Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="Valentinian, post: 2168787, member: 44316"]I wrote that high grade of examples of common coins are cheaper now than they were on fixed-price lists in 1995. The context differs in Doug's statement, so they are not in conflict. The very highest condition common coins may be more expensive now, but Doug's reference to "bulk" was relevant. At coin shows (more popular then than now) I saw dealers with groups (hoards) of 100 or 500 similar common high-grade coins and if you wanted one excellent one it was very much cheaper than buying a comparable coin from a fixed-price list. It is a lot cheaper to sell a coin without needing to write it up and if you have a hundred to get rid of the price will be low. However, many collectors did not and do not go to shows and when those common coins were on fixed-price lists they cost far more than at shows and more than they now cost on the web. So, at shows in 1995 high-grade common coins were cheaper than now, but on lists they were more expensive. That was a motivation for going to shows in the old days. Also, transporting coins was easier and shows in the 1980s and 1990s had dealers with large bags of coins to search through. Nowadays, you don't see so many coins in bulk at shows.[/QUOTE]