where were you when the coin market topped ?

i still remember that weekend i was set up behind the table at a little coin show in Ca. when common date PCGS MS65 Morgan and Walkers traded hand for $1200-$1300 ea. :rolling: seems like yesterday.

 

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Which one are you talking about?
The monster in ~1980 or the lesser one in ~1990?

 

The "monster" I remember occurred in 1980.
It was caused in part by the Hunt brothers and their attempt to corner the silver market.
In early 1980 (March?) silver topped $50/oz.
The coin market was soaring right along with this.
Then in one week (or less) the bottom fell out and silver ended up at about $10/oz.
I had been back into coins for almost 10 years at that point.
I quickly departed numismatics and went back to philatelics.

I didn't return to coins until about 1991, so I missed the 1989 "bump".
So I don't know about the grief it caused the market.
But I had a bit of catching-up to do.
Everyone was talking about "slabs" and I had no idea what they were.
I finally caught on.
Since then I've been using most of my personal disposable income on coins.

 

Where was I?

The same place I've been through many market tops and bottoms - collecting coins for the enjoyment it gives me, not as part of my investment strategy.

 

In early 1980, I sold almost all the "stuff" I had collected as a kid. During the 1989 bubble, I was on the sidelines. I was more concerned about an underwater mortgage. I got back into collecting in 1991 when gold dropped below $350.00/oz.

 

Wasn't alive in 1980.

Was 3 in 1989. So probably playing with my toys or dreaming about having that Super Soaker I just saw on TV.

 

Where was I?

I was nowhere.

 

In 1989, I would have turned 5 years old in October. The only things I were collecting then were 1/64 scale cars (which I still collect) and He-Man (Masters of the Universe) action figures and Batman movie figures.

Coins and currency were not on my mind.

 

In late 88-89 I was on a Guided Missile Cruiser in the Mediterranean Sea and for the rest of the year in the Caribbean chasing drug boats on the same cruiser I didn't collect US coins at that time only world coins. Ice

 

I wasn't a collector in the early eighties, but did know about the silver upswing. I was in my early twenties. Me and my brother-in-law would go to his dad's house when he wasn't home and swipe a sterling fork or spoon from time to time for beer money.

 

In 1980 I was cruising back and forth from the Gulf of Aden to the Gulf of Oman. Between Iran and Yemen, we stayed pretty busy. In 1989 my world was focused on my new born. I think the price of diapers went thru the roof that year too...

 

I was in school and had no money for coins. TC

 

In the 70's and 80's, I had taken a 20-year hiatus from coin collecting and was devoting much of my time to paying child support, playing pool and bartending. I made a lot of money gambling at pool and bartending, and my only regret is that I didn't buy more coins.

Chris

 

I was working as a manager in a retail store (a small version of Walmart:smile) when all this happened. We were running sales where you could pay in silver. So, you could buy a tv for like $25 in silver, or a camera for $50 in silver and so on. There was a coin dealer behind the scene that went through the coins and bought anything that wasn't scrap and paid a premium for it. I'm sure he did quite well. I wasn't into coins at the time so I have no idea what people dropped off.

 

I was only 1 in 1980, but I was collecting in 89 and for the most part I didnt experience any boom, I was only 10 then & buying very low grade coins within my weekly allowance.

 

i'm thinking about the one in 96-97 when the site unseen bid (blue sheet) on a PCGS MS65 morgan hit $1300.

 

Another memory of the 1980 spike is the mass melting of silver including many coins.
"Common date" coins went into the pot along lots of other silver items.
After the crash and the dust settled speculation began on how common "common date" coins were.
The thinking was a LOT of 60's dated material, including MS items, no longer existed.
No one really knows but 30 years later it appears there is enough to go around.

 

Under Fire

I was in Lebanon in 1980 trying to train a bunch Lebonese how to defend themselves. It didnt work to good.