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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;World Colonial, post: 2506603, member: 78153&quot;]On what basis do you believe coins are undervalued to other collectible fields?</p><p><br /></p><p>World and ancient coins are certainly undervalued versus US, but while I expect the gap to close, I don&#039;t see that it will significantly for most in a timeframe where it will matter to anyone reading this topic.</p><p><br /></p><p>For every example someone can cite where coins are supposedly undervalued versus others fields, a counterexample can be found.&nbsp; Usually when I have read these claims, its a comparison to master paintings or modern art such as a Picasso.</p><p><br /></p><p>These artists are world famous, even if people don&#039;t know every single piece.&nbsp; Despite any claim to fame, no coin including the 1804 dollar remotely meets this criteria.&nbsp; When collecting was a lot more prominent in American culture, maybe a lot more people knew about it (and some others) but recently except when a sale makes the national press or is seen on the internet, I don&#039;t believe these coins (or any others) are familiar to most people at all.</p><p><br /></p><p>Not only is the public not aware of them locally, they aren&#039;t even known to collectors outside their own country, for the most part.&nbsp; Long time foreign collectors probably know about the 1804 dollar, 1913 LHN and maybe the 1933 Saint and 1794 dollar.&nbsp; The latter two, only because of recent sales and the legal action for the first one.&nbsp; I don&#039;t believe they have ever heard of others such as the 1849 double eagle but whether they have or not, don&#039;t hold any of them in anywhere near the same regard as US collectors do anyway.&nbsp; This is even more true of far less prominent coins which US collectors think are such a big deal, such as exorbitantly overpriced &quot;grade rarities&quot; and obscure coins from specialization.&nbsp; And what I am describing, it applies in both directions in and out of the US.</p><p><br /></p><p>So the question then becomes, if any coin is only held in such high esteem by collectors in its local market and even then, by a small segment of the collector population, why would anyone else think that highly of them either?</p><p><br /></p><p>The most prominent items from collectible fields such as art or antique cars are status symbols.&nbsp; No coin is a status symbol except to another coin collector.&nbsp; Art works also have an advantage through promotion in academic curriculum which is unlikely to ever happen for any coin.&nbsp; The most prominent artwork is unique while most coins were mass produced and even if not, almost always have dozens, hundreds, thousands and more survivors.&nbsp; &quot;Uniqueness&quot; defined by TPG grade or some specialization is irrelevant to anyone except another collector and even then, only a very low number.</p><p><br /></p><p>The supposed &quot;history&quot; with practically any coin is also grossly exaggerated.&nbsp; Other than being struck in the past at a particular time and place, most coins have no actual history whatsoever because they had nothing to do with contemporary or subsequent events.&nbsp; This is especially true of the most expensive coins which by definition are in the highest quality and for the most part either sat in some cabinet or survived in their current state by accident.&nbsp; The &quot;history&quot; almost exclusively exists only in the minds of collectors who imagined it.</p><p><br /></p><p>Lastly, coins are also very small versus other objects and are not as visually impressive.&nbsp; This may not matter to coin collectors but it certainly does to any other potential buyer.&nbsp; By this standard, a far more valid comparison is to compare a collection of multiple prominent coins to a single object in another field.&nbsp; And by this standard, I don&#039;t think coins are particularly underpriced.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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