I think the article mentions the 1938-D Jefferson nickel as being worth $2000 in certain high grades. That's just one of the errors I noticed.
But Jody - the PCGS Price Guide says it is You don't mean that a highly respected & prestigious publication like the WSJ could make a mistake now do ya ? Folks - has anybody forgotten what happened the last time Wall Street took an interest in the coin market ? If so - all I can say is - you better buy some cast iron underwear.
"You don't mean that a highly respected & prestigious publication like the WSJ could make a mistake now do ya "? GD The New York Times has been forced to fire a reporter who made up his own stories that was approved by the editors and hasn't the New York Times been accused of either not reporting facts or researching sources of information for accuracy for the past ten years? Well it has been looking grim for the WSJ as well lately. "I think I'll stick to grading my own coins, and use the money I save to buy more coins". Jody Now that is a true coin collector. However, most of us either are not that skilled or buy coins that could be downpayments for cars or more and therefore might need another's confirmation to thier assessment.
I think Dow Jones & Co. would be somewhat shocked to learn that they no longer own their flagship publication.
"Originally Posted by Andy Hey isn't the Wall Street Journal owned by the New York Times" Thanks Roy for correcting that matter. Its a shame thru for my mind used to be like a data bank but with that mistaken recall I guess I better cross reference myself for now on. I corrected the posting.
For those that asked - The last time Wall Street became interested in the coin market was the late '80s. The value of coins was rising and this attracted the attention of the money boys. They soon hit upon "investing" in coins. They even created coin stock index funds which traded on the exchange. And all this interest brought more and more money into the coin market. By 1989 it was a runaway train. By the end of '89 - it was a train standing still. The end result of course was that coin prices shot through the roof much like have in past couple of years. And of course the inevitable happend - the bottom dropped out. A coin that sold for $1500 one week sold for $50 the next week. Many ordinary people who had been convinced by coin dealers & brokers to "invest" in coins - lost a whole lot of money. This of course caused a public outcry and the authorities stepped in to investigate. Some of these dealers & brokers ended up getting in a lot of trouble - some went to jail. And "investing" became a very dirty word in the coin market. It took until 1999 for the market to turn around. And now wonder of wonders - Wall Street is again interested in the coin market. Like I said - go buy some cast iron underwear.
GD is quite correct per usual, however, there is a term that any press is good press. While the investor market usually rises and falls on the uneducated coin person, many in the mainstream will pick up on the story and enter into normal avenues of collecting. It is to that end that I like it. I also like the fact that they spread the good grading companies. While the article was based on investing, there was some good info passed along also. In today's market, there is a much wider gap between collectors and investors. It is harder for collectors get caught up in the major swings caused by such articles.
I hope we don't have a repeat of 1989, and frankly, I don't think we will. I suspect Wall Street will remember 1989 and not try to "securitize" the coin market, which is very difficult, even with slabs. The best case scenario is if the "investor" interest provides some support for the market without creating another bubble. That being said, I am convinced that the most successful "investors" in coins are those who are "collectors" as well. This so-called "collector-investor" has two key ingredients for success: knowledge of the market, and a long-term horizon.
