investing in yearly mint sets?

Is it a good/wise idea to invest in yearly mint sets. For example I just purchased a mint set from my birth year (1988). It includes an uncirculated mint condition penny, nickel, dime, quarter and half dollar. I was just wondering if these were things people invested in or just bought to add as a nifty piece to a personal collection? Thanks in advance!

 

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I wouldn't buy these sets with the expectation of turning a profit. They were typically made in the millions and, even though many have been broken up or otherwise lost during the years, they are still plentiful as all get out and have a relatively low collecting base.

 

Okay, thanks for the reply. What would be a good investment in terms of turning a profit. Especially for those that don't have a ton of money to invest right away?

 

If I knew a short answer to that then I would have no worries about money! Truly, I would suggest you find an area that interests you and then work from there. It is much easier to put time and effort into something if you have an interest in that niche. I specialize in wonderfully toned coins and original, circulated type yet it is quite tough to make a decent living in that area.

 

Well I don't have a lot of money to start a big collection so I have been coin roll hunting through pennies. I bought my first box the other day and got some nice wheats. But unfortunately pennies aren't much of an investment unless I was lucky enough to come across a key date or two but I won't hold my breath. But it is a nice start to a collection. So I would say right now I am trying to specialize in cents. Is it best to try and fill some kind of specific collection when it comes to cents? (ie try to collect all the wheats from 1909-1958)? That is one of my goals but I do not know how possible that is due to the popularity of wheats and the rarity of key dates...Sorry for all the long questions, I'm a beginner trying to figure out this new hobby!

 

I'm generally happy to answer questions, as are most of the folks on this board.

It is my experience that beginners need to try many avenues and make a certain number of mistakes or adjustments before they find what clicks for them. Of course, there are those who find this right away, but they are in the minority, in my opinion. I am not a date-mintmark set builder so what I find attractive might not be what others find attractive.

I agree that wading through thousands of cents is not likely to yield a large bonus, but it might teach you a bit about grading, color and surfaces. You may be best served to start this as a new thread in the US Coin Forum or Coin Chat sections so that you will have a larger audience to draw from. Good luck.

 

Hi Jt, Welcome to the forum. You seem to be having a problem of duplicating your post in this thread and making duplicate or even triplicate threads. Please limit to one thread per specific question area, as several people answered one and other answered the other, and it is troublesome to combine more than 1 thread. I deleted all of the current spares.
Jim

 

Well I don't have a lot of money to start a big collection so I have been coin roll hunting through pennies. I bought my first box the other day and got some nice wheats. But unfortunately pennies aren't much of an investment unless I was lucky enough to come across a key date or two but I won't hold my breath. But it is a nice start to a collection. So I would say right now I am trying to specialize in cents. Is it best to try and fill some kind of specific collection when it comes to cents? (ie try to collect all the wheats from 1909-1958)? That is one of my goals but I do not know how possible that is due to the popularity of wheats and the rarity of key dates...Sorry for all the long questions, I'm a beginner trying to figure out this new hobby!

 

I am having some technical problems for some reason. I apologize! I tried deleting my duplicates but couldn't figure out how. I will be limiting my posts tonight. Thank you for fixing my problem. And once again sorry any frustrations!

 

if you do mint sets do early ones like the early 1950's yes they are pricey but if you want to make money on them later on...

 

If your into cents, buy yourself a Dansco 7100. It's pretty fun trying to fill it from roll hunting. The Jefferson nickel 7113 is pretty fun to work on too. It's nice having some lower cost stuff to work on and get results.
I collect silver stuff too, but other hobbies, the budget, and personal investment strategies don't always make that reasonable. Cents and nickels always fit.

 

I would agree that you cannot typically make any money on mint sets. I will say that I bought a bundle of ones from the 70's at an auction a few years ago for $3/each. What amazed me was that they had $3.82 in them. I made out even after the 10% buyer's premium.

 

I don't know who said: "send a barbarian to check a barbarian" but I'm sure he was referring to coin collectors. :twisted: So, IMO, your best chance of making money in coins is to be a coin collector first. But one thing you should never do, again, IMO, is invest based on tips or free advice no matter how sincere the source. You may find the advice/tips worth exactly what you paid for it. see next post.

 

My tip is invest in yourself. Invest based on knowledge and foresight and independence. And don't daydream about getting rich quick. That only works for the "aristrocracy of pull." Here is a good start.
http://www.amazon.com/Experts-Guide-Collecting-Investing-Coins/dp/0794821782/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383493366&sr=1-3&keywords=q david bowers

 

Invest in yourself and get an education, hands down the best investment you can make in life.

 

It depends on what "yearly mint sets" you are talking about.

Yes, US mint sets are made in large numbers.

However, I have a few non-US mint sets that have mintages in the single thousands. I notice that their asking-prices increase every year since I bought mine.

 

You can look up the original issue price and compare it to the current market value to see if it has been a good investment. I don't think Mint Sets from the 1970s, 80s and 90s have been very good investments.

 

Well I buy them myself, but I do so to have an example of each coin in mint state. The biggest issue I have is very little "variety" in these coins. They are nice to have, relatively cheap to aquire and give you a "base" coin to compare any "oddities" or errors you may encounter. As for investment, well your grandkids or great grandkids might love you for them you will not likely see a profit from them in your lifetime. On the opposite side of that, there are some rare error mint sets that sell for outrageous prices but the odds of receiving one of them from the mint sight unseen is very slim.

 

silver ones do well.... after like 5-10 years.

 

I like the silver ones too, but not as an investment.