To what degree do you think that the war in Ukraine will affect the market for Russian coins? Will the crash in the ruble and resulting economic crisis drive down prices across the board? Or will demand from outside Russia keep prices up? I also wonder whether negative sentiment toward Russia in general will cause people to avoid Russian material.
If anything probably a slight bump in interest with people thinking theyll be hard to come by. People still collect Chinese and North Korean coins, no real reason to think this would be any different
I think the demand will remain strong, as it is with world coins, ancient coins, US coins and just about anything deemed a "good investment". Despite the turbulence we are experiencing these days, there is still a lot of cash out there pursuing coins, especially anything in a slab it seems.
As a dealer, one of my specializations is Russian coinage, and has been for many years. The market at the moment is quite depressed versus what it was back in around 2010-15. Since Putin's original aggression toward Ukraine in 2014, and the resulting first round of international sanctions, average Russians have seen their real earnings and quality of life gradually erode, and as a result, both prices achieved at auction, as well as velocity of trade have slowed on most Russian coins. This being said, general global demand has been sustaining current market levels for years now, so I would say that we are right around where we should be from a macro-market perspective. As a result, prices / demand likely won't slump much below current levels, and we may even see a small bump in demand for certain types as a result of Russians trying to park money in anything that is not Roubles / securities governed by or associated with the Russian market / state. It is worth noting that coin collecting was a popular pastime in the USSR, as it was also viewed as a way of securing savings. Speaking to negative sentiment - I live in Poland... enough said. This doesn't mean that I refuse to deal in Russian coins (unlike my longstanding boycott on any Russian goods), as they represent a historical context, and indeed, many circulated well outside of the current boundaries of Russia. Polish collectors, for instance, oftentimes also collect Imperial types, as they circulated extensively in the Russian partition of Poland. Hope this helps!
Short answers... To first question: to "the third degree" (a lot) To next question: hope so To the next question: hope not To the last, "I also wonder" thought: hope so
It really depends on how long the 'war' is going to continue. For the sake of the civilians, I hope it ends quick. There isn't much positive news coming out of it. At the moment if it continues at the current trend, I reckon the common Russian coin prices will fall for some time. Scarcer or rarer coins will always maintain if not rise in value.
I'm not sure what affects the popularity of coins - I remember five or ten years ago a coin dealer telling me that Russian coins had been popular in the last few years and but that Indian coins were becoming more popular. It didn't seem like current events would be swaying collector habits: a beautiful collection of British Indian coins had sold a couple of years prior though and my guess was that it had something to do with collector interest.
I don't know how market values or interest will go, but there could be an impact on the abilities of seller's to transact if OFAC sanctions get ramped up.
The one thing the Putin Regime has done well, their coin designs are beautifull. Far nicer then the USSR coinage. Going back to Czarist era, the high quality material is very hot and in demand. Earlier/ pre Romanov wire coinage even pricier. The super rich elite may be curtailed from buying rare stuff, since their bank accts are frozen/ seized.
