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Message:: [QUOTE="World Colonial, post: 2508215, member: 78153"]In comparing the merits of the SP-66 1794 dollar and this coin, I personally think its attributes are somewhat better, but not much better because I don't hold the same inflated opinions of the 1794 dollar that most US collectors do.  It is an apples to oranges comparison but whatever the merits, still disproportionate to the price difference which I don't think is going to change much if at all. The US buyer base is much larger, but I would still attribute it to the outsized practice of "investment" buying which exists here and much less to not at all elsewhere.  Due to outsized "investment" buying, it includes a much higher proportion of affluent buyers who are also willing to spend a lot more.  To my knowledge, US coins have always been a lot more expensive (going by old issues of the Red Book and the limited data I have for other coinage) but the gap increased noticeably starting in the 1970's, though it's been closing more recently. The biggest discrepancy isn't with elite and ultra elite coinage (such as these two) but between US coins which are actually common to incredibly common versus much scarcer world and ancient coins.  The former sell for much higher premiums almost exclusively due to "investment" buying because otherwise, I don't see how anyone could rationalize paying such exorbitant prices for coins whose actual merits are so undistinguished.[/QUOTE]