The Sky is Falling! posted by Billy Newton

[CSJournals-migration]

Ripping off people who don't know the value of their coins.

 

Everyone knows that silver and gold have shot up in value. As a coin collector (not a dealer) this has made collecting much more difficult, mainly because of people attempting to hoard silver and gold coins because they are worried the sky is falling. This drives up the price. Even a common date coin (1921 Morgan comes to mind) are being sold at too high of prices. But I'm also frustrated with all of the coin dealers who are trying to rip off people. Check out your local Craigslist site and look at all the posts offering to purchase silver coins at 19x face value. No need to worry about the quality of the coin or its numismatic value. It's worth spot, right? I would imagine that 95% of dealers out there would dismiss my opinion of their shady business practices. That's fine. I won't do business with you. And there are plenty of collectors out there that share my view.

 

See more journals by Billy Newton

[Thane]

My opinions - some of which I've spouted in my prior journals (http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/JournalDetail.aspx?JournalEntryID=7068)

 

1. IT'S EASY TO RIP OFF DEAD PEOPLE. Most coin collectors are great at hoarding and atrocious at organizing/cataloguing. Few share their passion sufficiently with a family member for an heir to know the true value of the collection. RESULT: the usual "Guess what I bought at an estate sale!" story. When silver prices skyrocket, there are STILL folks out there who are surprised that money is worth more than money - to them, 4x face is a GIFT.

 

2. In BUBBLES, people buy AT ANY PRICE in order to find A GREATER FOOL tomorrow. I've spent plain presidential dollar coins, and the cashier randomly tells me that "Gold will be $2500 next year!" To them, buying gold at $2000/oz. is a fair price, even though 5000 sellers on EBay are cheaper.

 

3. Amidst a silver bubble, common and uncommon dates all carry the same worth in sub-BU grades.

 

4. When The Big Melt happens, many common dates will become more scarce.

 

5. HANG TOUGH. The Big Melt won't happen THIS year. Two conditions must be met: (1) high silver:dollar ratio (we're getting there), and (2) insufficient supply (not even close).

 

6. During The Big Melt, SILVER COINAGE IS WORTH LESS THAN MELT. Dirt and impurities. Labor. Loss of metal due to wear. A cut for the middle man.

 

7. The PRECIOUS METALS SPECULATION is creating far MORE SILVER INVESTORS THAN NUMISMATISTS. So WE might be right amongst ourselves about collector value, but in the marketplace, THEY will eventually be right in dollars.

 

8. Coin collectors are dying. Been to a live auction lately? Did you not take any Plavix that morning? You're in the minority. WE COLLECTORS ARE OLD, OLD, OLD MEN.

 

9. When the collector market exceeds the metals market again, will there be enough collectors still around to justify collecting ANY sub-BU or non-scarce dates?