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 Replies: 19 / Views: 2,100 |
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Valued Member
United States
199 Posts |
I love coins and love collecting them. I have made  and lost  money. IMO coins are not a good investment, ie: 1) they produce no income, b) no tax advantage (maybe if used in an ira), 3) you buy high (if retail) and they must appreciate, say, 20% or much more just to break even, d) when you sell you don't usually get retail, and 5) not secure to own as they may be stolen, lost and/or damaged. The only up side is for lots of appreciation to occur with lots of downsides. There are many ways to diversify that would be better. Too bad I don't follow my own advice.  ***Edited by Forum Dad to move to Main Coin Forum*** |
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Rest in Peace
United States
2684 Posts |
Depends on what is considered a good investment. The less common or rarer a coin, the more it appreciates over a given time period compared with "traditional" investments, e.g., stocks, bonds, funds. My simple Morgan collection doubled in value between 2000 and 2006; certain of my Carson City series tripled in value over the last three years. And I will certainly agree with the adage that just because a coin is old does not make it a good investment. I have a Constantine (Roman) coin 1700 years old and it's not worth a farthing due to its commonality. Also, coins as investments tend to be more stable than, say the stock market which is a house of cards, going up and down on the whims of analysts and paranoia of brokers every time some overseas squabble flares up. There's a lot of qualifications to these statements and books have been published on the subject, but if one is well-educated on certain investment coins and has the money to make the investments, s/he can do quite well. Diversification is always a good idea: all eggs in one basket is a wise axiom. I like antique firearms myself in addition to coins, but art (paintings, sculptures) and other non-traditional investments would also complement an investment coin collection. All that said, I also have tended not to follow my own advice and have concentrated much more on coins than is good for me. But coins are easier to store than long Toms (antique Springfield rifles).  |
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Pillar Of The Community
3147 Posts |
I will agree with what Morgan Fred has stated and will also state the fact with coins YOU are in charge of when you buy, what to buy, what to hold, what and when to sell. No middle man and no hidden fees. Quite honestly I wish I had put all my extra cash into coins the last twenty years as the return has been extremely pleasing to say the least. I lost a very very good job in the fall of 2005 and actually went without work for 11 weeks that winter. My coins literally saved my rear end and even though I have sold off years of collecting they were there when I needed them. Just a couple of weeks ago I sold 14 or 15 Shield nickels as I knew there would be no way to ever finish that set due to the proof only issues. I was shocked at the price these cois brought after holding them for a mere 4 or 5 years. The whole key, in my opinion, is buying to HOLD for the long term, and should an emergency arises, such as mine, the results were very good. I collect because I love the hobby but would recommend a very diverse collection. Usually if something turns cold something else will be very hot. With that in mind I continue to collect and will until the day I pass away! I have learned through the years that some items will peak and fall very quicky so if you are buying, with the intentions of selling for a profit, you must learn to play the game and stay in touch CONSTANTLY with what the hobby is doing. And, I mean on a weekly basis! If it can work for me it can work for anyone. One must learn to accept the fact your money is NOT gone but lying dormant in another form, hidden away from prying eyes, in a unique savings program that ONLY YOU know about! |
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Valued Member
United States
411 Posts |
I'm no investor. I have a very good friend who is, and my reliance on his insights has made money for me. He doesn't consider coins a good investment for all the reasons MrCoin pointed out. He would qualify that for coin investment as part of an IRA portfolio. That said, I always find some consolation when I spend more than I should on coins, in the fact that even after I've spent all my money, I still have some. Ok, old joke, but it's true. I do at least partly think of my coins as a worthy asset.
Edited by Stephen420
04/14/2007 12:52 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Belgium
2078 Posts |
A savings account gives 2% taxfree with a probable inflation rate estimated by myself at 3 to 4 % here in Europe I do not know about coins but when I had to sell some goldcoins in a pinch I got 55% more on bulk gold over the last 4 years and that is lucky angels and napoleons and sovereigns and florins which have potential collector value My spread on gold is 3% and the bankvault is insured  I think anything silver or gold will do extremely well for the next 4 to 5 years at least I know some paper shares may do better but unless you work at a brookerage I am sure people are only going to tell you what to buy AFTER they bought cheaply themselves  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
830 Posts |
I invest in other things. Coins I collect for the sheer enjoyment of collecting.
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New Member
United States
26 Posts |
I invest in an asortment of things.  The Mac |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1031 Posts |
As a coin collector I can't except the thought that coins are not a good investment. If I didn't buy coins the money would have been spent on something else that physically wouldn't be here right now. Diversification is what I believe in. Mutual Funds, Stocks, CD's, Savings Accounts and coins. I only buy the coins that I want (which means most coins). If the market crashes and the banks go under, I have my coins. It's kind of like wine. If you have a wine collection and all goes the wrong way, you still have something to enjoy. Invest in what you enjoy and you will never go wrong. Listen to someone else and you just might.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
834 Posts |
The only ones that will make huge amounts of money investing in coins are the wealthy.  Bruce. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2254 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
834 Posts |
Tights.
Yes it does my friend.
Bruce.
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Valued Member
United States
487 Posts |
I do a fair amount of investing and what got me back into collecting coins was the under value of silver. We are using over 100,000,000 ounces of silver a year more than we are mining. There has been about 7 to 8 times as much silver mined as gold. Using that ratio silver should be selling at $85 an ounce instead of $14. Companies that use silver are going to pay what ever price they have to to get the silver they need. I read one article that stated there is actually more gold above ground than silver at this time because so much of the silver that has been mined has been used and is unrecoverable.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1173 Posts |
Coins are an investment. They have specific value (face value or melt value) and can readily be exchanged for goods and services. Of course, actual collectible grade coins, are worth far beyond face or melt value. Now...are they "good" investments? That's a difficult question to answer, because so much depends on the investor's needs and goals. How liquid do you need your investments to be? How much risk can you tolerate? What ROI (return on investment) are you expecting to achieve? One thing that is nice in the world of coins is that you don't need a ton of money to carefully buy selected coins and to increase your investment from time to time. The worst part about coins as investments, IMHO, is that they are not very liquid (they're not easily converted into cash) especially as you get into more and more expensive coins, and their values can be pretty volatile as collecting particular series comes into or out of vogue. ebay and other online sites have made it easier to liquidate your coin holdings, so maybe I'm a dinosaur in my thinking? But I know that I can buy/sell stocks or shares in mutual funds literally within a few minutes of sitting down at a computer. Just some thoughts... |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2254 Posts |
quote:
The worst part about coins as investments, IMHO, is that they are not very liquid (they're not easily converted into cash)
But Hunter, they ARE cash.  |
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Valued Member
United States
346 Posts |
I'm definitely glad I put all of my cash into my coin collection. It's already grown in value since I started seriously collecting about a year or so ago.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1173 Posts |
OK, tights, ya got me!  |
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Replies: 19 / Views: 2,100 |
Posted 04/14/2007 12:23 pm
