Collector , Investment Or Both

Im a collector first. I love looking at the history of coins. I've only sold 1 coin and that was because I had 2 and wanted to buy something else. But in the end if my kids arent interested in them, yea id hope to make a profit.

Probably a little of both. If the opportunity arises and you can make a few bucks, then sure. But collecting comes first; for me anyway.

I love it :) Is this copyrighted? haha

I personally began in collecting only, circulation when I was younger and NCLT for 3-4 years now. At first I bought qty 1, finally began to buy 2-3 of every thing I thought would rise in value, selling the extra to finance my hobby. I finally created a webstore to avoid ebay crazy fees and kijiji/craigslist crazy lowballers, missed meeting, etc.
So coin collecting is still more a hobby than anything else, but I developed another hobby at the same time in creating the webstore, discovering all this internet stuff. I always search for deals anyway to improve my own collection, so when I find a deal for an item I already have or doesn't fit into my collection, I buy it anyway and can offer it at a reasonable price to those who want it. I'm on a few coin collecting forums as well and feel very good when I read that someone is looking for something and I have it in stock, I can then PM him and usually offer to him at lower than market price. I like people here and on RFD, I spend a lot of time here and sometimes get deals because of you guys so I try to give it back. I'm not a dealer or anything so I don't get discounts directly from the mints.

Last year, the Silver Bullet Bullion (not NCLT but silver bullion) were hard to find a reasonable price here in Canada (importing fees from NWTM were higher and import "concern" with a bullet-shaped item. I had an address I could ship in the USA so I ordered some and this is when I decided to open my webstore. To be able to lower the price (10% crazy ebay fees!!) I sold many of them at a much lower price than what could be found on ebay.

Anyway, this is me, collecting/investing/having fun in this coin collection world! ;)

I am first a collector, I love coins with animals, as I have mentioned love elephants on coins, birds. Love the african various african wildlife featured on coins as an example.

So I like to collect those type coins and I like coins that mark a specific event or say location.... Then I like coins that celebrate or honor a time period, such as I like the new Dr Who coins celebrating the shows history.

I have not sold a single coin. Would I? I dunno. Maybe some of the bullion coins in my collection but I enjoy them still so I am not really interested in that.

I do think tho, that the coins, IF such a situation should arise (i hope not but life is uncertain) that if I do need to sell, that at least when I sell, they produce a profit.

Thats very dicey tho. The markets are flooded with coins. Very few coins hold their value that are released. Then you have to decide exactly what type coins will you be buying. I have only bought "modern" silver and gold coins throughout the years.

So like others say, buy what you like, if you buy towards selling, consider just investment type grade bullion coins (tho I am against right now in this time period investing in PMs of any kind).

Time will tell what happens,,, I think if someone was buying coins as an investment, it would have to be almost a full time job, as some coins you would want to be flipping others, a FEW, would be long term holds.

What we need really is some sort of database AND tracking software that charts prices, based off the marketplace.

Personally I really don't think most coins make a good investment. Those that do .. well, you have to spend a decent amount in order to make a decent profit in most cases. So me, I'm a collector.

Now that doesn't mean I don't sell coins. I have a fixed amount of money for my collection, so if I want to fill gaps or upgrade poorer examples then I have to supplement the cash gifts I get for Christmas and my birthday with selling. But usually it's either a coin for which I have already identified a better replacement, or one I bought and have tired of.

OK, I've made a reasonable profit on sales more recently. But that's because the coins I'm selling are mostly ones I bought over 10 years ago. I've been lucky in picking up a few unrecognised rarities and knowing a buyer that would like one too. But my coins form no part of my pension planning or savings strategy. If they are eventually worth more than I paid, nice. But if not ... well, I've had the pleasure of their company for a few years. Seems a reasonable trade-off to me. Like renting a painting or piece of artwork.

what is flipping coins exactly? and how is it done? sounds like a lot of people are doing it... I just can't seem to figure out the profit part! lol

Very well put and is exactly the way I feel about it as well.