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 Replies: 23 / Views: 3,273 |
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New Member
United States
1 Posts |
We are thinking about taking some savings and buying coins. I was hoping to get some advice here. My thoughts are that collectible coins will always be worth more than just gold or silver weight. However I would be looking to purchase coins close to their weight value. Are there any large collections for sale that you would suggest? Would I be better off just buying gold/silver? Any and all advice very much appreciated.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4212 Posts |
There are those here who can advise you much more than I, as they do the same thing. Stay tuned...
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Valued Member
United States
125 Posts |
I would buy gold an silver in the largest quantity that you can, most of the time a seller will make the price closer to melt the more you buy, or you can buy bars or other bullion even closer to melt
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1745 Posts |
I try not to mix my collecting with my investing. While it's true that coins may appreciate and many times you can find good deals and realize a profit, I don't collect with that in mind. If you feel you must have collectible coins (not bullion) in your investment portfolio, I would concentrate on key dates in higher grades (probably slabbed) for instance 1909-S VDB Lincoln, 1916-D Mercury dime, etc. As for silver and gold, it's ok to be part of your investment portfolio, buy I personally would keep it to 5-10% or under of my portfolio. |
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Bedrock of the Community
Canada
11922 Posts |
 to CCF! |
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Moderator
 United States
187702 Posts |
to the Community! I moved your welcome post to the Main Coin Forum for the proper attention.  |
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
9862 Posts |
As a rule coins aren't a good investment.
You have to gain 20-25% just to cover the fees for selling.
Virtually all the money to be made on coins is at the time of purchase.This requires knowledge, patience and diligence.We can't provide that in one thread on this forum,but if you stick around long enough you might learn something..
"Dipping" is not considered cleaning...
-from PCGS website
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Coin collecting is really a hobby and not a good investment at all. One of the biggest problems with coins is if you need money, then what? Can't just run off to a store and get your money back. Yes you could sell off all of them or part of them at a coin store or show but you'ld probably loose about half to a third of your investment. If you use a means like ebay, you would have to wait and hope to sell some or all and again, possibly loose due to fees for ebay, paypal, insurances, etc. Possibly, and I do mean possibly, if you buy lots of decent coins that are popular, that in the far future they would be worth enough that selling them would get you a small profit but again, really taking a chance. There are many web sites for coins and so many list values but those are for the people selling not for the average person. Yes if you know the system you could open a web site and try to sell them but it would be like selling anything. Not always easy. And old car could sell and it was only one. A house could sell and again, it was only one. Now think of a lot of coins and people only want this or that one. You could be stuck with piles of lesser valuable coins no one wants. Summation is this is a great hobby but could well be a lousy investment. And Gold and Silver are dropping lately so those too may not be a good investment. With the prices of gasoline for a car today I'd say invest in buggy whips. I predect the return of the horse and buggy soon. |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
837 Posts |
Those are very wise words just carl To invest in coins and make a very decent profit requires someone to have more knowledge on coins than the average coin collector and it probably needs a very hefty initial investment ....and even if the investor has good money to buy rare coins, there are lots of fakes in the world of high value rare coins just like there are lots of fakes in the world of art and paintings ...... the best way forward for any potential coin investor is to start by acquiring a lot of knowledge before you even whip out your checkbook .... Edited by DaytR
09/16/2013 1:07 pm
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Pillar of the Community
2087 Posts |
Investing in coins is very much like investing in fine art. The majority of the hobby is conducted for love it is only at the very top end that Investment can really work for you.
If you are seriously looking at investment with solid returns you are going to have to look at purchasing coins with price tags starting at around US$20,000 (thats each!) and averaging close to US100,0000 each. If you want to invest in coins with a near a guaranteed a return you have to be very rich to begin with.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4588 Posts |
You need to separate Bullion from Coins. One buys bullion by weight (x ounces of gold or silver or platinum or palladium). It sells (to you) for a small amount over the direct metal value (spot price) and is bought by dealers (from you) for a small amount UNDER the direct metal value. You sometimes see specials at $10/ounce over spot. So in order to make money, the price of the metal has to go up to cover the cost of buying + selling. One buys coins for their numismatic value - rarity. There was an ebay BIN I just saw discussed here for a pewter 'coin'. 20 cents worth of pewter, on offer for a bit over $209K. But it is the finest known specimen and over 200 years old. That kind of rarity has held value. The lesser items - it's hit and miss. At random, here is a 4 year chart of a lovely, very rare coin... http://www.ngccoin.com/poplookup/us...c=29001&g=65 and you can see that it hasn't changed in value in the 4 years... Here is it's equally lovely, but less rare sibling: http://www.ngccoin.com/poplookup/us...c=17072&g=65, now this one is up for the 4 years, but it peaked in 2012... dropped and came back a bit. Plus as others have said, you pay fees to buy and fees to sell. So unless you really research the market and learn what you are doing, "investing" in coins is a great hobby, but not a great investment. But if you do do the research and have a little luck, you could make some serious coin (pun intended). -----Burton 50+ year / Life / Emeritus ANA member (joined 12/1/1973) Life member: Numismatics International, CONECA Member: TNA, FtWCC, NETCC, EveryCountry (online) coin club Owned by three cats and a wife of 40+ years (joined 1983) Author: 3rd Edition of the Sample Slabs book, https://www.sampleslabs.info/ |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
11951 Posts |
Buying coins as a investments, and to make a profit is very very hard. Even if you have your own coin shop or tables at coin shows there is a really good chance you will not make a profit. Some will sell on ebay or like sites. Between fees, shipping and problems with customers there is a good chance you will not make profit. The biggest problem you will have is getting a steady stream of good coins at wholesale prices. When you do find someone that will sell you coins, you need to have the knowledge, to know what your buying, and what price you should be paying. The collectors that end up with high value collection, that are worth more than they paid. Are the collectors that learn as much as they can about coins. They need to know when the coins are a good deal, then buy. Then buy deals like that for years and years. |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2869 Posts |
The only guarenteed way to end up with a small fortune in coins is to initially invest a large one.
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Moderator
United States
187702 Posts |
Quote:
The only guarenteed way to end up with a small fortune in coins is to initially invest a large one. Well put.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1348 Posts |
If you are looking to invest in coins I would suggest trying Barber halves or Mercury dimes. Those are the real potentials to get for close to spot with a chance of them increasing in price above spot. To be honest though if your looking for the $$$ aspect of it I would just invest in gold and silver bullion. It takes too much time to purchase and resell collectables. Coin shops will always want to make money on you and buy low to sell high. With bullion its pretty straight forward; You know how much your 1 troy ounce is worth within a 5% margin everytime. With a collectable it may be worth $50 to someone but $100 to another. |
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Valued Member
United States
337 Posts |
If your going to invest in coins you should probably stick to bullion coins. Depending on where you purchase them they can be had for close to melt value. If you shop online and can buy in bulk you can sometimes find deals on silver for around $2 sometimes less if you buy in bulk. At a coin shop expect a $5-10 dollar price over melt value wi maybe a little bit less if you buy everything they have but I've never been to a coin store that had hundreds of bullion coin on hand. Check out providentmetals.com, meritgold.com, APMEX.com they seem to be some of the more popular sites for buying bullion. I collect silver bullion as well as silver coins. The coins are more for hobby while the bullion coins are for investment purposes and if the dollar ever crashes ill have something to barter with. |
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Replies: 23 / Views: 3,273 |
Posted 09/15/2013 4:05 pm
