Historic coin prices.

From what I have been reading coins used to be cheaper 20-30 years ago.

What are some buys you remember from days ago that would make today's prices look insane.

 

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MS-65 1881-S Morgan dollars in 1989 at nearly $1,000 each. At the time investors thought that was reasonable and they would have seen today's price as insanely LOW.

 

Twenty or thirty years ago? How about five or six years ago. I discussed how much Barber coins cost back then in a recent thread of yours, Detecto, but I suppose it was not given much thought: http://www.cointalk.com/t216752/#post1563810

 

This topic fascinates me to no end. I've been asking for charts here - aside from the site I found, no one offered others. I presume they do exist.

This chart goes back ~8 years: http://www.ngccoin.com/poplookup/NumismediaPrice-History.aspx?c=17130&g=65

Here's a newsletter tidbit from 1998, "1886-O in MS-64 rose from $4,500 last November to $6,200 this November. The MS-65 1927-S jumped from $4,600 to $5,750, while the gem 1925-S exploded from $7,200 to $10,000!" http://www.nationalsilverdollarroundtable.org/?p=1448

That 1886 O MS64 peaked at $12k in late 2008, fell 18% but recovered somewhat with Helicopter Ben's printing.
http://www.ngccoin.com/poplookup/NumismediaPrice-History.aspx?c=17168&g=64

The same cannot be said of the lower end of the market. I'm curious about the particular wackiness of the Morgan Varietals market, which peaked in late 2007/8. That seemed to be fueled by some very slick advertorials - give credit where credit is due. Unfortunately, like people just opening Madoff Investment statements from 2009, some duped VAMworld Rip van Winkles still imagine that average mintage Morgans should command $250k. Instead, look for numismatic premiums on most Morgan $1s to race towards oblivion ... Spot + a simpler premium, ~2x POS?

Beyond the 2008 correction in most spec, I suppose the real shift was eBay and the Google Search paradigm, which we all embraced circa 1998-2000. Thereafter, in the last 15 years, self-serving dealers and coinflators could no longer hide true prices from the gullible public.

Even if your LCS or some coin guide still pretends that so-so Morgan is "worth" $200.-300. you trust your instincts and basic online research: ya it's probably NOT.

 

Oh really? "Paying attention"? As I wrote "aside from the site I found, no one offered others." I don't presume no one here knows neither LOL
http://www.cointalk.com/t215291/

As for others, yes: I'm still interested to see what else is available.

 

The biggest thing I miss from the time that the market was absolutely dead in the early to mid-1990s is that there were always really cool coins available at every show. Please note that it was not as if these coins were being given away or that there were truckloads of awesome pieces; but there were always one or two wonderful, affordable, neat pieces around. Today, even with much higher prices for some segments, the percentage of cool coins seems lower.