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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GoldFinger1969, post: 2088470, member: 73489&quot;]In the extreme, without sales there&#039;s no business and with no business there&#039;s probably not a hobby (or at least one like today).</p><p><br /></p><p>In which case the only coin collectors would be the Top 1% or maybe the Top 1% of 1%. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Or maybe grading is the cause and sales are the effect. </p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="color: #b30000">Modern economic theory states that markets are most efficient when you have perfect competition: </span></b> lots of buyers and sellers AND &#039;perfect&#039; information (or something close to it).</p><p><br /></p><p>In the case of coin information -- grades -- many of us do not feel comfortable going on our own skills.&nbsp; And while I might be willing to be off 1 or even 2 grades on a $500 Morgan Silver Dollar, <b><span style="color: #b30000">I am not going to be willing to be off 1 grade, let alone 2, on a $5,000 Saint-Gaudens.</span></b></p><p><br /></p><p>For all their flaws and problems, the TPGs provide an essential service:&nbsp; increased liquidity and marketability via more information about the coins.&nbsp; Information that is easily verified (the grade on the slab) and understandable.&nbsp; <b><span style="color: #b30000">Hence, more information for both buyers and sellers.</span></b></p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="color: #00b359">I ask myself a simple question: </span></b> <b><i>would coin collecting be better off in the aggregate or for most of us if the TPGs didn&#039;t exist ? </i></b>No way !!&nbsp; Certainly not with more expensive coins.&nbsp; For a State Quarter, I don&#039;t think most of us care that much if we overpay a bit.<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie7" alt=":p" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>For the experts here, <b><span style="color: #b30000">for those of you who treat this like a business and can devote 4 or 6 or 8 or 12 hours a day</span></b> to all things coins, maybe it wouldn&#039;t matter and maybe the lack of information wouldn&#039;t affect you except that you&#039;d get better deals (monopoly profits exist when imperfect competition occurs; Economics 101 <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> ). </p><p><br /></p><p>But for the casual guy who doesn&#039;t have that much time to spend on the hobby...for the guy who can spend 10-15 minutes on Ebay or Heritage Auctions....for the person who goes to 1 or 2 coin shows a year or the LCS every few weeks or months...without TPGs you&#039;d have as many satisfied customers as those buyers of late-night/early-morning coin hucksters on TV. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie9" alt=":eek:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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