🚀 go-pugleaf

Robert Batina (rbatina@infinet.com) wrote:
...
: But, my position stands as it did in my original reply.  A person buying
: coins should *never* buy coins without knowing their grade...  and you
: cannot determine the grade by the asking price, as Teri tried to say.

If they're pennys, I'd guess you could assume they're worth
at least 100/dollar....

Seriously, just because a market exists doesn't mean that all value
is handled through it.  For example, a coin may have more than
the market value if something is true about that particular coin --
George Washington cracked one of his wooden teeth on it or something.

But for those who collect coins as most people collect coins,
since they are paying more than the value of the metal involved
and more than whatever the current exchange rate for that coin is, 
then the characteristics that the mass of coin collectors consider
when looking at a coin ARE relevant to the price.  Giving coins
from the collection you are selling are interchangeable with
coins of the same attributes (in coin collecting, ``grade'',
``date'', ``mint'', ``country'' ).

Think of buying a car on the net and not knowing whether
the car had 20,000 or 200,000 miles on it.  Maybe the miles
aren't everything, or maybe the buyer wants to use it
as a fancy planter or something.  But since most of
the buyers who are willing to give higher prices
for the car are concerned about the mileage, it seems
reasonable to include it in an ad.

In the coin collecting market, coins that are in ``mint'' condition
(and the source of the term ``mint'') are usually worth SUBSTANTIALLY
more in the coin collecting market (i.e. to other coin collectors)
than coins in worn condition.  That's what these people are talking
about.  A collector can't tell this over the net.

Probably the most fair thing to do would be to physically take the
collection to several dealers, get competative bids on it, maybe have
them bid on certain coins individually if some coins in the collection
have notible value, and then sell it in such a way that brings
in the highest value.  This is NOT the same as selling to novices
who might not know better (and thus ``cheating'' them), nor selling
to a single dealer uncompetatively (thus ``cheating'' you.)

A relative of mine collects postal covers.  Without other
collectors who are willing to pay for them, these are just
pieces of paper, at least if my relative were to try to
sell them.  The people who have the desire to own these
are who determines the market for them.  There is no ``intrensic''
value.  Coins are closer to a commodity item, but still get
priced by the supply and the collector demand.  And the condition
of the coin is part of what determines collector demand.

(a note: evidently even standard currency usage has grades
 involved at times.  A friend of mine has a business providing
 software support for tracking such things)

    Kris A. Kugel	| e-mail: uunet!westmark!hico2!kak
    P.O. Box 766	|  voice: 908-842-2707 
Red Bank, NJ 07701-0766	|    FAX: 908-747-3597