If others want it, so do I

Right on cue, as soon as I write about the sense of exclusivity that helps sell products this week, I get a call from an old-timer collector that helps me make my point.

I am guessing he is an old-timer because of the sound of his voice.

His question to me concerned the reproduction of the gold Brasher doubloon that was being sold by at the American Numismatic Association convention in Rosemont, Ill., by Monaco Rare Coins.

I was shown one of the pieces. It is gorgeous. The craftsmanship is amazing.

I could almost imagine standing in the streets of New York in 1787 and receiving a new one from Ephraim Brasher himself.

But the caller’s question to me was, “Is it popular?”

Have we now sunk so low that we cannot make up our own minds about anything?

Must everything we consider for purchase be validated not by our own desire to possess those objects that attract us, but by whether it is seen as such by others?

Well, in this case, yes, and that simply reinforces my earlier points about luxury brands and how we in numismatics choose to market ourselves.

Buzz blogger Dave Harper is winner of the 2014 Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog and is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."