| Author |
 Replies: 23 / Views: 3,541 |
Page 2 of 2
|
|
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Canada
586 Posts |
I have only been collecting for a short period, but have quickly realized that this is a hobby not an investment plan. Maybe the bullion aspect, but really that can be achieved through investing in commodities and precious metal stocks&bonds and extremely more secure then having all the gold and silver in a safe in your basement.
Yes, there are items that another investor will pay up for, but the investors that have the means or willingness are hard to come by and my projection even harder to come by in the future. The older generations have already started liquidating there collections and the market has already started to be flooded with coins and bank notes. Yes, the rare ones are still hard to find, but again the amounts to be paid make them hard to obtain.
As a hobby, its probably the best in the sense you will never loss your investment. You will defiantly be able to sell your collections for near or slightly above investment cost.
I love fishing and in this hobby, I spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on gear that one day will be worthless, so in this aspect coin collecting ranks at the top.
My views
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
Like all investments, there's different levels of risk involved, often correlated with the returns to be expected. Morgans are probably a safe bet, but that means you will pay a lot now and get a smaller % back in the long run. Lots of ultra-modern sets are good for flipping, but some also flop and people get stuck with expensive junk. Every once in a while, some surprise fad happens; a while ago, classic Indian mint sets from the 1960s came under HUGE demand, selling for hundreds of dollars after decades of going for $5. Also don't forget that ebay and paypal take a combined ~13% in fees; that can eat up profits quickly! |
|
Valued Member
 United States
149 Posts |
Great comments, thoughts and advice. I agree - there is a lot of liquidation going on, and market is being flooded with old generation collections. Will stick with the CC sets, hold off with other Morgans and bullion for the time being. May start an African gold set - some coins from this region are pretty cool
|
|
Valued Member
Belgium
186 Posts |
Coin investments are very much of a gamble and the best way to invest is to get interested and become a collector, it's what will probably give the best return over the years/decades.
Since coin investing pretty much depends on how much people are in the hobby, it's truly hard to predict for decades to come.
Now that's only my opinion. And yeah, keep most of the Morgans you have I'd say.
|
|
Rest in Peace
United States
17900 Posts |
The higher value per coin in your collection the more likely that you will receive a percentage of your purchasing price back at sale time. That means increasing the percentage of nice items you own and selling lessor value items, even at a loss. Regardless of the selling avenue your collection may follow the better average value per coin, the better will be the percentage that they will sell for. Prob.  |
|
Valued Member
United States
314 Posts |
Definitely agree that coin collecting for the vast majority of regular collectors should NOT be considered as as an investment and instead as a HOBBY...
I enjoy going to shows, meeting people, working on a collection, learning about coins, etc...
But it certainly shouldn't be part of any large-scale investment plan or program.. I honestly never expect to "make money" in my coin collecting.. But I don't make money doing many things I enjoy, such as hiking (lots of hiking gear and hiking trips, but no "profit" except beautiful views), etc...
And I would bet that the vast majority of hobbyists do not actually make money , especially if you took all your "real costs" into account (travel, storage, insurance, taxes, etc., etc.)...
Not doubting there are a few that can make money, but If you want to "invest", there are a lot of much better investments then coins.... and for the "casual hobbyist", I wouldn't ever suggest coins for anything except enjoyment...
My 2 cents..
M.
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
Coins have proven a tremendous investment for me over a long life time. I made mistakes, took my losses, got serious about it, studied different series intently, learned to grade, worked in a coin store and always bought the best and most attractive coins I could find. It has def. worked.  |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
655 Posts |
Hard to imagine how you can 'enhance' a CC Morgan collection that's already MS. I suppose you could shop for PLs and DMPLs or 66's and 67's but you're probably already at the top. If you really just want to invest long term for appreciation, my suggestion would be to concentrate solely on the 1889-CC and, to a lesser extent, the 79-CC. I can tell you that those two coins of mine, even though they weren't even especially nice, sold in a flash.
