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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 830167, member: 19463&quot;]Someday soon I&#039;ll post on my experiences at the Baltimore coin show but one experience there speaks to this question.&nbsp; On dealer had a pickout box of &#039;Indian&#039; silver coins for $5.&nbsp; A second box was Indian bronze and also $5.&nbsp; A third box had really low end Romans for $5.&nbsp; The silvers were all bull and horseman types and included at least 500 poor ugly coins and a couple dozen better looking ones.&nbsp; I bought 8 that were different to my eye.&nbsp; The type was made for several hundred years but most people recognize only a couple major variations in legend and next to no one collects them for the minor symbols. The production of the same coin for so long a time has resulted in coins many of you would probably melt.&nbsp; Supply high; demand low.</p><p><br /></p><p>The bronzes were all from Kashmir and separated only by legends (in a language you probably would recognize) which identify them to ruler.&nbsp; I found 4 I did not have and bought one duplicate since my studies suggest it is more scarce and both coins were equally nice.&nbsp; The number of people who find stylized art from medieval Kashmir appealing and who could name even one ruler (a couple of whom are really fascinating) means that being nice, thick and well made (but not worth melting) does nothing for your cash value.&nbsp; Therefore, $5 (nuisance fee).&nbsp; The third box was only half full but had much more popular late Romans (everybody has heard of Rome).&nbsp; I&#039;m a bit of a condition snob when it comes to late Romans so I only pulled out three that were fully identifiable with full mintmarks and good looking.&nbsp;&nbsp; I can not swear one way or the other if anyone but me bought any of the Indian coins but I even saw some of the Romans sold to other people besides me.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>A few tables down was a dealer who specializes in oriental coins.&nbsp; His cheapest box was 5 for $16 and included at least 100 different Indian, Islamic and other coins I could not identify.&nbsp; I only bought five ($3.20 each) because many were later than I collect (I try to stay before 1500 these days; I used to draw the line at 500 AD but there is too much interesting stuff after that.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s the point:&nbsp; For $5 or less you could have the option of silver, copper, ancient, medieval, ugly or uglier.&nbsp; High art Greek silver sells for hundreds.&nbsp; One dealer had a pickout box of Greek bronzes for $10 which have more general appeal and exist in twice as many different types as the later Indian material.&nbsp; In no case did I have to elbow my way in to sort through these boxes.&nbsp; I never saw half as many people looking at them as there were boxes even though the show was crowded.&nbsp; Demand is for the pretty and the highlights of history (Nero, Caligula); supply is strongest in things made for a long time by people you never heard of in places you&#039;ll never visit.&nbsp; I wonder what will happen to the hundreds of coins I left behind?&nbsp; I wonder how many tons of the stuff the dealer has back at his place?&nbsp; When you see a small box filled to the brim with coins, you get the feeling that it was not the entire lot but just what fit in the box and came to the show.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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