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Posted 03/12/2018 5:54 pm
Was it ever an investment?
If your goal is to invest, then you need to look at the buy/sell spread for any given investment. For precious metals, the spread is less for wafers or bars vs. bullion coins at any weight level so a metal investor would hold bars or wafers. If you want to multiply your results, purchase the stock of a reputable mining company.
Coin collecting is a hobby. You should collect what interests you and what you enjoy. For some that is Doulton figurines, others collect classic cars, for those of more modest means, car models. I enjoy collecting coins; I am drawn to their aesthetic, the history, the backstory of the coin's creation. While a fairly un-interesting coin series aesthetically, I personally am drawn to the series of James II Irish Gun Money from the 1689-1690 period... The whole concept of melting scrap brass, church bells and the odd cannon to provide a period version of quantitative easing is fascinating.
There is money to be made but as other posters have commented, it is usually in high grade, rare circulation coins. Buy mint product, be it from the Perth Mint, The Royal Mint, the Canadian Mint or any other national mint and you will realize a net loss in value over any short or medium term. The mints have squeezed the maximum value out of the product at the initial point of sale. Most RCM silver proofs sell for approx 5x bullion value; it will take a long time for bullion silver to rise sufficiently for you to recover your buy-in price. In addition, most RCM silver proofs are minted in sufficient quantity that there is no real supply constraint that may cause value to climb. The Royal Mint and Perth Mints have similar markups and mintages.
Finally, most mints have not come to terms with the threat of low cost counterfeits that are flooding the market... nor do they really care that much. The threat of counterfeit coins has impacted and will continue to impact the market for raw coins and there are even a few threads on this forum where respected TPG companies have been accused of certifying counterfeits.
If you want to collect coins... treat it as a hobby... enjoy the hunt, revel in the history and build a knowledge and experience base from the learning that goes along with the pursuit of any hobby.
If you want to retire comfortably or leave a nest egg for future generations, there are many paths you can follow... I just don't recommend coin collecting if that is your goal.
If your goal is to invest, then you need to look at the buy/sell spread for any given investment. For precious metals, the spread is less for wafers or bars vs. bullion coins at any weight level so a metal investor would hold bars or wafers. If you want to multiply your results, purchase the stock of a reputable mining company.
Coin collecting is a hobby. You should collect what interests you and what you enjoy. For some that is Doulton figurines, others collect classic cars, for those of more modest means, car models. I enjoy collecting coins; I am drawn to their aesthetic, the history, the backstory of the coin's creation. While a fairly un-interesting coin series aesthetically, I personally am drawn to the series of James II Irish Gun Money from the 1689-1690 period... The whole concept of melting scrap brass, church bells and the odd cannon to provide a period version of quantitative easing is fascinating.
There is money to be made but as other posters have commented, it is usually in high grade, rare circulation coins. Buy mint product, be it from the Perth Mint, The Royal Mint, the Canadian Mint or any other national mint and you will realize a net loss in value over any short or medium term. The mints have squeezed the maximum value out of the product at the initial point of sale. Most RCM silver proofs sell for approx 5x bullion value; it will take a long time for bullion silver to rise sufficiently for you to recover your buy-in price. In addition, most RCM silver proofs are minted in sufficient quantity that there is no real supply constraint that may cause value to climb. The Royal Mint and Perth Mints have similar markups and mintages.
Finally, most mints have not come to terms with the threat of low cost counterfeits that are flooding the market... nor do they really care that much. The threat of counterfeit coins has impacted and will continue to impact the market for raw coins and there are even a few threads on this forum where respected TPG companies have been accused of certifying counterfeits.
If you want to collect coins... treat it as a hobby... enjoy the hunt, revel in the history and build a knowledge and experience base from the learning that goes along with the pursuit of any hobby.
If you want to retire comfortably or leave a nest egg for future generations, there are many paths you can follow... I just don't recommend coin collecting if that is your goal.
