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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;robp, post: 5562037, member: 96746&quot;]I have no idea if there are more collectors in Europe collectively than the US. I do think however there are more &#039;investors&#039; in the US because of the grade/price factor. There is unquestionably greater transparency with the population reports, but these can be misleading for world coins due to the small populations and in my view, a degree of unfamiliarity with the subject material. This is where prices in the US have increased disproportionately for some things. The Commonwealth halfpenny I highlighted earier in the thread is a good example of the label tail wagging the coin dog. As a &#039;top pop&#039; it was bid up to excessively high levels despite being nothing special. Using that as a definitive 65, you could reasonably argue that the Sheldon scale needs a few numbers of 71 and higher. People can get burned, but for different reasons to the conventionally accepted.</p><p><br /></p><p>We don&#039;t have the large conventions seen in the US and fewer fairs in general. The typical visitor to a fair will be a collector looking to buy raw coins commensurate with their collecting standards, but will have a good handle on what is good or not. The best coins will usually be placed by a dealer with a customer known to be interested in that field. The well heeled collectors rarely visit fairs, though London might be an exception - I don&#039;t go as I can&#039;t stand the place! </p><p><br /></p><p>To put ebay into context, prior to 15 years ago the number of British coins listed was typically 2-3000 at any one time. As I write, the number listed in the British section is 241,323. Clearly there are a lot more people with an interest in coins, but it is difficult to put a number on how many are actual collectors. Tabloid newspapers regularly hype modern issues with the headlines &#039;This coin is worth £1000, do you have one?&#039;, or similar. Consequently many members of the public think just about every coin in their pocket is worth more than face value, with a lot appearing on ebay.</p><p><br /></p><p>The public is less-sophisticated in general wherever you are. It isn&#039;t until you start researching a field that you can properly understand what you are buying. It doesn&#039;t matter whether a coin is raw or slabbed, the same analytical approach is required if you are going to identify what constitutes a fairly priced example. </p><p><br /></p><p>Type collections are always popular for the non-specialist, myself included. By definition they eliminate the monotony of date runs of otherwise identical material, whilst providing visual interest in the multitude of designs.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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