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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Andrew McCabe, post: 3705061, member: 90666&quot;]I think it&#039;s partially myth at the level we are now discussing ($1000 coins). When one gets as specialised as I am, one gets to work out who is buying what in my specialist area, helped by there being usernames on the CNG site, and visual observations in some room auctions. I am aware of <font face="Verdana">some known and some anonymous better-off collectors. </font>What I have observed is that those wealthier collectors hardly move the needle for three to four figure coins at all. This is because they are very selective what they bid on (quality) and so in numerical terms, an auction section with 100 lots estimated at average $1000 each with some higher and lower (such as in a typical CNG mail bid sale) anywhere from 0 to 10 coins actually sell to collectors who could afford (if they wanted) to buy all 100 lots. So as long as one isn&#039;t directly headbutting a well off collector who really wants a specific coin, then one can feed on the remaining 90%, alongside the other quantity surveyors, government civil servants, doctors and similar mid-level workers. Occasionally one sees two such bidders headbutting and one coin can go for 20 times estimate. But in general, $1000 coins are low enough end for our hobby not to be influenced by the Russia and China and Arabia money.</p><p><br /></p><p>What I do hear sometimes is specific usernames being mentioned on CT as sweeping up all relevant coins. Then I check the facts, and in just about every single case, it turns out that those people have just being bidding the correct (in my view) price for the items concerned, and can be outbid by ordinary collectors who are also willing pay the correct full price. I use the better NAC auctions as a measure of true value - NAC tends to reach the widest number of interested collectors. Use that as a measure, and you won&#039;t regularly be outbid by China, Arabia or Russia. You may have to up your bid a bit however, and then coins won&#039;t seem so cheap.</p><p><br /></p><p>At higher end - auctions of best Sicilian silver or rare aurei - it&#039;s a different market, but collectors even at that end have other things one can spend money on. Once a coin gets too expensive, perhaps it&#039;s nicer to buy a marble bust for example.</p><p><br /></p><p>Finally, on the overall picture, some people here follow value trends over the years at auctions. Since a peak in 2010-2014 or so, possibly due to people seeking alternative investments after the 2008 crash, there seems to have been a modest decline in ancient coin prices for the last 5 years or so. That doesn&#039;t suggest we are being swamped with new money.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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