"The general trend is for buyers to seek out quality over rarity and pay surprisingly high prices for relatively common coins in high grades," expert says
"Tangible assets have continued to prove their worth as investments throughout 2010 and early 2011, partly due to the impetus provided by Asian, especially Chinese, buyers," writes Peter Temple in a May article at the Money Observer. "This shows through clearly in the markets for art, wine, stamps and rare coins. ...

"In the rare coin market, prices have remained buoyant, helped by a psychological boost from rising metal prices.

"Philip Skingley, editor of the Spink 'Coins of England' annual, the benchmark for numismatic prices, observed in his foreword to the 2011 edition of the catalogue that the upward trend in prices in 2010 was virtually identical to the 15% gain seen in the previous year.

"Some observers put the gain in pieces typically bought by investors at closer to 12%.

"Skingley says: 'The general trend is for buyers to seek out quality over rarity and pay surprisingly high prices for relatively common coins in high grades over a scarcer coin in a lower grade, and the gap in prices between coins in very fine condition and extremely fine condition is therefore widening.'

"This demand for high-quality coins, especially high-quality rarities, is underscored by other leading dealers."