| Author |
 Replies: 17 / Views: 3,165 |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
3843 Posts |
Thought that this would be an interesting discussion to have. In your opinion which Classic U.S. coins would you buy and hold long term? Lets say 20+ years. Just the opinions of an average collector, who is heavily biased in favor of early 19th century coinage. My picks would be: 1). Pre-1826 Capped Bust half dollars, especially the keys like 1815 and semi-keys like 1820. VF-20 (and above), have to have nice eye appeal, be original, and be problem free. In my opinion the early years of the series could move up in price over the coming years to better reflect their scarcity compared to the later (post 1826) dates of the series. There are a tons of unoriginal Capped Bust Halves out there that have been cleaned/dipped at some point, are damaged, or are just plain ugly. I think that nice original coins with nothing wrong with them are more scarce than many realize and with the growing popularity of the series they have the potential to do well. 2). Draped Bust Halves. F-15 (and above), have to have nice eye appeal, be original, and be problem free. Much like the Capped Bust Halves above but much more difficult to find. Many are just plain ugly so I like the potential of nice mid-grade+ examples with eye appeal. 3). Draped Bust Dollars. F-15 (and above), have to have nice eye appeal, be original, and be problem free. Expensive, yes and outside of my budget but I think that nice, problem free coins, with nice eye appeal are currently underappreciated. Mintages are very small and many of the remaining coins have some type of problem making nice examples hard to find. 4). Seated dollars. Excluding the most common dates. VF-20 (and above), have to have nice eye appeal, be original, and be problem free. A much longer series than Draped Bust Dollars, not heavily collected with a lot of fairly scarce dates that don't have the prices attached to them that reflects their relative scarcity. 5). Capped Bust quarters. F-15 (and above), have to have nice eye appeal, be original, and be problem free. You don't see too may Capped Bust quarters that are problem free. Tiny mintages relatively speaking and if they ever got popular prices would increase dramatically. 6. Classic Commemoratives. Excluding the Columbian Expo Half and the other really common designs that can be had for a little over spot in circulated grades. XF-40 (and above), have to have nice eye appeal, be original, and be problem free. These have been out of favor and decreasing in price for decades and I'm not sure how much lower they can go. I think they will turn it around eventually, especially if a few coin dealers decide to promote them heavily like they did in the past. There are a lot of great designs but I feel that many average collectors simply just don't know about them. What are your picks? Feel free to agree or disagree. |
|
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
If you're asking in the sense of what would be best to make money off of the closest thing to a guarantee would be top pop/almost top pop in the range of 5 figures or more and preferably 6 figures or more. Even then you have to hope they don't get unseated by new submissions but they're about the only assurance. I do disagree with the classic commend though. They'd need to be graded much higher than xf since almost all can easily be found in mid ms grades and not all of them are even pricey in that range. Basically to me they key is what makes your coin stand out that will get the value to climb. First and foremost has to be eye appeal, things that would be no brainers for CAC to sticker. After that would be rarity. You'd really need it to be in a grade where it's hard to find and there aren't a lot better. Things that may only appear on ebay a few times a year or are insanely popular. This of course is all from an economics side. If you're holding 20 years you want a real return not just well I made 50 bucks selling it after two decades. Series get hot and cold so some will be timing, but I agree the early key date stuff would be a good target. High end stuff isn't the only thing that can appreciate, but the harsh truth is most people (myself included) just don't have the money to buy the types of coins that really have a good chance of bringing a big return. 20 years from now a lot of things will probably have higher prices but most will just be inflation. If something's cheap by comparison and readily available there's no reason for the market to push the price higher |
|
Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
If it's classics only, ANY high grade coin. Which particular classic you can afford depends on your budget.
It is never easy to say which particular classic will perform the best, on a percentage basis gain.
There is always market demand for them, and there are never enough for everybody. They are 'grist for the mill', when it comes to very high grade, through the public auction houses, worldwide.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1804 Posts |
Joe2007..........
Newbie here......
I bought (2) 3 cent silver coins back about 50 years ago
One was 1868 ... the other was 1870.
Paid (about) $2.00-3.00 the pair. Really can't remember the exact amount. But I was (am) supper cheap. So I am sure I didn't pay too much.
I can remember buying them. It was because (3) was an ODD amount for a coin.
Always did like that series, after I looked up the current suggested prices.
G-4 equals (about) $700 the pair now.
