Posted 04/20/2015 09:11 am
I think it's very interesting to contemplate the future market in coin values. Personally I think UNCUT PL sets from 1960 onward are a good investment and will increase in value and MS coins will decrease. This is assuming coin collecting does not go the way of the postage stamp. Reasons for that -
1. The vast majority of young people today are growing up with e-money and thus, their paradigm of coin collection in general is much different than older generations where visiting the local bank teller played a routine part of their existence and who literally had a pocket full of change every day of their life. Now the majority of us have a piece of plastic in our wallet. The difference between the origin of coinage - a bank roll which comes from the mint as opposed to a PL set which also came directly from the mint - is lessened.
2. The issue of cleaned, faked or counterfeit coins adds complexity to the aspect of acquiring more expensive MS coinage.
3. It takes far less effort to acquire a full collection or fill a gap of several years from an inherited collection with nice, shiny coins by acquiring and cutting up a PL set of 6 (or 7) coins for each year, as opposed to searching for the same 6 (or 7) separately.
4. The Canadian Mint has drastically reduced production of PL sets. Ever since 2011, the grade is also exactly the same as bank coin or rolls prior to circulation.
5. The adage of "buy low and sell high" would seem applicable to any type of investment. Clearly the opportunity for "buying low" is with PL coin or sets.
There will always be the high end buyer who chooses to collect MS coins, but I think for the average collector today, cost wise PL coins are a real bargain......which is not entirely a bad thing because it enables new collectors to acquire collections that are not cost prohibitive, thus sustaining the hobby. In turn, as in any limited commodity type investment, supply and demand will dictate future prices. I have no idea of the percentage of population who have a coin collection but assuming the percentage of us stays constant, population growth will increase the number of collectors in the future. That in turn will limit supply, eventually increasing prices of the PL sets that are still "out there", especially the sets that remain unopened and untouched.
...just my 2 cents....
EDIT: I'm referring to the coin collecting hobby in general, apart from future metal values. I've noticed a somewhat odd trend of many people today who collect silver dollars solely for their potential gain in terms of future silver melt values. The thought always crosses my mind "and what, we're going to melt away from Canadian history that entire era of monetary transactions?".
1. The vast majority of young people today are growing up with e-money and thus, their paradigm of coin collection in general is much different than older generations where visiting the local bank teller played a routine part of their existence and who literally had a pocket full of change every day of their life. Now the majority of us have a piece of plastic in our wallet. The difference between the origin of coinage - a bank roll which comes from the mint as opposed to a PL set which also came directly from the mint - is lessened.
2. The issue of cleaned, faked or counterfeit coins adds complexity to the aspect of acquiring more expensive MS coinage.
3. It takes far less effort to acquire a full collection or fill a gap of several years from an inherited collection with nice, shiny coins by acquiring and cutting up a PL set of 6 (or 7) coins for each year, as opposed to searching for the same 6 (or 7) separately.
4. The Canadian Mint has drastically reduced production of PL sets. Ever since 2011, the grade is also exactly the same as bank coin or rolls prior to circulation.
5. The adage of "buy low and sell high" would seem applicable to any type of investment. Clearly the opportunity for "buying low" is with PL coin or sets.
There will always be the high end buyer who chooses to collect MS coins, but I think for the average collector today, cost wise PL coins are a real bargain......which is not entirely a bad thing because it enables new collectors to acquire collections that are not cost prohibitive, thus sustaining the hobby. In turn, as in any limited commodity type investment, supply and demand will dictate future prices. I have no idea of the percentage of population who have a coin collection but assuming the percentage of us stays constant, population growth will increase the number of collectors in the future. That in turn will limit supply, eventually increasing prices of the PL sets that are still "out there", especially the sets that remain unopened and untouched.
...just my 2 cents....
EDIT: I'm referring to the coin collecting hobby in general, apart from future metal values. I've noticed a somewhat odd trend of many people today who collect silver dollars solely for their potential gain in terms of future silver melt values. The thought always crosses my mind "and what, we're going to melt away from Canadian history that entire era of monetary transactions?".
Edited by wildflowerAB
04/20/2015 09:37 am
04/20/2015 09:37 am
