How actively do y'all sell and/or trade coins?

I used to do a lot of buying (or rather hoarding) and this is when a lot of coin prices were actually very cheap. Some of the rarer coins from my collection were bought essentially during the golden era where precious metal prices were essentially less than half of today's prices. I was a student back then and owning coins in each precious metal (Ag, Au, Pt, Pd) was very doable. Not today.

Even common base metal coins are going at absurd prices as more information reveals that some years are tougher than expected. Some of the mint sets that I bought for less than 50 dollars have gone up more than 10 fold and there are times when I am tempted to sell them. Damaged, holed coins - those have gone up as well as I kept on targeting scarcer coins which today almost none appears. Shows how different the market is today.

Fast forward today - some of the coins that I look at are easily in terms of three digit figures and this is where my hoarding habits come in handy. I would sell off some of the duplicates and upgrade whatever I have or plug in some holes. Chances are I would make more loss and still spend more but it helps to offset a fraction of the really big purchases that I make.

 

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All of us are entitled to our opinions. Yours is a pretty common one to newer collectors, they go to shows and see all of the "old men" and worry about the long term health of their newfound hobby. I myself thought the same when I started, but historical reading and being around this hobby for 35 years has simply changed my mind.

There was no hard feelings on my end sir, and I hope none on yours either. This is how a lot of good conversations start, by someone having the guts to express their opinion. Always remember there are a lot more people reading CT than actually participate. Just think how much good we have had discussing this topic in front of them. Maybe we changed some opinions, maybe not, but at least now they know the different sides of the topic, right?

We are actually pretty kid glove on the world and ancient section here. You really want to get mad? Post your opinion on the bullion section, that is the "major leagues" of debate around here. Many on that section hate me.

Merry Christmas to you as well YOC, as well as all of my friends here on CT.

Chris

 

As a self-described silver bug and avid participant in the bullion forum, I certainly do not hate you. It's good to have a range of perspectives. Actually, you seem a bit bullish in some of your posts, but that's a tangent from this forum.

As for me, I am relatively young here, and I sell or trade when I want to upgrade my coins or when I want to get rid of a problem coin. Often I am willing to take a loss to better my collection. As I gain knowledge of the hobby, I get better determining which coins are problem coins.

 

Absolutely no hard feelings ...... I love a bit of banter.
As for bullion, dont they get them from melting down our coins? Grrrrrrrrrr
Regards YOC

 

Maybe from your coins but not mine, they can only do that if you hand over your coins to them

 

Well we know where Canada has been getting a lot of silver right now. Stupid alloy recovery program

 

that was the point...........

 

Young? My foot! I knew one girl who was involved at three!

 

I disagree with this, I think it's just because they don't work hard enough.

For example, this last summer a friend and me (this is right...I think) did yard work every weekend for some of the people on his street. Guess how much I alone made over the past year (mostly from the aforesaid work)?

1.25 K. Yes, 1250 dollars, greenbacks, dough, ect.

All from a little work.

Pssstttt, don't tell the IRS.

(JK all, I have nothing to hide)

 

Not correct. Try saying the sentence without the word "friend" and using me and then using I. Which sounds correct.

One thing lacking, in at least American culture, is a good work ethic which you seem to have. Keep it up. No one should expect to be handed something for nothing.

 

Not trying to question your expertise, but are you sure?

I thought because it was in the predicate it would be "me".

 

Oh wait, never mind. Because it's a compound subject it is "I".

My bad.

 

"Bad" is not a noun, it is an adjective. It is also not synonymous with "mistake"

 

Colloquilly it is, but still drives me nuts.

 

Question on, my friend. When my son's were still living at home, we commonly discussed things much like this. When I was at a loss to explain (I knew the answer but couldn't articulate it), I'd make them look it up in the dictionary or encyclopedia (no internet back then). We still have these types of discussions over the phone now and we still look up the answers. With one of my son's having his PhD and the other his Masters, I find I am increasingly the one being corrected.

So, question on. Especially when you are unsure.

 

Look, if you intend by that utilization of an obscure colloquiallism to
imply that my sanity is not up to scratch, or indeed to deny the
semi-existence of my little chum Eric the Half-Bee, I shall have to ask
you to listen to this!


... but I can't find a link to that Monty skit

 

My bad (mistake).

 

Real close, but not that skit! the one quoted Those guys really twisted my upbringing

 

I have heard of collectors (and widows) who were very disappointed at the value realized from a coin collection. Clearly the collector did not really know what his coins were worth. How could he not?
I met a man who had over 1000 ancient coins, all bought from two sellers I do not respect (before the internet) and he apparently did not mind a tetradrachm of Alexander the Great with the nose off the flan or lots of corrosion in important places in the design. He was old and valuing his collection for his heirs and the numbers he was assigning were wildly high. He was proud he had never sold a coin. Somehow he had not managed to realize the importance of quality. It is easy to pay too much and think that price-paid corresponds to value.
I think anyone who has not sold coins is at risk of erroneous personal belief about the relationship between quality and resale value. If you don't care about resale value, fine. However, if you do care about resale value and you think buying tells you what you need to know, I think you are mistaken. For example, even if you could resell it at the same price you bought it at (which is not certain--you were the one who wanted it most when you bought it, and now you are out of the market), there is a lot of effort involved in collecting that money. You might be (negatively) surprised at how much work it is at best, and it can be worse, especially if shipping goes wrong or the buyer is a jerk.
Here is a thought experiment. If you could buy large numbers of coins at $x (say $5) and certainly sell them at $x+y, (say, $10), would it be worth your time and effort? eBay fees, PayPal fees, shipping, possible loss, time responding to e-mails, driving to the post office, record keeping, etc. are all factors which are hard to weight unless you have done it.
Many collectors have been very wrong about the value of their collection. If you have not sold coins, how can you be confident that you are not in that group?