And, finding replacements for those two coins that are pleasing to me has been an endeavor for the ages and still goes unfilled.
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
High end CC morgans should appreciate over the next 20 years especially the PCGS/CAC ones.
If they're some you just don't really like anymore just list them for sale and if they sell they sell if not they don't. If they're high end wait for the right buyer, you don't sound like you need to sell anyway
|
|
Valued Member
United States
149 Posts |
Again, thanks for the additional thoughts/feedback. Agree with comment on 79CC (mine is 63DMPL) and 89CC (62PL). Difficult to find better coins than those at the moment. I sometimes worry that with the lack of new blood taking up coin collecting, the hobby (and hence the demand) will taper off in next 10-15 yrs
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Quote:
I sometimes worry that with the lack of new blood taking up coin collecting, the hobby (and hence the demand) will taper off in next 10-15 yrs There's plenty of new blood, you just won't find them at coin shows |
|
CCF Advertiser
United States
1533 Posts |
You have a long term investment perspective? Invest in some Wayte Raymond pages for coins, across all the silver denominations, invest in blast white, clean silver coins, put them in the holders and put them on a bookshelf for at least 5 years. You will get rainbow colors on all the coins and they will sell for a lot more than the white ones. Maybe Morgans have the biggest premium for this sort of thing, with the pricing being more or less independent of surface conditions, ie a $50 MS-64 can become a $300 "Monster" coin in 5 years.
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
The aging of the collecting community has been a red flag for 30 years now. Indeed, there are many younger collectors, as evidenced by this forum. It would be interesting to know the average age of our members.
|
|
Moderator
 United States
189120 Posts |
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Norway
1358 Posts |
Quote:
Is it a good time to sell these and continue down the avenue of selective coin investments? First of all, no one knows what the future brings. My crystal ball broke down some time ago and I haven't found a replacement yet. Some factor that adds uncertainty here is that this is is a hobby. People aren't depending on coin collections (except dealers) to be able to live. So if everyone loses interest, like what happened with stamps, then you're stuck with virtually worthless investments. People tend to be afraid that this is about to happen any time soon as the average age of coin collectors is quite high. But then, this fear has been around for years and years... Trading coins for profit isn't something that's easily done. Now with the internet, everyone has access to actual market prices and everyone has access to catalogue prices. And most people use that information to get as much out of their coins as they can. You state that you invest in Morgan dollars. That is smart as of today, as they are still very popular today. In fact, they're being over-analyzed with VAMs, just to add to the craze. But who knows what happens tomorrow? However, one thing that helps right now is politics. There's a lot of political tension and uncertainty in the world right now, which makes people invest in proven certainties like gold and silver. As such, prices go up. I don't know what will happen with coin prices of coins in precious metal if suddenly gold and silver drop in value. I guess this also will affect coin prices. Quote:
The aging of the collecting community has been a red flag for 30 years now. Indeed, there are many younger collectors, as evidenced by this forum. It would be interesting to know the average age of our members. Keep in mind that this forum looks and smells like 2005 and that nowadays the younger generation uses the internet in different ways than people who haven't grown up with it. I can imagine that it's not very appealing for youngsters to join an old fashioned forum and discuss coins with people who could, on average, have been their grandparent. Nevertheless, don't worry. Coin collecting is an expensive hobby, and as such, not very attractive for younger people. It's not fun to be limited to collecting cents from circulation when others can pay big sums for the stuff they really want or need to actually finish a collection. I was already working full time for some years and for me the hobby finally took off when I started hitting the better salaries (6 digits per year in USD) in order to really get what I'm looking for. Coin collecting has for a long time been called 'the hobby of kings' and there's a reason for that. |
|
Page 2 of 2
|
Replies: 23 / Views: 3,541 |
Page 2 of 2
|
First Page
Posted 10/23/2017 10:47 am
