Many Selling out - Tired of US Coin Market Losses

Have declining bids in the sheet caused you think of selling out? Recently a Lexington Half I have in MS 65 went from $225 to $185 bid in the sheet. I was furious. This series has already had a bloodbath a few months back.

While it is what it is, I certainly am downsizing my US as desire to buy has fizzled out on my part. Bids have been falling for many issues for sometime.

 

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Buy high, sell low?

 

More for me to buy!

 

When I started collecting I never thought of selling. It is either a hobby, a business or an investment. I don't think you can have all three and be happy with it.

 

There are nearly 1200 MS65 Lexington halves certified at PCGS. And sales are around $150-$165 over the past year or so, according to CoinFacts, despite PCGS price guide being $250. Bottom line, it isn't that hard to find one, and there aren't a ton of people lining up to buy one.

 

Coin collecting is not an investment platform. If you are worried about losing your so called worth on paper, don't collect/invest. A collector does so for the love of the hobby. I like my 'purchases' (additions to collection) to go up in value, but eight times out of ten they don't. It troubles me not..........

 

I also like to collect, and I have for years, but I've found that my tolerance has decreased greatly for collecting things that lose value or that have consistently bad resell values. This goes not only for coins, but collectible books, memorabilia, sports cards, music, autographs, etc. Most of these lose value over time and I'm tired of losing money so, like the original poster, I've greatly reduced, in fact almost eliminated, my spending on coins. This hasn't effected my love of coins at all. I just find that I no longer need to own them. I can still appreciate them at shows, in books, on the internet or anywhere where I won't lose more money on buying them. I actually feel liberated no longer needed to own coins. And I'm not wasting any more money.

 

My main collecting interests nowadays are ancients and bullion. So I haven't really seen declines.

I still have my US coins from a few decades ago, but will hold onto them. They are all ungraded. I think what is happening in US coins is two-fold. One, TPG numbers are finally showing how common almost all US coins are. Second, watered down grades are having a deleterious effect. If a MS65 10 years ago is now $185, one has to ask if it is still the same grade. Is a freshly graded 65 the same quality as what was once graded a 65? The vast number of crackouts over the last few decades would lead one to believe that grades have gotten looser and looser. If they have, this would naturally lead to lower and lower coin prices.

A coin is a coin. A TPG can give an opinion, but a real collector will know to look at the coin, not the slab. I bet you there are coins graded 65 years ago still worth $225, its just now the grading services might call it a 65+ or a 66.

 

I prefer lower prices I also prefer the world coin market, because there's so much more variety. I can get a coin older than the US for dirt cheap.

 

@lordmarcovan, I had to do a double take on that post thinking I’ve been up too late reading. That is cool.

 

I scrolled right into it thinking this is an odd coin and the face popped up. That is funny.

 

Just be glad that you didn’t “invest” in collector plates.

 

I was very lucky to find this MS-64 Lexington at guide price.



Bob Campbell image.

 

For me, it was the entire culture surrounding US coins that made me sell out.

“Want me to take your coin seriously? Then it must be slabbed.”

“Greysheet says it is worth XXX, and there is no way you can convince me otherwise.”

“If it won’t grade problem-free, it is junk, and I will judge you as a collector for choosing such a coin.”

“It is so rare because it is a key date.” (Overhyped)

And generally everything is way overpriced for what it is. I can get rarer, more-beautiful, higher-grade, and more-historically-interesting contemporary coins for a fraction of what US ones cost. I see many coins that are expensive just to be expensive, with literally nothing else that makes them more interesting. You are paying for decades of hype that will lead to the downfall of the US coin market as fewer and fewer people can afford them.

 

Or Beanie Babies

 

I have been having so much fun collecting coins over the last 30 years that I almost didn't realise that they have, on average, sextupled (6X more or better) in price v.s what I paid for them.

 

While I wish my coins would always go up in value(or hold the prices) I really do not worry about that. That is what my stock market accounts are for. I like collecting for the fun of it and getting the right coin to add to my collection.