Value Of A Set

Interesting you choose that example, but that's no sort of investing, it's simply called dealing, not that there's anything wrong with that.

That set, $210 face, at one point was worth considerably less than face value for its 30 ounces of silver. A bunch of dealers tried to turn in a few hundred thousand dollars worth, and no Canadian bank would accept them, even as a deposit. The mint eventually let them spend them for other mint products.

Call it whatever you want, it's dealing. When done with stocks, it's called day trading.

Almost anything that some use as a hobby can be turned into a profitable item. For example there are those that rebuild old cars and resell them for a profit. Others would rather take their time and rebuild one themselves. To buy an old car already fixed up can be fun but never as much as if you did it yourself. Building a flying type plane is another example of what some buy complete and others build themselves. Of course with that one when it crashes, and many do, it hurts a lot more if you did the building.
In the past I noticed when I was a kid, others that just bought or were given a car never really took care of them. Why should they? Just a car to them. BUT those that spent hours on even just the carburator also spent a lot of time washing, waxing, vacuuming that thing. They cared since it was now part of them.
Coins are sort of like that. For those that just buy a collection, when it is sold, so what. Just coins. I would suspect, maybe wrong, but anyone that spends hundreds of hours building a collection and had to sell it, would be like that person with a home made plane that crashed. There is a pain in loosing something that is part of you. Might well be why I just can't sell any of my coins.
And if I did ever inherit coins, again, they would always to me be a part of the person that left them to me. Would sort of be like selling memories.

I've always thought the same thing but the real proof comes with anyone collecting Large Cents.

i still value my coins occasionally, but I never factor in when the metal values go down only up hmm sounds familar doesn't it oh thats right the oil companies seem to the think the same way as well HA

three hours

Why a set is worth LESS in an outright sale than the sum of the pieces:

When you offer a set to a dealer there are typically a half dozen or so keys and semi keys that everyone is looking for and which he has problems keeping in stock. The rest of the set, unless it is very high grade or something along those lines, he already either has plenty of of they are always being offered to him. These coins are just so much dead weight because he already has all he needs and they are just going to tie up capital. So his offer is based on the keys and semi keys and the rest are just figured at very little if anything. Who knows you might even get a higher offer on the keys and semi-keys if he doesn't have to take the rest of the "Stuff" with it.

This is purely academic. I have so much other stuff that I would sell before my coins...

If I had to sell, I would just sell the keys. For me, it will be a lot easier (considering how long it has taken me to build my sets) to buy the keys again one the "crisis" has passed.