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 Replies: 69 / Views: 7,165 |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
837 Posts |
Hobby , its fun collecting as a hobby and the thrill and highs of finding low mintage coins is worth all the effort put in... I decided against investment because with investment if the coins I invest dont gain value I would become stressed and really hate those coins  whereas in a hobby I love the coins regardless of whether they gain or lose value hence the whole process of collecting is always a good experience (guaranteed !)   |
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Moderator
 Australia
16826 Posts |
I think you'll find that the nature of the forum will skew your results towards the "hobby" end of the spectrum. Investors, as a general rule, don't really care about or need to know information about the things they invest in - all they really want to know about is buy price, sell price and possible future sell prices. Once they know that, they aren't going to hang around a coin forum.
Investors don't really "collect" coins at all. They simply own them.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Bedrock of the Community
Canada
11922 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5854 Posts |
Both though it's a little bit more of a hobby than an investment to me.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
I voted 'hobby'.
Nevertheless, I have made some decent profits from my numismatic interests, without really trying.
A long time ago, I sold all of the valuable coins out of my collection to raise a deposit for our first house. The value of the coins sold equated to about 12% of the total value of our house at the time. The money saved on fewer mortgage repayments amounted to about a third of the total value of our house. It was, in part, instrumental in setting me up securely for the rest of my life.
No wonder I have kept my interest in numismatics!
You can't put a roof over your head with a stack of rare coins.
I have always built my collection by opportunistic cherry picking. Value wise, it has proven to me to be by far and away, to be the best way to build a collection.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
548 Posts |
A hobby.
I don't like to get hung about how much my coins are worth or how much I paid for them. That could be quite depressing.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
8137 Posts |
I keep track of what I paid because it will help me when I go to upgrade. I have also made some nice profits selling coins. My best was a bunch of world banknotes I bought for $3 and sold at a show for $15  |
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Valued Member
United States
134 Posts |
Definitley hobby.
I don't get the opportunity to do any serious buying that often. But when I do, I buy coins that I really, really like and enjoy studying.
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Moderator
United States
188213 Posts |
Quote:
Interesting results so far. Not a single vote for investment... Quote:
Investors, as a general rule, don't really care about or need to know information about the things they invest in - all they really want to know about is buy price, sell price and possible future sell prices. Once they know that, they aren't going to hang around a coin forum. And now you know why.  |
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Rest in Peace
United States
10625 Posts |
I would say it's all hobby for me and an investment for my grandson as I'll probably never sell a coin, although I did trade with a forum member a while back.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2543 Posts |
Quote:
Not a single vote for investment... Liars !  Quote:
Investors, as a general rule, don't really care about or need to know information about the things they invest in - all they really want to know about is buy price, sell price and possible future sell prices. Once they know that, they aren't going to hang around a coin forum. Explain over 1900 posts in "what happens to gold and silver" There is a definite "unheard from" faction here that agonizes over their collection every time PM's move a dollar. Who only buy coins they think are going to increase substantially in numismatic value which in their eyes is tied into spot prices. Not so much classic collectors, but many world 1oz collectors  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1373 Posts |
Definitely collector. If I was in it for the money (?) I'd be on welfare by now.
Most of my purchases are of more modern (and inexpensive) varieties, though I am closing in on completing my Canadian 1900's sets. I have a very limited amount of disposable income so that confines my purchase choices.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3692 Posts |
For me it's both, split down the middle. So you could say that I'm investing half-wrong.
But I've had other hobbies before that I've quit before and if it were to happen again I would like to at least be able to liquidate it. The bad thing is that it's also the easiest thing to liquidate when there are dozens of other things in your house that should go before the coins.
I also want to pass down my collection to an heir, so they should have 50-50 factors of interesting things to see and value. My eyes get better with age (for cherrypicking) so both factors (interest and value) benefit over time.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1391 Posts |
I started out as an investor with the whole bullion craze. I was getting silver rounds because they were the cheapest. Then I started getting some silver eagles. Then I started getting some more silver eagles to fill in the dates I was missing. Then I got some Canadian Maple leafs. Then I found out about Pandas and Kooks. Then the Lunar series. Then I found out that you could get world silver coins out of the junk bins. Then I realized that I really like the designs of some of the non-silver coins. Then I started buying a lot of non-silver coins because I had half the coins from a certain year, so why not make the set complete. Now I have a huge pile of meticulously labelled and cataloged coins from around the world. It is just a disaster and I think my top ten most expensive coins don't have a drop of silver or gold in them. I keep buying coins that I know I can sell or trade for more later but that hasn't happened yet. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
919 Posts |
I buy the highest grade, best looking coins I can find. I rarely buy coins at or below guide prices. I try to buy full strike, uncleaned, attractive coins. If coin x lists for $50 and I see a full strike coin for $80, I take the $80 coin. The chances I will be able to make money are slim, and I'm fine with that.
Who knows, 20 years from now coin collecting may not even exist as it does today (that is a whole different thread). When I attend shows I see a lot of people over 55 and very few under 30. A lot of coins are going to need to change hands in the next 10 years. Some older dealers have books full of thousands of coins. It will be interesting to watch it all play out. What does an heir do with a 3 ring binder full of lower grade SLQ's, WLH's, etc.
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Replies: 69 / Views: 7,165 |
First Page
Posted 10/14/2013 9:49 pm
