Time To Sell Or Time To Buy.

For me it's always time to buy since I don't look at coins as an investment vehicle. Of course, it's always time to sell too when I get an upgrade.

If you buy silver or gold coins close to metal price this may well be the last chance to get them at sale prices
On the other hand if you have silver or gold coins with huge numismaticall value this may well be the best chance to sell them at a good price

Outside of precious metal prices, sometimes I wonder if there will be a hangover from the boom that the State Quarter program brought. Fortunately for me, my collecting budget comes from the money that I used to spend on cigarettes before I quit smoking. Even if I lose money on every coin I purchase, that cash used to literally go up in smoke.

I'm not a good person to answer that question. I've been a collector for well into the 60 year area and have never sold a coin yet. I've given lots away to cut down on inventory, but so far never sold anything. Got to start someday I guess.

There is no one answer that fits everyone. There may not even be a real answer because so many people call themselves Collector/Investor. And,IMO, collecting and investing in coins are a major conflict. If you buy coins that are popular and in popular grades then chances are their prices are heavily *controlled* by the whims of market grading and coin collectors can be very whimsical. The investor incentive is to sell before market whims change your grade from MS65 to MS64. The collector incentive is: "no, no, I love this coin, I can't sell it."

That, IMO, is the reason why coins do so well in times of strife. Coin collectors can project their own private Civil War into their collection/Investments.

Of course, there's always succession? There are hundreds of areas to collect where grading has very little control over things. I've bought tokens that were graded as + = - That was it: above average, average, below average. There's also dark side. People are going into these areas now, *especially* darkside. IMO, it's going to grow over the years because of the Internet. I think it's going to be interesting to see just how popular "fringe" material gets because of the Internet.

If it gets too big maybe people buying high grade/price slabs today as 20 year investments are fixing to resemble the center piece display at the 2026 Burning Man festival.

After all, who ever said the effects of globalization stop when labor has been destroyed?

If I have money in my pocket, it's time to buy!

If however, my pocket is empty, it's time to sit back and plan on what to buy when I do get something in my pocket.

At least that is the way it seems to work for me!

I'm ALWAYS a buyer! Nice eye appealing coins at what I feel is a fair price....SOLD!

I'm with snowman. My coin budget used to be cigarette and beer money. Now that I don't do either one anymore I am better off and I really love collecting coins. I don't look at it as an investment in wealth as much as I look at it as an investment in health. It's also fun and enjoyable.