Something's happened to eBay. I don't think I can afford to shop there anymore. Please explain to me why these coins generated such prices?!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=280187592174

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=280187595062

I wanted to get this one, but 370 US is a tad too much for me.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=280187422234

Once again, a great condition Warsaw Mint gets a surprising (to me) price:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=280187424569

I think BM coins are in general tougher to find than expected although the prices may seem a bit absurd - part of the Russian coin price madness race.

I dont see anything strange - Big copper (3Kop) in red-brown condition - that is a good example for any collection...
5kop 1872 - won a dealer who will pack it in a slab - and will try to re-sell it up to 300 - but there is some dangerous contact marks - grade can be atout 58 or lower - I think.

Warsaw Polushka's - 55 is much more rare than 61 but only VF...
That price are close to "Russian-market" estimate - at my mind price for those pair is a 400 and 500...

This is not a madness - this a reality of fast growing-up Russian copper coins value...

At March 2008 in Moscow will be a copper's auction by "Moneti i Medali" (www.numismat.ru) - I"m already look at all lots - and can said - that auction will be VERY strong...

Just one example - Tauridian kopper Pyatak - in remains of FULL RED! - that is a wonderfull!

These prices reflect very interesting recent tendency. Grade expectation now for Russian coins worth more than graded coins themselves.

For example 3 Kopeks 1864 EM on e-bay is listed as Uncirculated. While technically it is Unc., it has large area of weak strike in the left obverse field and corresponding (but not so severe) area on reverse. This “imperfection” could cost 2-3 grades off the final grade and can drop resulting grade somewhere to AU category. I am pretty sure that the buyer will regret that he purchased such a coin for $255 when it returns in AU slab.

1872 Kopecks is AU at best (possibly lightly cleaned), someone who purchased it for $153 overpaid for it and will not be able to re-sell.

Warsaw mint coins are amazingly expensive. After all they are not that rare and not that nice.

Days when one could buy a cheap raw Russian (Russian-Polish) coin for little money and then send it for grading and (once in a slab) re-sell for much higher price are almost over. Collectors and dealers are ready to gamble and fight for questionable quality coin just out of expectation it would grade high.

Regards,
WCO

The 1864 coin also shows an interesting die clash -- or what looks like it might be a die clash -- on the obverse.

Coins do not have any intrinsic value, apart from the bullion price of the metal they are composed of.

It is us - the collectors who determine what each coin is worth. In my limited experience an 1872 5 kop has never been worth 150 US. But I guess it is now!

My collecting is limited to a light hobby, even though I've carried on for over a decade now. I do not have my hand on the pulse of the coin community. I've seen Russian coins appreciate in value, but I'm sure that there was a huge upward spike in this trend in the last year. Does anyone know why this hype? Was there a CNN report on investing in Russian coins?

On the other hand I'm happy about the price this coin realized:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=280187679982

But that's because I have one in a much, much better condition and I only paid 16 US for mine:)

Same seller:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...fromZR40QQfviZ1

What do you think about this coin? It is scarce and rarely offered but still...Is the price about right these days ?

Completely confused ,

Perhaps the high bidder, who is on this forum occasionaly, can comment? Im guessing this is about right considering where prices have been headed lately.

I think it is a very nice example of a scarce type. The price is more than I would like to pay, but that is true of almost all Russian coins today.

As RWJ pointed out recently, Russian coin prices are up (but not so dramatically) in terms of currencies like the Euro. The effect is exaggerated (from our perspective) by the deteriorating exchange value of the dollar.

Hi all!
I do not have much to comment at this point - until I receive and examine the coin.

Low mintage and popularity adds to the coins' values in decent condition. I recall 25 kopeks 1887 offered by major auctions just for a couple of times over last 4-5 years (I might have missed something here , though). Last time , it was 2005, I believe, and the coin went for well over $2000.
Again, I would be able to better analyze price-value ratio after I get the coin.

Thanks,

I really think Russia is just a maturing market (though it's happening quickly) and we've had it too easy for too long. Look at American coins. Prices for a copper coin where, say, there are only 5 known examples can be in the hundreds of '000s. What is it here? $10,000? What was it 10 years ago...$1000? It may all seem 'crazy', and 'insane', and 'confusing' but perhaps people recognize that there is plenty more room for prices to appreciate. We may as well get used to it.

