Coin Investing For The Long Haul

You are my kind of person
In Europe long term is at least 5 to 10 years
I worked 23 years for an American multinational
They were only intrested in the actual year

Basically guys it is ALL when you buy and when you sell. Pretty simple yet very complex. I have bought gold, most of the time in 1/10 oz. bullion as they are easier to store and transport and if I need a few bucks I can sell what ever amount I need on any given day. The last 5 years have been very kind when you consider I was paying in the $32 to $35 range for those little 1/10 oz. coins and when they reached the $48 to $50 level I decided to sell off a few now and then to put the money into other coins I was interested in. While $16 to $18 bucks profit per coin may not seem like a lot of money it is far better than what the banks would have paid me for saving the same amount of money and like it or not, NO paper trail. I didn't buy it and I didn't sell it because I never owned it or did I? The whole trick is to, if you can, buy low and sell whenever at a profit. It all sounds so simple. It does amaze me that so many folks do just the opposite as they wait for the media to start talking about high gold prices so they run out and buy some while it is HIGH? Lets face it, right now is NOT a good time to be buying gold. Give it a little time for it to cycle back down a bit and then buy. All it will take is one major player to dump a bunch of gold back on the market and the price will come back down. Hey, the major banks have been doing this for years with our money so in the end they have virtually manipulated the market (lawsuits are pending) to their benefit. Gold, to me, is not an investment, but a commodity and a hard asset I can own, control and I have no one to blame for profit or loss other than myself. Just be smart and don't get in over your head. You can call it investing but I prefer the word GAMBLING and believe me when I say everything we do every day is a gamble. Have some fun and spread those extra bucks out on other options, silver, gold, platinum, palladium and most importantly, high grade (when you can) classic coins. Enjoy the hobby and the possibilities that it offers. If I can't be rich I can at least be happy with what I am doing!

Thanks, everyone. Lots of interesting thoughts. I found some good information in the articles section. An article titled "Identifying US coins With Bullish Futures" By Daniel J. Goevert. Is Mr. Goevert a member on this forum? If so, thank you for the article!

I am probably a novice against ageka when it comes down to this.

The question is, what exactly do you want to buy? If you are looking in terms of investing, there cannot be anything more fundenmental than SUPPLY and DEMAND. It is not fair to say that because you spent let's say 1000 dollars for simplicity, on either some old "scarce" coin and some modern "proof" coins, they overall will result to the same. That is a complete failure to understand the fundemental aspects of economics and hence, blinding wasting your money. It could be possible that you might lose money in both, gain in either one, or gain roughly about the same as the two options there. But really, even before you learn to invest in such coins, chances are that such investors don't even know how to handle their coins and thus might ruin their possible "revenue". Often, you get people who think they have got something "antique" and valuable from their grandparents, only to be ruined by their actions of "CLEANING" coins, thinking that like coins should be handled like jewellery. That is a BIG irreversible mistake and it has happened plenty of times.

But really, if you invest in gold, do you really know what the real supply and demand of gold? Gold itself is one "lame" investment options when politics comes down to war - and that is when gold prices go ridiciously expensive and in a sense when you should sell them. When you should buy them, of course any other times other than now. Historically speaking, if you correlate major world events with gold prices, it DOES explain everything. I don't wish to elaborate every single historical pricing aspect of gold pricing...

Really, even before thinking of investing coins as investments, I beg your pardon there and think twice. This is not some paper transaction works where you can just leave things and hope you will reap profits. You will need some "maintence", just like vintage cards I guess.

Hmm
I have been on more then 12 forums posting
I reduced to three
On several forums I told the story that my grandfather saved himself and his wife and my mother with gold Double Eagles
The gold DE were sewn in the hem of the skirt of my grandmother and my mother
With gold my grandfather hired a car and driver in the worldwar and spent 4 years in the South of France
He gave the few remaining double eagles to me when I was 12 year old
Sometimes gold can save your life

Each and every one of us has to make our own decisions and live with them. Some times we may be right, and those are enjoyable, and others well we don't do so well. Many of us have years experience behind us and we would like to think we may be one up on the rest of the world but.....again, life is a gamble. The most important thing about investing, in my humble opinion is, are you comfortable putting your hard earned money there? If you are then go for it and enjoy the opportunity to hopefully make a few bucks and have a little fun with your extra money. When it quits being fun, its time to get out.
Now with that said, I caved in and bought 12 USMC proof and unc. commemorative silver dollars and yes, I had to pay a premium to get them but I still have very fond memories of the last silver commemorative that sold out and what it did. The 2001 Buffalo Dollar was a hit and I sold my extras way to soon! Darn the luck so this time I will wait and see with what I have. Any chance I get to put a few extra bucks in my COIN budget is fine by me and if I lose a little now and then well I can blame no one but myself. I am having FUN!!!

Hello tnwalker10.

Yes, I am a member of Coin Community. Every now and then, I check in to see what's going on here. This is a great place to learn numismatics, which is one of the reasons I keep coming back.

Thanks for your commentary on the article I wrote (Identifying Coins With Bullish Future). In short, I don't think its a good idea to relate to coins strictly as investment vehicles, but if you research historical value trends, it is possible to pinpoint a few coins that are more likely to be worth much more in the years ahead. I believe that coins that have demonstrated solid gains over a long period of time in the past (caused mostly by consistent collector demand) are the coins that will do well in the future.

Hope to bump into you again!