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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Valentinian, post: 1711212, member: 44316&quot;]I am not so sure CNGs coins are overpriced. It is a question of what one will pay for high quality. Here is a thought experiment. Suppose a hoard of 1000 similar coins shows up and some of the coins are more worn than others, some are better struck than others, some are from fresh dies of really good style. Now suppose one or two combine all the good features and are the best of the hoard, but many of the other coins are very fine or EF too, say (for sake of argument) worth $50 to $150 respectively. Suppose you are in a highly-paid profession and earn hundreds of dollars an hour. What would you pay for the best of the best, given you know how unusual they are?&nbsp; Do you think the owner of the hoard might think $175 is not enough premium over $150. How about $300?&nbsp; $500?&nbsp; Would you work 2 hours for the money to own a truly superb coin?</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; Now I return to considering CNG. Not all of their coins are the best of the best, but many are really super. Many of us are, and have to be, very satisfied with similar types but lesser, or much lesser, coins. Maybe some of us don&#039;t appreciate how much premium high end coins get. Maybe we see what CNG asks (and gets) and feel something similar could be found for less. &quot;Similar&quot;, yes. As good or better, probably not. Next time you think CNG is charging too much, see if you can find an *equal or better* coin for that price. If you can find a coin *nearly as good* for far less and the coins pleases you, fine. But they are people out there who want the better coin and are willing to pay much more for it. </p><p>&nbsp; I do not deny that some major firms overprice coins. I do not deny that some may ask double the price at which you could obtain an equal or better example. But CNG is near the top of the food chain and many of their coins are near the best and it is not so easy to duplicate the quality. I look at their fixed-price offerings early in the morning of the day they are posted on-line and in spite of &quot;high&quot; prices many are already sold. It is because of that last tiny bit of amazing quality that most of us won&#039;t pay for. </p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; Go to a minor coin show in England and you may well see cigar boxes full of low grade sestertii. Boxes full of mid grade late Roman AE. Large numbers of radiates. Because the supply is really quite large they allow an affordable price level for genuine ancient coins that are not superb. The very small fraction of coins which are high grade work their way up the food chain until they reach CNG and a few other firms. </p><p>&nbsp; I consider a valuable coin overpriced when it is likely you could find within a month or two another one *as good or better* at, say, 60-70% of the price (I am not considering $20 coins, rather several-hundred-dollar coins). For very many CNG coins, fixed-price and auction coins, you could easily find the type in lesser condition. You might even already own one in lesser condition. But CNG is dealing with that upper end where small differences in quality are very significant (maybe not to us, but to their buyers) and a little bit lesser condition is a lot less expensive. When one realizes that, CNGs coins no longer seem overpriced.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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