Quintus Arrius Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 If one were to overlook the pronounced dichotomy between genuine counterfeit coins emanating from mainland China--not copies or replicas that have been authorized--and the seismic shift Heritage Auctions has undergone to meet the seemingly insatiable demand for authentic coins minted in China, one must conclude... [fill in the blank]. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus Arrius Posted July 15, 2022 Author Share Posted July 15, 2022 ... coins minted in Asia are slowly becoming a substantial portion of their auction sales platform on World Coins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
World Colonial Posted July 15, 2022 Share Posted July 15, 2022 On 7/14/2022 at 11:09 PM, Quintus Arrius said: ... coins minted in Asia are slowly becoming a substantial portion of their auction sales platform on World Coins. It depends upon what you mean by "substantial". 21,000+ auction lots out of 368,000+ in the archives is a still a low proportion, though I presume it has increased in recent years. To the extent the TPG data actually reflect local collecting in China, it's substantially or mostly NCLT. Also, though I infer the supply of more recent Chinese coins (excluding NCLT) is higher than in the rest of the developing world (due to the higher mintages from population), I doubt it's sufficient in higher quality to support "mass market" collecting where it's concurrently financially "meaningful". Exception will be PRC except that these coins are very common and lack the necessary preference to sell for "high" prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus Arrius Posted July 15, 2022 Author Share Posted July 15, 2022 I accept your explanation, but my lying eyes tell me. differently. The well-heeled Chinese have to park there money somewhere and it seems collectibles are right up their alley. I can distinctly recall a time when collectibles were imited to Ming vases, screens and tapestries. Now, seemingly overnight, one Kilo pandas, gold coins and "ancients" are soup du jour. " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
World Colonial Posted July 15, 2022 Share Posted July 15, 2022 On 7/15/2022 at 9:42 AM, Quintus Arrius said: I accept your explanation, but my lying eyes tell me. differently. The well-heeled Chinese have to park there money somewhere and it seems collectibles are right up their alley. I can distinctly recall a time when collectibles were imited to Ming vases, screens and tapestries. Now, seemingly overnight, one Kilo pandas, gold coins and "ancients" are soup du jour. " You need to think of the subject in the proper context. Financially, you're talking about a rounding error. The "market capitalization" of US coins as "investments" dwarfs all others combined, yet it's financially immaterial in the context of global financial flows. Since I know there is a massive credit mania in China (debt has exploded since the GFC), the world's biggest real estate bubble, and their stock market is still about 50% below the 2007 peak, I can conclude most Chinese put their money in real estate, fixed income or private businesses locally or its offshore but certainly almost never in Chinese coins. Can't speak to Chinese ancients but that Chinese modern NCLT you reference has been expensive since inception. It's "made rare" with an intentional artificially low mintage. It's not much of a real coin either, as it would make a great coaster (being the right size) for someone's glass of wine. Quintus Arrius 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
