Coin Collecting Investments

great point.

as many people will tell you, investing and collecting are quite different.

however I do believe that it can be done. in my opinion, collecting RARE coins will cost $$ and will gain $$ over time. probably the better investment hands down. but, just like our parents, collecting coins of their era probably didnt seem like a good investment. Just look at it now. A 1945 quarter for example was just .25c then. and now I might be able to get one for $3-6. Not a huge investment from then until now.

i dont think this is a get rich quick hobby, however, from time to time we can stumble upon amazing finds and stashes. but for something that will be with you for your lifetime and the next generation, I think that most, if not ALL coins will someday be RARE. there is talk, and if we do in fact move to a much cheaper AL alloy to make our coins, then even the ZN clad coins may even appreciate that much over time. but not likely.

so , IMHO... for investment purposes, and given the condition of our global economy, I think any silver/gold coin would be a pretty solid investment..

as for graded coins, well, I dont buy them. I know people to , but I dont know if they do it for investment purposes.

my mother has a 1902 $5 gold piece, non graded, and I am sure that it is still a good investment.

anyway, my 2 cents.... love to hear from others

For me, collecting the rare ones and the gold ones are not only an investment, but they are our insurance as well.
Imagine these rare ones, its population definitely do not increase compared to its growing demand as sets of new collectors continue to be bigger yearly.
The old gold ones' numbers are constant but the cost of gold goes up as the demand by new collectors increases. Basic economics say the law of supply and demand dictates on these gold and rare coins. Just like saying hitting two birds in one stone. Price of gold increases yearly and so as the demand for rare / gold coins, thus making supply scarcer and availability in the market lesser.
I said insurance because we can re-sell this gold coins in the future when we are old in case we might need money.
I am optimistic that the scarce coins would soon become rare ones because of availability factor in the market. Once a coin was put in the hands of a collector, do not expect it to be in the market soon. And if all collectors would have this in mind, imagine the effect.
I remember when I accompanied my friend (new to the hobby) to a coin store and ask for an alfonso gold... the seller replied "those afonso golds are only seen on pictures nowadays". So would you imagine the seller's reply as if the coin is an extinct dinosaur
So in short notes, I would always advice others to get the best coins you can afford, go for the nicest ones. Go for the quality and never think of quantity...this is also to avoid collection upgrading and enjoy having the beauty in them...

as for supply and demand,

with the pre64 silver, I'm not sure how many, but many people are melting down sliver.. which also will attribute to rarity and scarcity later on, I would think. just look at 1933 with the gold coins them. the gov confiscated them and melted them, making that year RARE!.. I also heard something similar with the 1963 Franklin half. being the last year silver would be put in coins, exception of the jfk, but many were also melted. so maybe a few decades form now when the pcgs or some other co. can get a handle on an exact population of coins still in existence, after all the melting happens, then we could see some Normal coins becoming extremely rare, at least I would like to think so..

Me personally like silver over gold as if you look back when gold was 300 and silver was 3 and buy the same amount of both and compare to todays prices you will see silver beat gold. (ex silver 100 ounces = 300 then and now = 1762 while 1 oz of gold = 300 and now is around 1200 today)

One thing I really dont like about gold is the fact there isn't a huge variety like in silver coins + id rather have a few thousand different coins then 2 or 3 gold coins of the same over all value.


my 2 cents
Bryan

The resident investment Eeyore checking in...

Successfully investing in anything requires a lot of hard work and knowledge. The market is a very competitive place. Statistically, there are always going to be people don't put in the work but manage to get lucky on an "investment" (in coins, stocks, real estate, whatever), but for those folks it was really speculation.

So my suggestion is to focus on being a collector, and getting as much knowledge as you can...narrow down your focus if you want to be an expert. If you do that, I think the financial gains will take care of themselves.