Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="Tejas, post: 8295796, member: 84905"]Couple of thoughs: 1. Value is subjective: For any purchase to materialize the buyer must value the coin more than the money and the seller must value the money more than the coin. A rich collector may value a certain sum of money less than a poor collector, but that does not have to be the case. A  rich miser may find it more difficult to part with a certain amount of money than a relatively poorer person.2. Auctions and fixed price lists are both markets: If you win a coin in auction or buy it from a fixed price list is basically the same thing. In both cases you are the only person - of those who considered the deal - who's subjective valuation let to a transaction.3. Auctions are efficient, but not perfect: Auctions minimize buyers' and sellers' rents. Hence, the auction price is always only one increment above the price which somebody else was willing to pay. This is not necessarily true with a fixed price list, where often coins find no buyer in months. However, by far not all potential buyers participate in every auction. So auctions are only efficient among the group of people who considered the offer.[/QUOTE]