pocket piece but it would take a lot of effort to wear it down this much. The price difference between this one and all others is more than a "bit more", but I agree with your point. I know someone has to own every coin, but once it gets past "lunch money" amounts, I've never understood the thinking behind buying any low-quality unattractive coin when for "somewhat more", a (much) better example can be bought. I suppose it's quantity over quality. I don't subscribe to the US collecting obsession with one or slightly more TPG eligible label grade increments, but there is a difference with that versus looking at expensive unappealing coins.

Agree I wouldn't want it at all, but your revised price range would probably find numerous buyers, assuming it doesn't actually sell at the current ask price or somewhere between your prices and the current ask.

PCGS Coin Facts records two sales of an MS-63 in 2022 (both at $200K+) with the prior sale before it @ $120K in 2020, also as a '63". So, it's had a huge price increase. I'd guess the seller is fishing for a whale, under the assumption that this is the only affordable example available for someone who considers it a "must have" for their set, whatever set that is. PCGS Coin Facts estimates 50-75 known. PCGS has graded 52 and NGC 21. Presumably some duplicates. Of these 73 grading events, 70 are MS, two AU-58, and this coin. For the series, this is the only one below "Good" by PCGS while NGC has graded two. As for my opinion on the coin, it's dreck. I don't care that it's a five figure coin or quite scarce. I understand the affordability challenge but don't believe the coin is as hard to buy as the Coin Facts data indicates. It must have sold elsewhere (by dealers) more often. If 50 exist, coins in this price range aren't actually that hard to buy, usually coming up for sale at least twice/year and probably more than that. My opinion on the coin isn't just the quality or the price, though that's part of it. It's that it looks totally out of place in any probable set of the series. I'd never buy other very low quality coins of other series either, but at least these look more "normal" and it's not unusual for collectors to put together date, date variety, or type sets in this type of quality for silver or copper US coinage. I'd also assume this coin would be difficult to sell later, for the price paid.

Yes, my explanation for it at least initially was amusement or to alleviate boredom. With the internet, most series are so easy or so much easier to complete. It was done to create a challenge. Now, these coins are worth more or proportionately noticeably more than "high" quality in some instances. Definitely than slightly higher quality.

But there isn't any substantive difference with thousands of coins already in the population data at both services valued near or below the cost of grading. This includes more than just coins currently available in circulation. There isn't much graded fitting your description. There is a lot of it fitting mine. Same question could be asked. Reminds me of South African collectors. Look at the NGC Census "Details" data. It's the result of their TPG induced coin mania, similar to the US 1989 bubble. 173 1897 "details" shillings. 220 1892 "details" pennies. Yes, most are AU or UNC, but even at the price peak, probably not worth (much) more than the grading fee. Shipping back to SA isn't cheap. Here is a bulk lot sold by Heritage, this one in NCS holders not even included in the NGC Census. South Africa: Republic 82-Piece Lot of Certified Shillings NGC, ... | Lot #34360 | Heritage Auctions

That's what I was thinking. It's the "correct" price. It's a really common coin which due to the metal, is far above the demand for it as a collectible. That's what I think applies to practically all modern US NCLT. Too much "product" with uninteresting themes to more than a minimal proportion of the collector base. I don't even recall hardly any of the mintages but have consistently read of new "key" dates, as the mintage decreases over time with new releases. Most of these are destined to be lost in obscurity decades from now, if it hasn't happened already. It's my assumption that an outsized and in some instances, majority of the demand comes from those who are buying it for financial speculation due to the mintage (e.g., First Spouse series).