Edited by Domain555
03/20/2014 02:39 am
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
5825 Posts |
Quote:
What are your picks? Keys and semi-keys, particularly 19th century coins. And AU or better. |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
5850 Posts |
I've come up with what I call "The Four C's of Investing in Coins" (which works much better when said aloud than it does when written out): 1. Condition -- The higher the grade, the more likely it is to increase in value over time. 2. Collectibility -- Avoid obscure coins for which there is a limited market. The more desirable a coin is to average collectors, the better the chances the price will go up. 3. Quantity -- The fewer made, the more likely they will go up in value. For classic coins, this includes key dates but would also include things like proof versions. 4. Cost -- This is the tricky one. Any coin that is high grade, desirable and rare is probably already a very expensive coin, and buying extremely expensive coins may not be a sound investment strategy. Optimally, you'd want to buy coins that are currently undervalued for some reason, but this can be dangerous since they may remain undervalued. I suggest a compromise by setting yourself a budget and buying the best coins you can for that price. Lately, I've started investing in some classic proof coins, such as proof Barber quarters and dimes, proof Liberty and Shield nickels, etc. Some have mintages as low as 500-800 for the year they were produced, and I strongly believe that proof coins will always be desirable. I set a budget of around $1000 per coin and have been able to pick up some nice examples in PR64-PR65 (the nickels were significantly less than $1000 each, while the Barber dime and quarter were a bit more). Ask me in 20 years and I'll let you know if my strategy worked... |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
3234 Posts |
20-cent pieces seem to go up fairly steadily
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1804 Posts |
May I please add all error coins in this category?
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
3486 Posts |
Rather than shooting for the moon I suggest circulated coins in XF or AU. These are tough for many dates in all four Barber series. Other candidates would be semi-key Mercury dimes. Everyone seems to focus on the 16-D, '21 and '21-D but dates from 1917 to 1919 an be hard to locate. The rational is that the pool of buyers for circulated coins is larger than for high grade MS coins. Any 1919-D is an overlooked date. WWI was over and the need for circulating coins dropped. NOTHING after 1934. Earlier dates; the key here is untouched examples as previously mentioned. These really need to be slabbed as much as I dislike slabs. With a 20 year time horizon you can afford to endure a flat market. Coins rebound in interest and the price increases eventually. And very early coins, although collected by relatively few, would respond to the least amount of interest. These cannot be promoted as they do not exist in large numbers. And if going for MS-65 rarities you must examine population reports carefully. But perhaps with all of the re-submissions even these reports can be suspect. I agree, an interesting topic for discussion. |
|
Pillar of the Community
 United States
3843 Posts |
Thank you for your comments! baseball: I agree on Classic Commeratives. Since they are so common and not that much more expensive in uncirculated grades it makes sense to buy better coins. barryg: I like your "The Four C's of Investing in Coins". Obscure coins like 3CNs are really neat and relatively rare when compared to their price points but they just don't have the collector base to move prices significantly. It seems that larger denomination coins generally do better than smaller denomination coins, with dollars and half dollars doing better and have a larger collector base than quarters, dimes, nickels, Three Cents, and Half Cents. Pennies seem to be the exception to this rule. Despite the recent Saddle Ridge Hoard, large amounts of previously unknown early to mid-19th century coins don't come to market very often and thus their values are less likely to plummet due to increased populations of rare dates. More modern keys like the 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent, 1916-D Mercury dime, and the 1877 Indian Head cent are usually easily available if you are willing to pay up -- every dealer seems to have one or two -- but many earlier 19th century key dates appear to be legitimately rare with very low populations. There are also sleepers out there, especially in the Barber and Seated Liberty series. |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1839 Posts |
19th century proof coins with great eye appeal.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
3843 Posts |
Although I'd like to retain what I paid and possibly make a little bit long term -- I don't consider coins an investment -- I consider them a fun hobby where I should be able to retain some value unlike other hobbies where money spent is basically gone.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
3486 Posts |
"More modern keys like the 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent, 1916-D Mercury dime, and the 1877 Indian Head cent are usually easily available if you are willing to pay up ... " OH SO TRUE! The 1914-D cent is a much better bet for long term retention of value. At any coin show the 1909-S-VDB is more available than a nice 14-D. No need to doubt that this trend will continue for 20 years. Instead of the 1877, the cents from '65 to '69 have a better potential for long-term value. ALWAYS in the high, circulated grades. Keys are cool, but, their scarcity was recognized early on and thus saved. Semi-keys were overlooked. |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
8137 Posts |
Semi key and key morgans or key date/ high grade gold has been doing quite well lately.
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
I've got no idea. And if anyone really knew, they would be the same ones that know which stocks to buy, which old cars to buy, what oil well to back, etc. For me I never even think of what coins may, might, could, should, possibly be a good or even decent investment. I only collect coins. I have no idea of ever selling a coin. I think of all coins as a collector hobby and to me all hobbies are just for fun.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
2815 Posts |
 with just Carl. I never, ever think of potential value. This is strictly a hobby for me. But I also understand that speculation can be fun in its own way.  |
| |
Replies: 17 / Views: 3,165 |
Posted 03/20/2014 01:31 am
