600 dollars for this?!?!?!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=190210874922

I'll never have a complete Soviet type set coin then

Maybe the price is not as outlandish as it seems.

Rylov & Sobolin lists the 1941 15k at 15 roubles and the 1943 at 10 roubles. The 1942, however, is listed at 1,200 roubles!

That suggests the 1942 is a very scarce coin. Add high grade in a hot market to its apparent scarcity and the price might not be so crazy after all.

Agreed. Crazy price for harshly cleaned and not that rare coin. Check prices realized for several pattern sets 1947, 1958 and 3x1967 on recent Gorny auction. Millions $$ are needed to complete any meaningful collection of Soviet era coins.

WCO

I like that 1967 pattern set - a shame that it wasn't approved. But wow, what crazy prices!

This very ruble that I have has shot up to 2,200 euros... outrageous considering that I bought it 2 years ago at a mere 10 AUD...

http://www.gmcoinart.de/shop/detailansicht...che=&von=18

The cited book was published in Moscow in 1994, well before the huge rise in prices we have seen in recent years.

It seems to me that there must be a reason why the 1942 15k was rated by the authors at 120 times the value of the 1943 15k.

Adrianov lists this coin at 3000 roubles (~120 US) in his 2005 book. Last years conros has about the same price for XF. 600 seems a bit outlandish but my sense of surprise is a slightly overloaded, anything that looks XFish gets a lot of money these days.

As for the reasons of scarcity of 1942 coins, do not forget that the war hit Russia in the summer of 1941. 1942 was a tough year.

Alex, good point but you see, I am confused when it comes to the production back in those days. 1942 20 kopeks are not that particularly expensive but the 10 and 15 kopeks are just outrageous... I'm sure something is wrong about the pricing unless there was a lot more 20 kopeks struck beforehand or something...

1942 10 and 15 Kopecks are not rare at all, just somewhat scarce. They appear for sale quite often. There was another 1942 15 Kopecks recently sold on e-bay for $325: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=160224575848

One got $605 and another $325. Is the first one expensive or the second one cheap? IMHO

WCO

Hi,
What about this? 10k1942 ms65 - $1970.................

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=120211804789

Expensive plastic?

Okay, I know that slabbed coins often command more of a premium, but JHC. I shouldn't act surprised though. I've seen alot of Russian coins (silver,copper etc.) going for outrageous figures sometimes for several times the catalog value. I can't see myself paying 10x what a coin supposed to be worth, but that's just me.

I know little about Soviet coins, but maybe the catalog is outdated. It seems to me that real world selling prices should determine catalog value, not the other way around.

Is this price consistent with other sales of this coin in similar condition, or is it freakishly high?

I wonder if the buyer bought the plastic and not the coin.

Well said. How very few people seem to understand this. Analogy : Use your Krause era books to find the price of a gallon of gas|(petrol) and then go try to buy it. You might find things are different these days.

These catalogs are guidelines of where things were some time ago, and are guidelines of relative rarity. They have their uses but follow the coin markets and not the catalogs.

My 2c...sorry 3c

Granted. I know that the Krause catalog is not the bible, and thus not absolute as far as values for coins or anything else. But it's surprising how wide the margin is between the catalog value and what cosumers spend. For example: I have a 1896 Ruble (XF condition) commemorating the coronation of Tsar Nikolai Alexander that I purchased 10 years ago for $50. Today this same coin on Ebay is selling for between $800-1300 maybe more in some cases. From what I've checked, the values haven't changed all that much over the years (if at all). But I certainly wouldn't complain if someone offered to pay me $1200 for a coin that only paid $50 lol. Seriously when some people get involved in these auctions, I wonder if they use there heads when they bid. You see sometimes at the end of the auction it sometimes turns into a feeding frenzy. The price can jump i.e. from $70 to $300-400 in a five minute span before it's over. One can only hope that the investment pays off for the high rollers.

This is not just about ebay and it's nothing to do with high-rollers. Prices are strong in this market, period. Look at prices from auction houses and mail-bid. US, Europe/Russia. It can't all be attributed to an ebay feeding fenzy (though yes that happens).


...don't know what this means.

Steve

I think it is a reference to Krause prices remaining relatively unchanged during a period when prices were rapidly escalating. The latest editions of the 18th & 19th centuries have compensated somewhat for this, but many prices are still low.

For example, try buying a (genuine!) Catherine I gold 2 roubles in XF for $15k-$18K. Or a (genuine!) 1701 Peter I ducat in the same grade for $8k.

I like the analogy, it fits beautifully and is crystal clear.