In article Jorg Lueke writes:
On Sun, 15 Feb 2004 04:28:18 GMT, Dik T. Winter wrote:
....
So the basic behind the slabbing and grading is just monetary value.
Sorry, I am a collector (and I think Colin is also a collector). When
I see a coin and the price looks like what I wish to afford for it, I
buy.
I am not interested in the value (in some circles) of a coin, I am only
interested in whether it fits in my collection and whether I want to
have it. I do not collect coins to sell them later at a premium, I
just collect. I have quite a few duplicates, but they will *not* go to
a buyer, they will only go for an exchange. Actually I have no idea
what the most expensive coin in my collection is, let alone what it would
give me in monetary value. I am just that, a collector.
I think for a lot of people the slab represents some protection against
fakes and grossly misgraded coins.
Here you come again with that grossly misgraded. If a coin is grossly
misgraded that only means that its monetary value is less than what it
is priced for. So what? If I buy a coin that I like and am willing
to pay the price, the grading is uninteresting to me, and whether I
pay the value in some book or something different is also uninteresting.
The coin is apparently interesting for the price at which it is offered.
I may shop and see whether a similar coin can be found at a lower price,
but that is just that. Also, when I do buy a fake, still I am out of
money value, but as a collector I might even not be interested. Of
course, with higher priced coins I would like to know that it is not
a fake, but those I buy only with a reputed dealer, and I trust his
confidence. As you trust your slabbing companies (except ACG apparently).
I don't know that people are overly
concerned about value in the terms of resale, I think they just want to
get the "best deal" possible and also to help guarantee the long term
value.
And here it is again: "long term value", meaning monetary value. I am
in coin collecting *not* for long term monetary value, I am even not
interested in that part. I buy because I like a coin and I am willing
to pay the price. I am completely uninterested whether it will go
upwards through the roof or downwards through the bottom a few years
from now. I have bought quite a few sealed packages of coins from
mints. They are all not longer in their package, because in it they
would not fit in the manner in which I store my coins. Obviously the
price is lowered by that, but that is not interesting to me. As Colin,
if and when I ever buy a slabbed coin, it will go out of its slab
almost immediately. I want to look at the coins assembled together in
a way *I* like.
That dosen't mean that these collectors are out for a profit but
rather that they see slabs as a way to maximize what they can get in terms
of value.
Why would a collector want to maximise what he can get in terms of value?
A true collector wants to obtain the largest number of objects he collects
for what he is willing to spend. If you want to maximise in terms of
value, you are only investing, not collecting.
It is just this last group (the investors) that make it so difficult for
those who are only collectors. (And they are mostly in it for gold and
silver anyway. Anything that will bring more than the intrinsic value
is welcome.)
In a similar vein I look at the US Hobby Protection Act. This does not
protect the ordinary collector, it does protect those that invest in
some collectors hobby. The ordinary collector would either know he
has a fake, or not know it, but it would not bother him. If he cares
about fakes, he wil go to reputed dealers that guarantee it is not a
fake, but they, too, can be wrong.
Moreover, the plethora of grades in the US is quite disturbing. Nobody
in their right mind (except dealers) would be able to really distinguish
between so many grades (and apparently even experts disagree). Still a
one point difference can mean a huge difference in value. It is completely
intangible for the ordinary collector, especially the price jump. Why would
a Morgan Dollar of some year in MS65 bring $800 and one in MS66, $11,000?
The collector will not see the difference. (You may say that you can see
the difference through a microscope, but I do not look at my collection
through a microscope. Why would I?)
--
dik t. winter, cwi, kruislaan 413, 1098 sj amsterdam, nederland, +31205924131
home: bovenover 215, 1025 jn amsterdam, nederland;
http://www.cwi.nl/~dik/