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 Replies: 15 / Views: 2,555 |
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Valued Member
United States
83 Posts |
what do you think are the top 5-10 coins, and their grades, to invest in ? By that, I mean coins that are likely to hold their value and hopefully appreciate but are LIQUID - easy to sell....I am hoping to see a handful of opinions to see if there is any kind of consensus.
e.g. a red MS 64-65 1909 S VDB ?
*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. *** Edited by shug23
03/11/2021 07:50 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5825 Posts |
First, do NOT think of coins as an investment.
Treat them as an enjoyable hobby.
Otherwise you will probably be sadly disappointed.
Second, decide if you want to continue buying coins based on the above.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
If investment, rather than collecting or numismatics (the study of coins) is your main motivation,
stack silver or gold instead.
It is possible to make a successful investment? in rare coins, but it will need half of your lifetime.
My avatar coin is an example.
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Valued Member
 United States
83 Posts |
Thanks I am going to guess you are not a dealer (?)...I will clarify...I have my personal 'coin' collection that is fairly complete and excellent quality and have pleasurably spent years/decades on the search ...eg I have all the Morgans and silver Washington quarters and Peace dollars. S I understand what you are saying as collecting vs. investing I can now put my some spare cash into a stock or index fund or some silver bullion, and look at a monthly statement, or alternatively, say I can pick up an a Mercury dime, and maybe it becomes simply something that my kids inherit, that I enjoy in the interim... But also maybe it's something I will sell in ten years.... I assume coin dealers have an idea which quality coins and in what grade are easy to churn. Perhaps there is even a data base which might exist.... Or maybe it all just comes down to a dollar amount....eg. how much demand is there for a $9000 coin vs. a $1000 coin. Anyway, it's a question I woke up with this morning and thought I'd throw it out there. Maybe it's a dumb question |
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
5393 Posts |
Not a dumb question at all .
The best I can help you with is....
Never look at coins as an investment
99/100 you will be sorely disappointed.
Yes I am a dealer .
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Valued Member
United States
83 Posts |
Thanks for replying...Yeah, it is an investment but agree it may have a crappy ROI....Assuming you are a coin dealer and do so for a living, you are making decisions on which coins to buy because you are primarily motivated to sell them so you can put food on the table. So I assume you aren't buying Morgan 1893-S MS65s.....Assuming the coins you are buying are fairly priced, what are you looking for ? say you had X dollars to go to a show and buy any fairly priced coins that you want....X can be any number between 5 and 50 thousand....with the intent that you will want to sell them (because you are a dealer)
Edited by shug23
03/11/2021 10:42 am
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5393 Posts |
No dealer is going to let you know what
they search for , except to say that they look for what
Is on customers want lists , or material that is saleable
for a quick profit . Dealers aren't or should not be in
love with their inventory .
Sort of like a GM dealer wanting to keep every
cool Vette that comes on the car lot .
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Valued Member
United States
83 Posts |
Right...you aren't , or shouldn't be, in love with your inventory else you are going to starve....I do maintain there are coins at certain grades which have greater than demand than others...Maybe every dealer has their own personal feelings on what coins and grades are 'best'....I was looking to see what consensus might exist.....for example, I think the VDB red penny at a 64 or 65 will always be saleable and have good demand....Might not make a profit, but probably can sell easily
Maybe a general answer to my question might be : Any NGC or PGCS graded key date and costs between 500 and $2000, assuming fairly priced at the time.....
Edited by shug23
03/11/2021 10:57 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7273 Posts |
I'm not a dealer but I have a good relationship with one. Like Pacific Coin stated, a dealer wants to buy low and sell high quickly. For example they want to buy a $100 coin at $50 and hope to sell it quickly (like to some one that has requested) for $75. They don't want to hold it for $100, if they can get $75 today, they will take $75 today instead of $100 in a year.
Now as to you. I think the question should be is there a coin/note/bullion that I would like to buy now and hope to sell at a future time for a profit, and I think we all do this. And the answer is that there is no guarantee something you buy today will sell for a profit in the future. If you take Numismatic value of it, you can buy a Bullion Gold Eagle and hope gold goes up. You can do the same with silver.
Now as to what my dealer has in his personal collection, that has gone up in value:
National Currency in Serial Number 1 to 5
Several quarters on a Sacagawea Planchet
a 1944 Steel Cent
Several Seated Liberty Proofs
and several Uncirculated Colonial currency
Those are in his "personal collection"
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Valued Member
Canada
89 Posts |
I my opinion, I think its all about taking the risk, find some unpopular coin that's high grade, one of a kind, and maybe one day it will be valuable. I think Peace dollars weren't so popular but once they became popular, the people who were smart enough to hold on to the higher grade and proof ones, made a hefty profit. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7273 Posts |
Quote:
Any NGC or PGCS graded key date and costs between 500 and $2000, assuming fairly priced at the time... Well you kind of have 2 buyers here. I doubt many buyers of $500 coins will also buy $2000. If you have an $800 1909 S VDB, like in VF 25, that will sell really quickly. There is a demand for a lower grade VDB. If you have one for $2000, maybe Carl will buy it. A lot of buyers won't spend that much money. If this was me what you I get? Lets take $2000. I would buy the following: 1896 Educational Note in VF+ (725) http://vernpotter.com/VernPotter/3%...2LS39270.htm$10 Gold Eagle https://www.apmex.com/product/10248...-PCGS-random |
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Valued Member
United States
83 Posts |
makes sense...the higher the price, the less people can afford it...so you cut down on the number of buyers....But on the other hand, for a given coin, the lower the price, the less attractive the coin is is...It's an interesting theoretical operations research question....how do you optimize the price vs grade decision to maximize sales....
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7273 Posts |
Quote:
how do you optimize the price vs grade decision to maximize sales.... That's a good question and I think there is a price ceiling. For example in the 1909 S VBD, the lowest priced coins are generally around $500/$600 and they usually have issues, so (this is my conjecture) people will look toward the next level F/VF. An F SDB may be $700 and a VF maybe $850. A nice VF will have full wheat stalks and a lot of details in the Obverse so a VF 1909 VDB may sell better than an F 1909 VDB. While in the 1877 IHC, I found G coins for under $300, I got mine for $270. A full liberty in the 1877 was over $1000. From $270 to $1000 was a bridge too far to cross or me, so I got a G 1877. There is a price/value that many people are attracted to, what this is, I don't know, I can tell you mine but I'm not everyone else. And please note that in conditional rarities like MS68 1909 S VDB, you may have only 2-3 deep pocket individuals that can buy that coin, they may spend $5000 or $10000 (these are just made up numbers), it depends on factors that I can't understand, but when you have that much disposable income a $5000 difference is negible. Edited by hfjacinto
03/11/2021 12:05 pm
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
7933 Posts |
Yes. Pick key dates of classic types. They will at least not go down in value (we had a thread here a while ago on the topic of trends in coin prices over time). Stay away from bullion. The commodities market giveth and it taketh away. And remember that an S&P index fund earned about 85% in the last 5 years. Which is to say, I do not invest in coins  . Edited by tdziemia
03/11/2021 12:07 pm
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Moderator
United States
187702 Posts |
Quote:
Which is to say, I do not invest in coins  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
 This is easy. Go to any coin shop and buy any coin. Then try to sell at another place and note the loss. |
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Replies: 15 / Views: 2,555 |
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Posted 03/11/2021 08:52 am
