How a Recessionary Pressures Influence the Price of Rare Coins
Unlike during the Great Depression, when gold coins were effectively taken off the market, many hereto unknown rare coins have turned up at auction shows and other events, causing minor upheavals in rare coin projections. This is true of both ultra-rare off-type coins and those that are simply old and hard to come by.
For instance, those who have made a living with rare coin investments, have seen a tremendous upwelling in the number of gold and silver coins from the 19th century. In most cases, these are coins that have simply been squirreled away for a very long time, surviving past melt events such as the record high prices that were observed in the last major recession of the 1970s.
While many of the people who have brought their treasures into traveling roadshows have been largely unconcerned with the low prices that are sometimes offered. In fact, in many regains especially hard hit by the current economic situation have been warned by local coin dealers that they will purchase rare coins at prices much closer in line with current rare coin projections.
Some traveling antique dealers have been accused of offering to buy rare coins at a fraction of the going rate – even less than the spot price of gold would warrant in some cases. As a result some people who might not have any idea as the the true numismatic value of their coins are able to buy rare coins for a relative song.
One example of how this can affect rare coin projections for all collectors is the appearance of many hoards of gold and silver coins, some with very rare gold coins that have the impact of shaking up the market and auction values for all the other known examples.
Of course, not every and not even very many of the coins found in the typical attic are the sort of discoveries that will shake the coin world, but whenever one of these coins is brought in for grading, there exists the possibility that these new additions to the world of numismatic items could become the best examples of any given year. This is most especially true of coins from the 18th and early 19th century, with many issues made entirely by hand, allowing many opportunities for valuable off-types to appear, even now.
It is important to note that rare coins are best brought to professional numismatists rather than folks who would claim to pay cash for gold, for instance. The collector's value of a rare coin will assuredly be worth more than its melt value. This is the other part of the same industry that would encourage people to buy gold coins with the expectation that gold prices will rise to well over the $2,000 per ounce range, using these projections as a jumping off point for the hard-sell.
Regardless, there are still plenty of high quality coins waiting to be graded by professional numismatists and added to rare coin projections, just lying around peoples' houses. Sometimes it takes tough times for people to remember old family collections even exist.
Arthur McGuire
April 12, 2009
