Coins As Investment? - Which Are The Safest Coins?

As far as an investment. I would say bullion and ETF's.

Depending on how much you want to invest, I hear people yelling about gold, and others yelling about silver about to skyrocket. Its something I would definately say you need to do you research on.

As far as silver, I would stick to Silver American Eagles, and Maple Leafs. Personally I prefer the ASE (silver eagles). I have a few proof coins, but mainly because I got them for a good deal. But proof coins will always have an extra value you will have to pay for the proof.

But people will always want american silver eagles, and gold eagles. And if they ever stop making them even more so. When I first came here I wanted gold, but I am leaning now more towards silver. You can get them at local stores, sometimes the best place, or online. I've gotten a lot of stuff from ebay. But there are a lot of fakes floating around on ebay (I have a post right below yours about 20 silver eagles I just bought) so be careful.

ETF's on the other hand are very simple. And easy to get with a brokerage account. They are very liquid, much more so then physical coins. But I (although I have just started getting some precious metals) have physical coins, and etf's.

Hope this helps.

Oh yeah, one site I keep an eye on is APMEX.com
They are a good site so I hear, Sometimes their prices seem high, but I hear they are good for buying in bulk. I have no personally ordered from them though.

First, there is NO guarantee in anything. Personally, would run from bullion as fast as possible. Warren Buffett put it words the other day..."you are gambling on today, what somebody MIGHT pay tomorrow". Any of the bullion, is just that, gambling...unfortunately.

My opinion, high grade common date anything. Find a dealer or twelve that are not trying to charge a super premium for brand xyz slab. Buy the coin, not the slab.

Generally you will want to buy key or semi-key dates for popular series (Lincoln Wheat Cents, Morgans, etc...) in the highest grade you can afford.

Caveat: If the price escalates dramatically between say VF and EF, you are probably better off getting the VF example since that can indicate it is undervalued relative to its peer.

I'd advise against collecting common dates in high-MS. I tried that back in 2005 and so far it has been a money loser. Keys seem to be doing much, much better.

Bullion metals are a crap shoot. Gold and Silver certainly seem overvalued right now so future appreciation potential is probably quite limited. Most of the "instability" that has driven these metals higher is psychology. That can fade very quickly.

In my own personal perspective, I am more confident in going for gold rarities. Then Rare Silver coins are also a safe investments. But before going for the acquisition and buying thing, It is more practical to study the Rare coin first, its features, to include the background of its price and numismatic value. If and when the said coin reaches a high degree in your mind that you like the coin then go for most beautiful piece you can find and afford to invest at the moment.

Best investment: Ancients.

Biased answer, of course.

It's smart of you to be asking questions before spending your money as opposed to others who have been "ripped" off by many of those companies and so called "mints".

As far as the obama coins, I agree with what others have said. They are generally worthless and will never be worth anything.

I buy some bullion and some rare coins and I also try to stick with "key dates" "varieties" "high grade" and other unique attributes which for the most part help the coin keep its value or increase.

But the MOST important part is not OVERPAYING and that takes a lot of research and patience. If you search high and low and wait for the deals, they will come and that's how you can come out ahead. If you overpay than you automatically lose in case you need to sell but by sticking to great deals then you will get your money back if you have to sell or if youre lucky the coins will appreciate in value as time goes on.

As far as bullion and junk silver goes, I always restrict myself to paying 15-20% less than melt. You might think that to be impossible but once again it's all about patience and playing the waiting game (sleepless nights online ).

This way I have a cushion in case silver goes down and if I have to sell I can get my money back.

The price of silver has gone up a tremendous amount in the past 5 months, if you look at historical charts there is always a "correction" after a increase and that is the perfect time to jump on the silver bandwagon but when will this occur is anyones guess and how much will silver go up before a correction? Who knows?

OK, here's the $64,000 question:

What's your timetable? If you're looking a 6 months, you'll likely lose no matter what you get. Sorry, that's just the way it works. Unless you know a lot about coins, and can spot something for sale below market value, OR unless you're very lucky, you will be doing good to break even. Coins don't magically appreciate overnight, so it is extremely unlikely for the uninitiated to make lots of money in a short timeframe.

If you are looking at long term-- ie years or decades, key dates would be a safe-ish bet, because they only made so many of them and there's a steady demand. The last few years, key dates haven't done as well as they historically had, though, so go figure....

Bullion coins, it depends on whether you think the price of gold/silver is going up or down within your investment timeframe--- and on that score, if you ask 10 "experts" you'll get 11 varying opinions.

Proofs of silver/gold coins are good in that they combine numismatic value with the intrinsic value of the metal itself, but bad in that they cost more to begin with... and the idea is to buy low, sell high not buy high to begin with.

So the answer is as follows--- it takes a lot of knowledge to invest in anything, especially with a short timetable. Learn as much as you can before putting your money into anything. Education can be had right here on this site for free.

OR, if you REALLY want to know a secret, the best way to quickly make a small fortune is to start with a large one.

I have asked myself this same question. I think it's in the bullion precious metals thread, but anyway...

But many before me have given you some great advice.
There are few portfolios I have found with great trend sheets that give historical price trends for certain key date coins like many CC coins. Again, these are LONG term decisions and investments.

Don't let the research discourage you. The data Is out there. Your local dealer may even shed some light on the matter.
Even old Red Books through the years will show you how certain coins have performed.

Some of the more higher portfolios had some outrageously expensive coins. And that for a lot of us is just unnecessary.
Some of the books I found help you pit together a portfolio that can be done with a budget. For example if you so find a rare coin, ones that would be had for $400, would increase more steadily and at a greater APR than a coin for $500,000. That $400 coin might increase 10% in a 5 year period. And that $500,000 coin would only increase 3%. That gave me a good idea and encouraged me that I didn't havering go put a 2nd mortgage on my house.

Like someone said, there is no real answer. Thee are no sure things. There are "safer" things. I personally would not go buy $500 in junk silver or .999 because silver is so volatile. In my opinion it would be safer for the long haul to try and get maybe the 1931-s LWC inning state. Those rarer key dates are not or ever volatile as silver.