Do You Think that a Slower Coin Market is Good or Bad for Collectors?

[Mr. Smith Guesser]

...Piggybacking on DaveG's post, Some Second-Hand Comments from Baltimore...

 

 

It could be argued that a slower numismatic market may result in lower premiums on coins. For example, there is little to no market for old TV remote controls as collectibles. Thus there is little to no premium for them in the market.

 

On the other hand, it could also be argued that a healthy coin market creates competition, which may keep premiums in check.

 

What do you think?

[coinman_23885]

It depends on whether you are buying or selling.

 

I am in the beginning phases of selling off most of my holdings (except my core collection), so I'm not happy about it and view it as unhealthy for me.

[DaveG]

I re-entered coin collecting in the early '90s, when the market was very slow: "problem" coins wouldn't sell at any price (and, for many dealers, every coin a collector showed them was a "problem" coin), dealers had very lean inventories and nicer material was hard to find because collectors wouldn't sell their nicer coins at the then-current lower prices unless they really, really had to.

 

It was a decent environment to be a buyer (if you could find the coins you wanted), but not a good environment to be a seller.

 

Of course, all that was before the Internet - the market may stay more liquid during this projected down-cycle because of it.

[Mr. Smith Guesser]

Yeah I guess I meant collectors as buyers specifically.

[physics-fan3.14]

For collectors as buyers, a slow market is a great thing. Especially if you are in it for the long term, a downturn in the market means you have a chance to add a number of pieces to your collection for lower prices - and that is always a good thing. The only downside to a slow market is that fresh material is often reluctant to come out of hiding - so, if you can find it, you can get it for a good price, but finding it may be difficult.

 

For a seller, a slow market is dreadful. Especially if you bought in a hot market, and are trying to sell now.

 

It seems like the market has been really hot for a long time (sure there were periods where it was scorching hot and periods where it was only uncomfortably warm, but it was all relatively active). If we really are heading into a downturn, this will be the first cooler market that many of today's collectors have ever seen.

 

The old timers might be able to recall better, but I think the last really slow coin market was something like 2001-2002. That is about when I started collecting seriously, so I don't really recall exactly.

[TonerGuy]

[michael]

 

agreed 100%

 

couldn't have put it better myself hope the market gets slower as many of my collector friends want to buy less expensively

 

of course the problem is better quality, in combination with rarity and historical significance will be mucho harder to find let alone buy at today's much lower pricing structure as strong hands will just keep it as they don't need the $$$ in the short or even mid longer term

 

a few areas of the market are actually still on fire and gaining again with regards to all the qualities in combination of top in rarity, quality, eye appeal and historical significance

 

 

[wygold]

IDK, I'm still a newbie in this hobby. With my U.S. Mint Sealed Ike set nearing a completion with 82%, just trying to find the last two coins is going to be something that's going to take a lifetime to fulfill. Now I focused on two new registry set to start and with prices dropping it might be easier for me to find and possibly complete by the end of next year. As long as the market stays were it's at or even lowers over the next few months. I want to work on starting on both the 20th Century Type Gold Non Proof set and US Type 7070. Which means I'm wondering if I should try and sell some of my moderns now or wait to help fund both sets??

[RWB]

For slower collectors like me, a slower market is better....

[BillJones]

The trouble with slow markets is that the supply of decent coins on the market dries up fast. The good coins that are in "strong hands" usually stay in those hands. The only solution is a for the market to go up, or it stays low for a long time.