collecting coins for profit

silvercedar, i hope youre right ...

i am basing my opinion on the demographic i see at coin shows and dealerships ... however it would be nice if more younger people would get involved
i dont think i have ever seen anyone under 40 at my local coin dealership (however I am not there that much)

good for you for getting your kids involved.

i think it was easier for the older crowd to get started because you could actually find old silver coins (mercs, walkers, buffs etc) in pocket change
and lincolns from the 1910s and 20s
i will still finding those in 1968

 

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I collect for fun but only collect the coins I can get deals on and typically ones I think may appreciate over time...if that makes any sense. If they do not appreciate over time, then no worries as I had fun doing it and all of them will go to my kids anyway. I would not want to collect something that would likely depreciate in value over time. TC

 

Count me in as well. I'm 30 years old and look like I could be a roadie for a death metal band. LOL. So when I go into most shops, I get ignored. The way I see it, they treat me bad, I'll just go elsewhere and spend my money.

 

amen to that wgpjr. And that's one reason i like coin shows - i blend right in as half the customers look like misfits.

 

I have done really well over the past 40 something years in the hobby. Most of that had to do with the price of silver, key dates and some of the varieties I put away.

At the same time I would have done better just putting that same money in some type of savings account from the start. Not much fun in that but it's true.

One of the cool things about coins is that they will always have some value. Not many hobby's can claim that.

 

I think about this all the time (as a 39 year old guy). I think younger kids may not get into the hobby but may pick it up later in life. If the numbers drop, I think coins will then become similar to the art market. Ultra rare investment grade coins will still have a very exclusive market, but coin prices for other lower "types" would fall significantly from today's highs. That is why people are willing to gamble and pay ridiculous prices for 2010 1c PR70 coins. I buy stuff that I fall in love with. I hope that my sons never (or me for that matter) have to ever sell the coins. I got started collecting because the last time I saw my grandfather when I was home on military leave before he died, he gave me a big bag or circulated SBA and IKE dollars to give to the boys. He wasn't a collector, but had put them away when he got them. As I have posted before, those are the coins that got me started on my 7070 book. Sure, they are circulated, but I wouldn't swap them out of my book for any other SBA or IKE in the world. Maybe others will eventually have that sentimental experience that gets them to collect in the future and the hobby will continue.

 

I bought nearly 20k worth of bullion coins in the 70's when gold was approaching the 700 level. I was forced to liquidate these in the late 80's at about the 350 level. I also lost some money on 100oz silver bars. But some of that was offset by a fair amount of Silver coins removed from circulation during the late 60's that I managed to keep. I believe it must be very hard to generate enough profit to manage a business in coins. The amoung that would need to be traded on a daily basis would be phenonemal