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 Replies: 35 / Views: 10,519 |
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Valued Member
Australia
432 Posts |
Personally, I think stuff like this is one of the biggest scams out there! Like if you have a GENUINE interest in something these coins 'feature', by all means, grab one (perhaps it combines two of your passions), but just don't expect this sort of thing to actually appreciate in value! :)
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
1015 Posts |
As an investment I don't know but as a curiosity for the grand-kids there rapped and to me that's the only thing that counts,these coins are there's to do what ever they want with when they grow older and are more responsible,you take the 50 years of the Barbie coin I brought for my daughter so who's to say that that's a good or bad investment I think only time will tell. regards to all  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2541 Posts |
Unfortunately, all these types of things are bad investments. There is just a very limited market for them.
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Valued Member
United States
88 Posts |
Interesting comments! I think it's unfair to say that "All these types of things are bad investments". Much depends on the work itself and who did it, and how, and why... and of course, how many were made. In the case of the Shire coins that I made, it was for the love of the story. When I started making those I had no idea of making a business of it. I imagined the coins that would have been used by the people in the story and dreamed the so-called "pirate fantasy" of having a whole chest of them to run my fingers through whilst chortling in piratical glee. The quest to actually make them was epic, and I made just ten of the very first ones (1401 die-1) copper penny. I sold them for a dollar. They don't surface very often. Last I saw, one went for over $300. Was it a good investment? Yes, but no coin collectors bought those, only people who were steeped in the stories and the fan network even knew about them. The most prolific one was the 1403 copper penny, of which slightly more than 10,000 were made. (and that was with a manual screw press and took me two weeks, oh my aching back!) I sold those for a dollar apiece or for 50 cents each when purchased in rolls of 48. Aside from fans who simply wanted them to share with friends, several dealers bought them by the roll and they still appear on ebay regularly where they generally go for about $5 apiece. So was that one a good investment for the dealers? I think yes! Yes the market is limited, but if the thematic content of the object and the artistic execution of the idea is compelling then the real fans of the fantasy will want them. The key feature of what I'm doing is that these are coins FROM the fantasy, not ABOUT it! It is a key feature of bad collectibles that they do silly things like putting images of film characters on the coin. That completely blows the fantasy because that coin could never exist IN THAT WORLD! I would never suggest that somebody buy fantasy coins strictly as an investment. But if there are compelling coins that are related to a theme that you enjoy, then buy all means obtain some, or even many. For it is a property of coins in the pocket that they help us form a sense-of-place that can make the fantasy more real and therefore more enjoyable. What better investment can there be? On the other hand, there's the investment on the part of the coinmaker. Some of my projects do okay in terms of making back expenses, but some do not. For instance, some years ago I was very excited about the prospect of a King Arthur coin. I wanted it to be as authentic as possible... not some "Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" sort of caricature, but a coin emulating the style and fabric of a coin from the period in which the REAL King Arthur would have lived... about 500 AD. I engaged the numismatist and engraver Greg Franck-Weiby to design the dies for the piece, and he went all-out on it and did a fabulous job. It's inscribed in latin (of course) ARTORIUS DUX BELLORUM BRIT and beared a winged Victrix on reverse. So when the dies were done and heat-treated and ready to go, The dies were exemplary (and unusually expensive) and I was so excited that I sank all the silver I had into the project, and struck 400 pieces, expecting them to sell out quickly. Well... apparently nobody wants their Arthur mythos messed up with too much reality. The sales have always been anemic on those and it's not because the piece is not well done. That was years ago and I still have over half of them left. I can't bear to melt them because they're gorgeous, but I could really use the silver for other projects. Apparently the Arthur theme has just been run into the ground by too many people, and nobody really cares anymore. I even tried to get them into gift stores along the King Arthur bus tours route in Cornwall... to no avail. They didn't even want to look at them. If they were caps or tee shirts... oh yes! We'd love that! But the fantasy coin idea was too esoteric. Edited by tmaring
05/17/2012 4:36 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
1244 Posts |
I would like to see pics of the coins :)
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
877 Posts |
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It's just that countries like Tuvalu and Liberia are willing to put everything except my grandmother on their coins. Even your grandmother -just offer them some money to do it.  Jeff |
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Valued Member
United States
88 Posts |
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Valued Member
Australia
318 Posts |
Well..., to start the argument that is present in a number of other threads -
"if silver hits $100 oz" --> at least you'd break even ;)
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
762 Posts |
Quote:
Course, maybe someday I'll become a coin snob, too ;)
lol  love the phrase. And now I think about it, I'm probably a coin snob too. I don't think of NCLT as REAL coins. For me a REAL coin has to pass the "newsagent test". If it isn't possible for me to go down to the newsagent and buy a newspaper with a particular coin then I dont consider it to be a REAL coin. It is just a token or a medallion. Some NCLT will pass the "newsagent test" but those coloured, scratch and sniff, 3D or other novelty coins wouldn't. (Just for the record "slabbed" coins wouldn't pass either  ) |
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Valued Member
180 Posts |
Garbage like this usually given out in micky dees Happy Meals in line with the movie rele ASE |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1454 Posts |
Some people on this thread truly thought the series would fall to spot within a couple of years. They couldn't have been more wrong. Three years later and they're still either holding their value or worth more than I originally paid for the 2009 set. They were so successful, Perth even released another set in 2011 and it's also selling very well and also worth just as much as it was when Perth issued it.
I forgot about the coin snob remark, MobOfRoos, but it still holds true, to one degree or another. People buy coins for all sorts of reasons. Not just to sell at a profit down the road. Personally, I like a little variety in my coinage. And here in the US, that meant something other than dead presidents. I always hear people say, "I buy old circulated silver for its historical significance." I often wonder, what significance? To me, it's simply pocket change. Something rare, I can see, but for many, I think it's just an oft-repeated and easily remembered meme. Kind of like the old canard, "I buy gold as a hedge against inflation." That's only true if the spot price is rising above inflation, right? Why would anyone assume it always will? Look at history and one learns that that's simply not the case. For 20 years, from 1980-2000, gold would have been as good of a hedge as a hole in the ground, which I'm about to go dig to contain my bamboo hedge ;)
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
762 Posts |
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I always hear people say, "I buy old circulated silver for its historical significance." I often wonder, what significance? To me, it's simply pocket change. You are right, people buy coins for all sorts of reasons. For me, coins that people were using as currency 100 years ago have a special attraction. I think they definitely do have a historical significance. Even quite recently discontinued coins and notes (such as the Australian paper notes and 1c and 2c peices)have historical and nostalgic significance. The fact that these coins and notes were carried in peoples pockets and used for the purchase of goods and services (the purpose for which they were intended) make them REAL legal tender. |
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Valued Member
180 Posts |
Tulavu Transformers coins were overpriced at issue price.
To those who bought them and loved them good on you
But long term these coins are just a theme coin and the value is unlikely to reach issue price on the secondary market in future.
Collect what you like and enjoy is my motto
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New Member
United States
22 Posts |
Transformers Coins have seen a strong market from what I've followed. These coins seem to be very popular with the Asians and have seem them pop up on many foreign sites.
I don't own any but with low mintage and a very popular theme base across a few generations of males, there is some potential here over time.
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Valued Member
Australia
490 Posts |
not for me personally (even tho I like silver stacking and the transformer movies) but they do look awesome in the flesh!
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Posted 08/28/2009 4:21 pm
