Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;World Colonial, post: 2445441, member: 78153&quot;]The examples and reasoning you are using in this post are again in the abstract.</p><p><br /></p><p>In the case of the Jefferson nickel, there aren&#039;t remotely 10 million collectors of the series, unless they are collecting out of pocket change which I do not remotely believe.</p><p><br /></p><p>But even If there are, there is never going to be the day where this coin is going to be &quot;rare&quot;, not in the lifetime of anyone reading my comments.&nbsp; As I was explaining in a prior post, coins like this and much scarcer aren&#039;t actually hard to buy, except maybe &quot;grade rare&quot; or some specialization which is actually usually numismatic minutia.&nbsp; I see your definition as you are using it here as just another rationalization to exaggerate the merits of what someone likes.</p><p><br /></p><p>There is also a difference between rarity and availability, both with coins that most or everyone agrees are rare but also because of price. </p><p><br /></p><p>As an example, Baker 24a the Peter Getz 1792 Washington half dollar small eagle in silver purportedly has 22 specimens known.&nbsp; This coin is more common than 1804 Class I dollars yet comes up for sale far less frequently, at least publicly.&nbsp; It is a much cheaper coin but hardly cheap.&nbsp; My explanation for it is that these coins are disproportionately held by &quot;strong hands&quot; who concurrently have a very strong affinity for it and don&#039;t put it up for sale often, maybe usually by the heirs after they are deceased.</p><p><br /></p><p>As one post above alluded to, some coins are also much harder to buy than their actual scarcity because their low prices don&#039;t provide any incentive to sell it.&nbsp; This is particularly true of world coins and likely true of the coins I collect to some extent.</p><p><br /></p><p>The mintages provide a reference point on the maximum potential number of survivors but nothing more.&nbsp; What matters is the survival rate and particularly in the quality most collectors want to buy, not the mintage or how many still exist.&nbsp; In another topic, I was comparing the 1796 quarter to the pillar 2R.&nbsp; As a type, the 1796 is much scarcer versus all pillar mints combined.&nbsp; The distinction is that most collectors (I am the exception) do not collect all mints (usually only Mexico) and most of the coins aren&#039;t remotely in a quality that particularly US collectors will ever want to buy or if they do, aren&#039;t ever going to be worth much.&nbsp; On the other hand, practically ever 1796 quarter (if not all of them) sells for a respectable or strong price.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is why when I read comments about the supposed &quot;rarity&quot; of some low mintage modern bullion coin like the First Spouse series, I find it amusing.&nbsp; Yes, the mintage is low but the number available in &quot;high&quot; quality is greater than somewhere over 99% of all circulating coins ever struck.&nbsp; None of these coins are actually even remotely scarce.&nbsp; In all likelihood, most of the demand probably comes from speculators who have bought it for its supposed &quot;rarity&quot;&nbsp; as an &quot;investment&quot; versus real collectors who actually want it.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in