No, but I've bought plenty of coins (and stamps) out of estates where a bunch of heirs can't agree what to do, and they are greedy and impatient, and they want it sold yesterday. Wave a little cash, it's like magic. The downside is that you always get a number of items you don't want, and have to resell to recoup your purchase price, which means you're always running ads, posting, etc. Some folks don't have time to do that; I do, I'm retired.
Me too, but I'm such a dolt when it comes to marketing. Happily, I don't have to worry about such investment measures......
"HCL" bothered me, too, but only because it uses a lower case "l" instead of an upper case "l". It's HCl.
Saying one cannot make money in coins is a blanket statement, and an incorrect one. I have two types of coin purchases, those that are hobby purchases to add to my personal collection, and investment purchases that net me a profit. To date, I have not sold anything that goes into my collection. However, some of those pieces in my collection were funded by my investment purchases. Haven't lost money on an investment purchase to date. Held some for a day, others for over 3 years. It really comes down to the investor.
The problem with investing is not the selling but the buying. Most stocks have a narrow bid/ask. However with coins you are either going to pay eBay 13%, a dealer 10-20%, or an auction house 10-20%. Remember when a coin sells at auction they usually charge both buyer and seller fees. That is all money out of your pocket. When you buy Walmart stock today the difference for bid/ask is less then 2%. Buy for hobby. Go elsewhere for profit. Before anyone tells me about your savvy investing skills remember you are not the guy buying here. We are talking to the guy who doesn't know what to buy and asked a chat room for advice.
I agree with you, don't get me wrong. But as I concluded my post with, it depends on the individual. Just because he is new doesn't mean he is destined to failure. One of the first coins I bought as an investment is one that I do not have, or have any desire to own in my personal collection. Don't have a cow; but it was an 09-S VDB. I was at a show, and saw it in a case. It had been graded by a company I had never heard of, and probably doesn't even exist anymore. I inspected the coin, thought that the grade was insanely low, put it down and kept walking around the show. It stuck in my head. The price he was asking for the condition it was listed in was pretty fair. I thought it would grade MS63 or higher for sure, no questions asked. I went back, and took 10 mins studying it. It was not cleaned. It seemed to have reddish hues. So I paid the man. About a year later I submitted it through a dealer from whom I had bought a few hard to find pieces. I will never forget his call. It basically went something like this: Dealer - "Hey pal, your coin came back today, but, ummm, hmmm, how do I say this...you cannot have it back" Me- "Why is that" Dealer - "I need to give you a stack of money instead" Me - "Do you have the coin at the top of my list in stock?" Dealer - "No, but I WILL find one and have it here by the end of the week" Me - "I want that, and $500" Dealer - "I will call you by Friday" He ended up calling me within 2 days around 8:30pm and had me come to his home to pick it up. My point is this. A good eye, patience, and a very, very strict buying regimen can be profitable when dealing in coins. I am no dealer. By far. But if I can make money on a coin, and even better, flip it fast, yeah, why not? If I had paid for every coin in my collection via my main stream of income, I would be divorced, and splitting half of my collection with a person who couldn't care less about coins.
Just get touch with me, and then do the opposite of whatever I do. I bought silver on the exact day that it peaked in the early 80's (even worse, there was 10% buyer's premium) and finally got a chance to sell it when it finally got back to my original purchase price a couple of years ago. Then it tripled in value about 6 months after I sold it. Currently, I have my eye on some beachfront property in North Dakota. Want in?
The only people that make money from coin collecting are the beneficiaries that get your coins when you die. People that collect coins have the hoarder gene. Fortunately it's not junk that is hoarded so family members will enjoy cleaning out the stash.
These blanket statements are making the posters look ignorant. 1) I have never lost money on a coin made as an investment nor been stuck with it. 2) My entire collection fits into a 3'x3'x2' safe. I hardly think that qualifies as "hoarding"....maybe 350-400 total coins? Not everyone collects/invests with your strategy. I believe your posts would be better served with the opening statement of "in my experience..."
actually not. You make (or lose) money when you sell. Until then it is just a book gain. You don't make anything until it is sold. (When you buy? Illogical).
