QUESTION: In regards to your recent collector’s market comments, are you saying that the collector’s markets that have international backing will perform or outperform other sectors on a return on capital basis? Whereas the domestic collector’s market , like Morgan dollars, will under-perform, if not be crushed by the contracting disposable income (deflation) in the future, as seen in the Italian collector’s market. Also, is it only going to be the high end collectibles that gain value while the common items languish?
ANSWER: The international markets may out-perform domestic markets. But that is by no means a solid forecast. We are trying to put together a pricing model on ancients. We are awaiting catalogs for the last 10 years of price data from auctions.
The Italian market has been devastated – this is true. Not that the coins have fallen in price, but that government is hunting money so aggressively capital has been forced into hibernation. The value of the coins will survive, but the market has collapsed for people cannot conduct business. The Italian government has gone as far as to place tax agents in from of Jewelry stores to monitor who is going in.
Tax audits in Italy are an extortion. It may take even 6 months and during this period they harass you so much, there is no hope of getting out without them demanding something be paid even if nothing is owed. You often cannot even work during an Italian tax audit and business is seriously harmed by the tax authorities. It has degenerated into just nasty socialists working for the government out to cause as much harm as possible to get even that makes them feel better. This is driving unemployment higher and it will be
We are in such a state of complete economic meltdown that is becoming really scary between currency controls preventing personal wires and shrinking global trade. This is why we are making every possible effort to be that lone voice in the wilderness and can use all the help we can get. The collapse of Rome was swift and the majority took place just in 8.6 years for the complete decline.
The international markets are perhaps safer than domestic for the prices will be supported on a broader scale. The Italian market has been destroyed as is the case in France. When tangible assets must go into hiding because the government is out to grab whatever it can, now we are into the mode of Maximinus I who simply declared that ALL wealth in Rome belonged to the state.
We need to spread the word as much as possible that it is government who is NOT the nation and is always opposed to the freedom of the people. Just read Tomas Paine and his Common Sense.
