Coin rating "assist" mechanism coin investment collection is quietly hot

21st Century Business Herald reporter Chen Zhi reported in Shanghai that "I didn't expect the mechanism coin to suddenly become hot. A private collector sighed to reporters.

In the past, those who liked to collect mechanical coins were mainly professional collectors who were interested in the social culture and numismatic culture of the Republic of China period. But in the past two years, more and more young people of strength have begun to enter this market.

The so-called mechanism coins are mainly various metal currencies made by machines rather than by hand. In China, the collectible mechanism coins are mainly produced in the Republic of China period, such as "Yuan Datou" and so on.

With the continuous entry of many young and powerful people, the price of many mechanism coins in the Republic of China period has continued to rise in recent years.

Last year, the unit price of 4 Chinese mechanism coins exceeded 10 million yuan, and the "15th year of the Republic of China Zhang Zuolin dressed like the Grand Marshal of the Army and Navy Commemorative Silver Coin Sample Coin" (PCGS SP62) once set a new record for the highest transaction in the public auction of Chinese coins, becoming the first Chinese coin with a unit price of more than 20 million.

Zuo Jinghua, chairman of Beijing Chengxuan Auction Co., Ltd., revealed to reporters that as the collection value of mechanism coins and market conditions both rise, its trading volume is also rising rapidly. During the spring auction last year, the transaction amount of Chengxuan auction mechanism coins was nearly 110 million yuan, and in the autumn auction, the transaction amount of mechanism coins exceeded 200 million yuan for the first time.

In her view, this means that Chinese mechanism coins are entering the ranks of top collectibles. In the past period, more and more well-known entrepreneurs who love collecting have also entered.

Zuo Jinghua told reporters that an important reason for the sudden heating up of mechanism coin investment collection is that the coin rating system - "Shelton Rating Standard" has been rapidly popularized in China, bringing great changes to the mechanism coin collection market. Its specific performance is in three aspects, one is to promote the original source of coins, effectively regulate the order of the coin collection market, so that all kinds of "counterfeit money" have nothing to hide; the second is to establish a quantitative standard for coins, so that the value of coins at a glance, thereby enhancing the liquidity of coins; the third is to produce a "guarantee" for the appearance of coins, which greatly enhances the confidence of collectors.

"In fact, coin grading solves two major pain points in the coin investment collection market, one is that the authenticity of coins is guaranteed, investors are not afraid to buy fakes, and the other is that coins are differentiated, and investors can roughly know their market value by looking at the rating scores." This has all promoted the coin investment collection market to show the effect of good money expelling bad money, and now few people send counterfeit money to auction companies. She said bluntly.

"During the Republic of China period, there were not many Chinese mechanism coins (mainly silver coins), and considering factors such as humid environment and improper storage, the quality level of many old coins was not ideal." Mike Sargent, global grading director of PCGS, a professional numismatic grading service company, told reporters. This requires numismatic grading agencies to "de-counterfeit and store the truth" of various mechanism coins to further protect the interests of collectors.

He stressed that with the increasing popularity of mechanism coin investment collection among young and powerful players in China, they also need to have a deeper understanding of the manufacturing process and product judgment of various types of mechanism coins in order to stay away from those varieties with "inflated valuations".

"In recent years, more and more Asian collectors have been keen to buy mechanism coins with a medium depth of color (not dark brown or black) because such coins tend to receive a premium. But in fact, some institutions have tried to cover up flaws and inflate market prices by adding black pulp to the surface of the restored and laundered coins, resulting in some Asian collectors being deceived by these artificially wrapped coins. He pointed out.

Mechanism coin investment collection hot "probe cause"

In Zuo Jinghua's view, the reason why the mechanism coin has continued to win the favor of young people in recent years is closely related to the rise of the live auction industry.

With the rise of the live auction industry, more and more young people have learned about the social and cultural connotations, manufacturing processes and collection value of various mechanism coins in the Republic of China period through the Internet, and have regarded it as a new investment variety, which has made the valuation of many mechanism coins with good quality and high rarity continue to rise.

