When Desire trumps Rarity.

[Thee_Immortal_One]

Hello,

 

I have always been fascinated by the "desired" coin being sought and highly paid for even though a rarer coin doesn't get the high price.

As an example, I submit the 1914 Gangut ruble versus the 1912 Alexander III Commerative/Memorial.

 

The rarity difference is not disputed with the Alex III being rarer. The practical experience with these items is that the Gangut (real ones) do appear regularly in auctions while the Alex III is offered less often. An odd fact is that I found my Alex III years before I could get one Gangut from Markov who auctioned several (4?) in a single sale.

 

What do you think and what examples can you cite?

 

[gxseries]

I find that some of the smaller denomination coins a bit underrated in some sense. For instance, the silver coinage of Paul I or the early Alexander I. It's a lot easier to find any ruble and when you try looking for a poltina or a polutinnik, it can be a real challenge. Even if they do pop up for sale, they seem to be "affordable" considering how difficult they are.

 

Another instance is error coins - they seem to be quite affordable.

[BKB]

The rarity difference is not disputed with the Alex III being rarer. The practical experience with these items is that the Gangut (real ones) do appear regularly in auctions while the Alex III is offered less often. An odd fact is that I found my Alex III years before I could get one Gangut from Markov who auctioned several (4?) in a single sale.

 

What do you think and what examples can you cite?

 

 

Although I am no expert in commems., but ... Real Gangut is very rare, if not extremely rare. There are soviet novodels that are accepted as real by most, for those were struck with original dies. There are modern fakes that are sold regularly, including by the auction you mentioned. MOst ganguts sold in the past 3 years were fakes (IMXO), even the slabbed ones. There are also modern fakes of 1912, that are very hard to tell apart. I have seen 2 that were VERY convincing.

 

If you look up pre-2004 sales, you will see that both coins do appear regularly, however, the 1914 is a bit more scarce. For instance, the Van Der Dussen sale only had a 1912. While Baronova only 2 1914. Goodman had 3 1912 and only 2 1914. Soderman had 2 of each. Baranowsky 1 of each. The list goes on. Also, please do not forget that "Real" 1914's included soviet novodels. Thus, real 1914 may just be a bit more rare than 1912.