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2012年8月14日星期二

The Journey to Building a Strong Numist Collection...Part II

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2nd Tools and Albums

In Mandarin, there is a saying that carries the meaning masterpieces are born of tools and excellent workmanship. This is all the more true in numismatic collection. Newbies, please spare some time and money to get the right tools for your collection.

The tools that you need are:

Catalogues, Auction results 

Catalogues form the very basic tool that one numist collector must have. Newbies, don’t just spend your money on the notes, buy some compulsory catalogues, eg. Steven Tan’s <Standard catalogue of Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei Coin and paper Money> and KNboon’s <A complete Educational Reference of Malaysia, Brunei and Singpore Banknotes and Coins> for Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei numist collectibles. If you are into world notes, Krause standard catalog of world paper money or coins catalogue is a must! You need to know which numist collectibles are available and their current market price. Study the price stated in the catalogues, go around the market places, check out the market price. The market price doesn’t really tally with the prices indicated in the catalogues all the time.  Remember this, prices in the catalogues only serve as a reference. They are not the ultimatum. You will have to make your own decision whether to buy or not at market price.

Another way to study the price fluctuation is auction results. Keep track of the realized auction results locally and overseas eg. Mavin, Spink, Monetarium in Singapore. These auctioneers organize few auctions throughout the years. These auction results are an important indicator for which you must not ignore for it will have impact on the future price fluctuation of your collection. These results will also help you to decide the best price for you to buy the collectibles.







Tweezers, Banknote Plastic Sleeves, Coin Holders, Albums, Handheld UV lights and Magnifying Glass 

For all numist members, both old birds like me and even newbies, these are the necessities in numist collection. I need not talk much about this.







Air Tight Container with Dehumidifier and Safe deposit box

I presume many will ask why safe deposit box….well this will be a necessity once your collection has grown from couple of pieces to a large number, ranging from probably couple of ringgits per piece to thousand for another. You may have started storing your collection in an album placed in a container. 

Watch out, there is danger lurking by all the time….well you see Malaysian weather is hot and humid all year round. Humidity will in the long run cause your note to turn yellowish or foxing….At that point of time, you will regret you have not taken preventive measures….I had gone through that and learned it the hard way…

Get a safe deposit box if you can afford it. Not only it helps to protect your notes from humidity, you don’t have to worry about your notes being snatch away by burglars every night….

If you can't afford one at the moment or you feel that your collection are not worth that much yet, then get an air tight container. Put some dehumidifier inside the container to reduce the damage. You will thank me in the long run...

To be continued....

2 条评论:

  1. For Malaysians collectors, the only catalogue you need is Steven Tan's. For all other catalogues, try to read them at your local bookstores. Don't waste your hard earned cash on them. I, for one, would not support anyone who tried to promote their own products via issuing a so called catalogue. There are 3 catalogues printed in Malaysia for Malaysian banknotes and all have difference prices on it. Who is right and who is not? How can they all have difference opinions on the same item? What extensive market research have they done before coming up with these so called catalogue? Can one person purchased be judged as the true market value? How can you judged a fair market value on a note via auction when the item was only bidded by two buyers with every high ego? One must have it at all cost just because one of his mate got one too! I can see that they are plenty of them in Malaysia. Each and everyone trying to show off what they have. To them, this is more of a race than a hobby/investment.

    As true catalogue is just a guide, and they are meant to last for 18 to 24 months, all prices listed also include future price rise or inflation gain. Many collectors would use the guide and then discounted the item bu say 30%. Of course, your good old dealer friend will disagree with you on this and will should you the price on the note from the catalogue that have listed as the most expensive.

    I know that Steven Tan is also a dealer, but you will find that his catalogue is more reasonable. The only people who may disagree with me are the dealers, collectors who already bought the notes at a very high price, and also those who can afford to buy them at whatever the asking price was.

    Don't be a fool, as you can't get them all!

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  2. Dear wahkeong86,

    I totally agree with your last statement that you can't get them all!!!

    However, i disagree with your point of view on the catalogues. How can you be so cock sure that Steven Tan is the only catalogue Malaysian collectors need? Different people tend to have different opinions on a single matter, what more on a collectible item!

    I must admit that i am just a newbie and still learning. For that I need all sources of information about the pricing of a numist item. Catalogues serves as one, the more the merrier as one can 1st compare then judge its value from different catalogues.

    Going around the market and scout for current price is another good way. Needless to say this mean that you will most probably find the market price is different from the catalogue prices most of the time.

    Auction realised prices, as you say, might not be the best indicator as mentioned. I am with you on that. However, those items where two or few fellas fighting one another are mostly rare or scarce items that maybe you and I dare not even dream of getting it. What about ordinary items? Have you ever see people fighting dreadfully for those? Their prices are still reasonable if you study carefully. These realised prices can serve as good indicators you know.

    Catalogue, market, and auctions prices are just inputs to the decision making as i said. One have to decide whether the price offered is reasonable or not based on different inputs and not solely on one catalogue! You will a complete fool to do that!!!

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