The reporter learned that during the 2021 autumn auction of Beijing Chengxuan last year, "Zhang Zuolin like a one-yuan silver coin sample coin in the fifteenth year of the Republic of China" (PCGS SP62) was sold for 25.99 million yuan, becoming the most expensive bidder in China. The "Eighteenth Year of the Republic of China Sun Yat-sen Like The Double Flag of the Back Earth One Yuan Silver Coin Trial Coin" (PCGS SP61) was also sold at a high price of 12.65 million yuan. In addition, a number of coins completed high-priced deliveries, including the "Long Bearded Dragon" (PCGS SP62), the "Anti-Dragon" (PCGS SP61) version of the one-round sample coin, and the 1898 Guangxu Yuanbao "Pearl Dragon" (PCGS MS65) Kuping Seven Cents Silver Coin made in Jiangnan Province, with transaction prices as high as 6.7275 million yuan, 3.9675 million yuan and 8.05 million yuan, respectively.

A coin collector revealed to reporters that although the price of these Mechanism Coins in the Republic of China period has risen sharply in the past two years, they still have no shortage of buyers. Because these beautiful and well-preserved mechanism coins are quite "rare", many entrepreneurs and rich people will still choose to continue to pursue them because of the psychology of "rare things are precious".

In his view, an important reason why the current mechanism coin investment collection is favored is the popularity of coin grading, which gives collectors an "escort" to invest in collection behavior. In the 1970s and 1980s, the scarcity and investment collection value of mechanism coins in the Republic of China period were mainly decided by several senior and well-known coin collectors, but in the actual operation process, these collectors may not have a full grasp of the situation of the mechanism coins circulating in the market, and often "look away", resulting in investment losses for collectors who seek to buy. Nowadays, numismatic grading agencies can not only identify the authenticity of various republican mechanism coins, but also determine the score according to the numismatic phase, and collectors will know how much investment collection value the coins they choose to buy.

"For example, the standardized coin rating system is of great help to novices and many powerful people who originally had collecting habits, and they can gradually understand the manufacturing process and quality of various mechanism coins in the Republic of China period through coin rating, and can more accurately judge the appreciation space of mechanism coins." Zuo Jinghua pointed out. Although some capital has poured into the mechanism coin investment collection market in recent years, this market is still dominated by collectors, and the health of industry development is still relatively good.

Mike Sargent revealed that pre-1933 flawless mechanism coins were quite rare in China, so some coin collectors thought that the mechanism coins in their hands were "higher" and were also trying to "re-grade" them. This has led to more and more scarce high-grade mechanism coins flowing into the market, promoting the continuous active trading.

The rarity and quality of the mechanism coin determine the market value

The reporter learned from many sources that although the high scarcity and good quality of the Mechanism Coin of the Republic of China period were highly sought after by powerful collectors, it was not easy to find it.

Taking "Yuan Datou" as an example, collecting "Yuan Datou" produced by mints in different regions during the Republic of China period once became a collection pleasure for many collectors. At the same time, after the changes of the times, the number of "Yuan Datou" who are now in good condition is decreasing.

"This is a headache for many collectors." The coin collector mentioned above is blunt. It is difficult for them to accurately judge the quality and scarcity of various types of Mechanism Coins of the Republic of China period (including "Yuan Datou") through the naked eye.

Mike Sargent revealed to reporters that they are committed to promoting the original source and manufacturing process traceability of various mechanism coins in the Republic of China period, for example, they published the "Catalogue of Gold and Silver Coins of Modern Chinese Mechanism", so that many coin collectors can understand the appearance, manufacturing process, rating and market conditions of various mechanism coins in different Republic of China periods, so that they can assess whether the Mechanism Coins of the Republic of China period they own or will buy are "worth the money".

Zuo Jinghua revealed that at present, many collectors have noticed that after the grading of the varieties and appearances of the mechanism coins in various periods, the rarity of different grades of coins has become "clear at a glance", which also contains a lot of room for price differences. Therefore, they "bottomed out" the mechanism coins with high grade but low prices through this spread effect for investment collection.

In her view, as the coin collector population continues to expand, China's mechanism coin investment collection market will continue to grow rapidly, and what the industry urgently needs to solve at present is that the training speed of new numismatic graders may not "keep up" with the development rate of the industry, because it takes many years to train a grader who can grade coins around the world. To some extent, whether the numismatic rating agency can continue to innovate technology, accelerate the training speed of graders and shorten the grading cycle, so that more and more new entrants can quickly grasp the value information of various types of coin investment collection, which is extremely critical to promoting the sustained and rapid development of the mechanism coin investment collection market.