Steve

I have to completely agree with Steve - this is just an adjustment. Once we see prices for rare and scarce Russian pieces reach levels of , say, US or UK coins, we can ,then, say that market is stable.
Until then, it is a growing developing market, even though, collectors and dealers experience "cultural" shock.

Well...then there is a LONG way to go in a SHORT time We are already accustomed to this trend, I guess.

In my point of view see on the market some prices compare to the prices Giel, Ilyn, and Tolstoy from 1910's
1 rouble=$1000.00.
Plate denda1811 75 rubles=around $70000.00
Plate kopecks 1811 150 rubles=around $150000.00
+ can increase the price condition and one year of the tipe, varaity...

I've seen this 25 kop piece, and if I had that money I would be tempted to bid. It is a very nice and scarce coin. I'm guessing R2 or above by Bitkin. So this high price is somewhat justifiable in my opinion.

The 1872 5 kop EM selling for 150 in my view is really strange. It is not rare in any way shape or form. The condition was nice but a lot of coinage from that period is in great condition. We're not looking at 1772 over here.

The 1864 was pretty but for the week strike. Again, a very common coin in a nice condition. But is that what the prices are going to be from now on? I'm hoping this is some sort of a bubble.

Russia is the only major European power for which there was really no buyer activity in the West (from the home country) until the 1990's (and even then it took a while to get started). That means we were living in a fool's paradise for a long time and the days of buying genuinely rare coins for peanuts are likely gone forever.

It's hard getting used to the price increases, but things have changed.

Russia is back on its feet and is prospering. The price increases we have been seeing are just reality catching up with us.

http://www.thauctions.com/default.aspx?doc...;s=&c1=1001
It is not strange compare to other coins from the Auctions.

Even in the 1970s and 1980s Warsaw copper was not all that easy to find. It was not
until the Renaissance sale of 2000 that I was able to get some of the missing pieces
and still I am short 4 or 5 BM coins.

RWJ

hmm.. let me guess...

Polushka 1860,
2 Kopeks 1853
5 kop 1850 and 1852

Right?

3,200.00 DKK = 633.467 USD

and that's without the juice!

I should have looked at my want list before replying! Actually, I am missing
10 BM copper coins, as follows:

1/4 K: 1850, 53, 60
1/2 K: 1848
1K: 1855 (H I)
2K: 1850, 53
3K: 1848, 57
5K: 1852

RWJ

Mr.Julian ,
Do you have 2 varieties (DOT, NO DOT) for 1848 MW 2 Kopecks?
Rarenum.

No, just the dot.

RWJ

In this case Bobh got a great bargain on his new 1908 50 kop!

In my set of 1848 MW missing only 2 kopecks with no dot. Last time 2 kop.no dot was sold 11.10.07 on "ZNAK" Auction lot 192 Estimate.250,000.00 rubels sold for 600,000.00 rubels

Actually, I looked again at the list of bids. Although the bidder's name is hidden, the amount is shown. There was just one other bidder who had put in a high bid of about 700 Euros maybe four hours before the auction ended; all the other bids were between 400 and 500 Euros. I thought a long time about how high I wanted to bid because I usually only bid in the last 4 or 5 seconds of the auction (called "sniping" ). So I put in a high bid of 777 Euros (hey, 7's a lucky number!). I expected to see an end price of around 600 Euros.

But if that other bidder had stayed away, I would have saved a couple hundred Euros. But now it's mine! (haven't yet received it, though). All it takes is two bidders who are determined to have something, then the sky's the limit. I think the bid may have gone a little too high considering the grade of the coin; however, it is a RARE date and doesn't have any obvious problems such as harsh cleaning (might have been cleaned a long time ago, though), rim dings, mount repairs, etc. Definitely a collectible coin.

I'm going to resurrect this old thread, because I'm again stumped by what I see on eBay.

Would you say that 300 US is a reasonable price for a holed coin?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=140205900482

I'd rather get a VF but no hole, and pay less

Yes, thats weird, but than again maybe someone wants to have a cool pendant

Maybe someone wants to repair it .