Everyone is asking why prices are on fire for quality classical coinage. One answer, is that the "modern mint products" are boring/ absurd themes/ no investment potential/ case in point the new New Zealand $2 "Muppet" coin. Compare this crap to what we collect..... Although there are some "modern" coins that are OK, I have this in my coll. From Yeltsins, Russia
Yeah but. You are comparing a childish kids coin, (literally, it is too old for my 8 or 6 year old to want one), versus pricier coins. I think ancients and world coins are getting a bump because of the internet. It is much easier to find and buy them, much easier to learn about the history if you are interested, and to be honest, too many new issues. However, the same comparison to Kermit and a 2019 platinum proof eagle I bought could be made. One is childish, the other nice modern artwork on a coin. So yes, guitar shaped colorized coins are not my forte, but there must be some market for them I am guessing. I reject any colorized coin actually. World mints have seen there is money to be made in coins, so too many new issues, but some good coins ARE being made. Look at the niobium series from the Austrian mint. Very cool series. I buy a lot of world silver for my two sons, and some are just not good, but others can be fine. All of them are too low of relief for my taste, but for me I buy ancients, Platinum proof eagles, and some US colonial notes lately. There is a collector for every collectible, even Kermit I suppose.
I think the rise prices for high quality ancient coins is not really due to superior style or aesthetics, but to scarcity. While modern coins can be rolled out in any number to satisfy demand, the supply of ancient coins is limited to whatever has come onto us. Another genuine Nero denarius will never be made. At the same time, the number of collectors is likely increasing, as more and more poor countries see their average incomes rising. E.g. prices for Russian coins from the 14th to 18th centuries have risen sharply in the past 30 years or so with the opening up of a Russian coin collectors' market.
It is easier for me. I collect coins that were made to be spent in their economy and only became collectible at a later time. I suppose I would make a few exceptions like the Trajan restoration issues but I do not collect NCLT or medals to facilitate buying bullion. In my life time I have spent and removed from circulation a few old US commemorative halves but those were special cases where unsold coins were dumped on the market or people who bought them spent them. For the most part, if it never was spent at face value, I don't collect it (unless it is a thousand years old).
I must agree, I stay away from the majority of the "modern" offerings. But, (there's always a "but") isn't that the beauty of, collectively, all of our individual collections? Some specimens are acquired not for their "investment potential", but just because they are there! Case in point: I have some beautiful colorized Christmas themed coins from Australia (I don't normally collect colorized specimens, but these are exquisite!). Also, in my notes collection I have Disney Dollars. I collect a lot of things in which I don't expect investment potential. If I were inclined to do so, would I rather possess (read: save) a 1 oz. silver Muppet coin (read: 1 oz. silver bullion), or 1,600 +/- zincoln cents? I know the answer. Yeah, there's a lot of modern crap out there, but (there's that but again) some of it does fill a purpose. JMHO
Yes, part of the value of ancient coins is that a finite number have been struck and there will be no more. However, as it has been emphasized in the past year or two, hoards are continually being discovered. The thousands and thousands of coins that have entered the market have had a depressive effect on the prices of many high end coins. There may have been a limited amount of them struck, but when the number of known specimens increases greatly, the law of supply and demand takes over.
Hoard discoveries are a blessing to most of us That is an easy one....coins struck from earliest forms (circa 670BC to 1933) Basically, it was a time when common sense prevailed and money=precious metal currency=coins. After FDRs war on gold/ inflation/ debasement of currencies spiralled out of control, in 1933 a $20 Double Eagle =1 troy oz. of gold. Today it takes $1550 to buy 1 oz. of gold. Now, we have plastic money, out of control debt, 24% interest on card debt and the banks are raking in obscene profits.
I though coins struck from earliest forms circa 670BC were ancients? I was thinking most of these are classics: US Colonials, Half Cents, Large Cents, Flying Eagle Cents, Indian Cents, Two Cents, Three Cents, Half Dimes, Shield Nickels, Liberty V Nickels, Buffalo Nickels, Mercury Dimes, Twenty Cents, Standing Liberty Quarters, Walking Liberty Half Dollars, Trade Dollars, Morgan Dollars, Peace Dollars, Flowing Hair Coinage, Bust Coins, Seated Liberty Coinage, Barber Coinage, Pre-1933 Circulating Gold Coins. Thanks for the feedback..
Some purists may think that only the 670BC to 410AD are true classics, but I would say the US coins you noted are as well.