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 Replies: 19 / Views: 2,485 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1151 Posts |
I want to invest $500 into either key / semi key coin(s) or into silver bullion. This is a short term investment of 2 - 3 years in which I want to make a fair return in this time period. Which is my best bet? .999 Silver bullion 90% junk coins 40% junk coins ASE's Raw key coins Slabbed keys Raw semi keys Slabbed semi keys other Which and why? |
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Moderator
 United States
6563 Posts |
if you were to go with silver I suggest ASE's -You can sometimes find them right at spot -On ebay they sometimes sell WAY over spot -They are easily movable whereas scrap silver is not -1oz coins are a lot easier to keep then a wholebuncha dimes |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1283 Posts |
Gold might be a good bet, but too unpredictable for me.
I would suggest low-mid grade Keys. Look at gray sheet and find that grade where it makes a huge jump in price. Then pick the next grade below it.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7629 Posts |
I would suggest not investing in anything metal if the money means anything to you. There are far better investments.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
986 Posts |
I would go with slabbed keys, unless you really can tell a good fake from the real deal. The precious metals market is very volatile, and I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole from an investment standpoint. However, if you are set on silver, I would go with 90% junk silver. There is a smaller premium over spot for 90%, and in my experience Roosevelt dimes are sold for the smalled premium over face. For $500, I would grab up a nice lincoln key. You might find a 1909-svdb, but more than likely try for a nice 1914-d and maybe a 31-s? I'll let the lincoln experts chime in. And especially with the 2009 lincoln anniversary coming up, I don't think you can go wrong. |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
3831 Posts |
Metals are one of the worst investmest in the long run. With the weak USD that makes metal prices look extraordinarily expensive and extremely cheap to foreign buyers, mining companies are extremely happy with the high metal prices at the moment. Silver prices historically don't raise that much due to the high recycling percentage compared to other precious metals. Perhaps it's actually better to invest in mining stocks rather than coins. You came in too late in the market. Most metal prices are expected to slow down at 2010 and perhaps fall in 2012.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
764 Posts |
slabbed keys,
best chance of going up
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
14454 Posts |
if these are the only choices I have to pick from I would have to say key slabbed coins because they will always have investers and collectors looking for them at the same time, the bullion has one or the other looking for them. But now the part I tell everyone else, a collection/bullion hoard is not for short term gain because the market is so wishy washy all the time, when its going good its usually going really good but when its going bad, it usually going really bad and people have lost millions within a matter of minutes with bullion market because the spot prices fluctuate so much and you still have people just trying to break even from the big boom of metals in the 80's that are just holding on to what they have until that one day they may be able to break even and sell off all they bought 20 years ago
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No longer with us
United States
207 Posts |
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Valued Member
United States
99 Posts |
Gold or ASE's I would go with the silver, more for your buck and most people think silver will play catchup all at once. Personally I like my silver investing plan though its quite time consuming. I am just shy of 25 ozt for this year with a face value of $56.50. Good luck whatever you decide. HH Mark |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Regardless of what you do as an investment, try to think of liquidity. At a bank you can just walk in, if open, get your money and walk away. With stocks you have to contact a broaker and if the stocks are electronically held, they have to be sold and then your sent a check in the mail. Possibly also electronically entered into your bank account. This could take a few days or longer pending the ability to sell your stocks. Collectables such as stamps, sporting cards, Hot Wheels, Beanie Babies would be like selling buggy whips. Not easy and may take weeks or even months if even possible. So now you have a pile of Silver Bars. Your at home and decide to buy something but you need money. So just where do you sell those Silver Bars and what are you going to get for them. At least with coins there is a substantial amount of coin shows around me. Every weekend somewhere. So I could sell any coin on a weekend if money is required. The higher the grade, the more popular the coin, the easier to sell. But even there not much chance selling a Silver Bar, Gold Bar or especially a Platinum bar. So the summation is to think liquidity if your talking investing. That means a bank first and coins second. For a POSSIBLE fast investment increase something like a high grade 1916D Merc or 1909S VDB,in a TPG slab might be the best idea. But only if you have access to a place to sell such things. |
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Valued Member
United States
194 Posts |
I don't know about others areas but at coin shows in my area I was getting au Franklin half dollars for melt and other 90% for under melt. in fact I bought a franklin for $4.00 when silver was getting close to $5.00 I would invest in 90%. Jser |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1173 Posts |
If you know the series, and I mean know it, and if you have an experienced eye for coins, then buying unslabbed key dates offers your greatest potential for reward, but also your greatest risk. If you can find a 1909-S VDB or a 1916-D Merc, unslabbed, but also uncleaned, with good rims, etc., and with eye appeal, for your $500, then get it slabbed by PCGS or another respectable company, then you just might make some major profit if you have a means of selling the coin for retail prices (e.g., selling on ebay.) The risk, of course, is that you buy a fake, or a problem coin, and can't get it slabbed. That's why you need to know the series and coins in general. I would also suggest looking at series that have not been popular recently, but might cycle back into favor. Liberty nickels and # CN's are good examples of coins that could see a major increase in popularity, IMHO. The keys have already made some pretty big moves, but if the economy holds, could move much further. The economy is problematic at this juncture. If you follow the market news, you know that most retailers saw weaker than expected holiday spending. The question is why? And do you think people will be buying key date coins, or paying their mortgages and buying food if the economy actually sags into recession? Since you have $500 that you can afford to "lose" for 2-3 years (by the way...that's a pretty short investment horizon actually) go ahead and speculate. But if you really need access to those funds "at the drop of a hat" then you might want to rethink things a bit. Best of luck. Edited by hunter20ga
01/14/2008 11:32 am
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1151 Posts |
Thanks everyone for your thoughts.
Yes there are better and safer forms of investments, but I want to keep with things that I know and enjoy, coins / silver.
I have other investments, stocks - real estate - mutual funds - etc. I just want to try something different, short term and without much investment of cash.
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New Member
United States
9 Posts |
With watching the market for the last year or so I have to say Silver is truly in position to make a big move soon.
If you interested in bullion I get my info from
www.GoldISMoney.info
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4867 Posts |
Silver Canada Maple Leafs
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Replies: 19 / Views: 2,485 |
Posted 01/11/2008 9:50 pm
