Yes, it may seem very off topic but I guess it must be the "war" that is causing bad inflation worldwide.

Firstly you have people scared of their money depriciating and people are hoarding onto whatever seems valuable just like precious metal bullions.

Secondly, people are getting more informed about coins than previously before as you have the internet etc, hence previous thought to be "not-too-valuable" coins suddenly increase in prices.

Thirdly, on really rare or scarce coins, counterfeit coins are popping out from nowhere and starting to flood the market, and hence making a genuine find ridiciously difficult.

In my particular field of Russian coins, jesus, within 3 years, coin values have blown more than three times the value, which makes it almost unbelievable. I used to be able to find ridiciously sweet deals once every two-three months, but right now particularly this year, finding one seems to be looking for an ant in a haystick

I honestly don't know what to do now... it is not like I can spend three times more money on coins... and I think it's time for me to move into another particular field

Does anyone happen to know some decent dealers that sell coins in bulk, particularly 19th century ones? It just happens that modern mintage coins don't really interest me...

Perhaps, I will get ideas on what I will want to collect next... thanks to the really expensive coin field that I am stuck with

There was a dealer that Mcdoo posted in the notes forum.... lemme see if I cand find it for ya.

[edit] Here it is: pomexport.com

They seem to have a good bulk setup going there. [/edit]

-Bobby

Coins already have very cyclical prices and the size of the market will tend to be inversely proportional to the size of the upper/lower limits of the cycle. Not sure where you live, but if you buy most of your coins in Russia, I would think you could still find good deals. If you are buying from the US, the Russian coin market is a lot smaller and will be much more cyclical. So, you have to decide whether or not the price increases are due to temporary factors (such as economic cycles, fear of inflation, etc) or more permanent causes (such as increased prosperity in Russia, education of public to value of Russian coins, etc). If you think it is temporary, you can wait until your product is out of favor, and prices will go down that much more! If it is a permanent adjustment of the "true" value of the coins you collect, you're out of luck (at least the coins you already have are worth more).
As for counterfeit coins, I agree 100%. I have pretty much given up on my favorite area of collecting due to the flood of fakes on the market.

The prices for precious metal coins in general are up with the rise in bullion values, but I've seen a rise in rare coins as well, just as you are descibing. Nothing I know of is up 300% in my markets yet, but some areas have shown a lot of increase.

I'm sure that some of it would be inflation but collectible coins are becoming kind of hot these days too.

Same thing is happening in Australia with the pre decimals (pre 1966) - prices have jumped for anything choice or Gem and spectacularly so for rarer items in choice or gem.
It is partly due to increasing scarcity of higher quality items astime goes on AND the market is better educated and more selective about the coins they are willing to buy.

As coins are an allowable investment for superannuation purposes in Australia, the last 10 years has been a large growth area for collectors/investors maintaining private super funds and at the same time being able to combine their hobby with investment. End result has been a lot of the highest quality and rarer items being bought for high prices and then being salted away for the next 5 to 10 years.

The interesting thing is that pre decimal banknotes have returned huge returns ( around 13 to 15% increase per annum for the last 22 years).

Me, I am a die hard collector, mainly errors and varieties but still am finding now that a lot of coins I would like for my pre decimal year collections are simply beyond my price range. Its more fun to branch out into Irish and 18th and 19th century British coinage.

I don't know where the hobby is going really as the speculators seem to be dominating at the moment but I am hoping it is all part of the cycle.

Phil

I have noticed this. I am looking for an AU/UNC Gerorge VI crown and most of what I am finding is way above book value (Krause), even for the '37.

Practically everything I'm trying to find has gone way up in price, too
If it's nice, it's too pricey.

GX;

Russian coins have risen dramatically in value, due in no small part, to the fact that Russian collectors are really starting to discover their own countries coinage as a collectible.

It was not but less than a generation ago when it was rather illegal to collect coins in Russia, it was deemed apparently as a capitalistic hoarding of wealth, which in a socialist society is reprehensible.

Coins from Russia have a much more competitive market now, with collectors in the West not being the only collectors of them, but now collectors in Russia can purchase and legally own them too.

This has had several effects on the coin market:

1 Higher prices.
2. More counterfeits
3. More commemorative issues from the Russian Federation
4. Even a new mintmark, MMD, for Moskva.

It is not only coins, but also Russian artwork that has risen dramatically in value, I point this out because of Icons and other items that I collect. Unless I buy them there or from there, I cannot afford them when they hit the western markets.

Send me an email about the Crowns - I can provide an aUnc crown for you at a reasonable price. I have spares since I got a choice one.

Crowns have stayed around the same price for anything up to Unc but the Choice have started to increase.
It is nearly impossible to find a Gem Crown because they are so large and heavy that the majority have teethe marks from the milled edges striking the fileds on the other coins as they dropped into the hopper bins after minting.

I have attached a couple of scans of a nice choice unc 1937 Australian crown (5 shillings). As usual a scan does does not adequately show the high lustre on the coin.

Coin prices have become almost obscene -- hopefully this market bubble will burst along with real estate. Lately I've focused on uncleaned ancients -- they're fun and inexpensive to acquire...