whats a good coin to invest in?

Carson city , new Orleans

 

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High grades

 

As an answer to the O.P.

You can easily find 3 obtainable 'key dates' in the large Silver Peace Dollars if you are set on a dollar coin and something silver.

You can grab the 1921 High Relief one year type coin, with a relatively low mintage, for around $300 in a nice higher AU grade

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1921-1-Peac...28?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item339bd3f2cc

thats just one

You can go for the 1928, that has just a third of the mintage ~300K, in similar grades for around $500

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1928-1-Peac...73?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item23487cd801

^this is actually what i consider a nice coin. Very clean from the picture (and it may just be the pictures making it look like that), but definitely appears to be a higher end AU-58, one of those AU-63s we see sometimes.

Or you can go for the Top-Dog of the Peace dollar series and jump out an grab a 1934-S, this coin has the same mintage as the 1921, but is over double in price, especially in higher grades. This would be called a 'Tough Coin'. Something that for all intents and purposes is no rarer than all the other coins in the series of the same mintage, but the attrition rate has claimed many of the nicer examples.

Everything else in this series that are worth anything are your conditional rarities. Meaning they are the ones that are only rare in grades XX and higher. A great example of that type of Peace dollar would be your 1924-S.

At any rate, I think I have covered coins across a wide budget and helped explain what you were seeking.

 

If you want a coin worth $20,000 years from now, buy a $30,000 coin today.

 

Thanks appreciate the leads, I know I can look them up but I figured help from the community was worth more. Thanks for the leads

 

I think if you are looking for what "may" be a good investment, you may want to start with the ms67 or 68 Ike dollars.... I say this not so much tongue in cheek, but Ike dollars seem to have a following that may get stronger. And yes, you do risk the market in that Ikes have not circulated as much as some other issues, so there may be a flood of Ikes into the market at some point. But I think that ones that are as high a grade as I suggest having will still be somewhat small.

The people who I am noticing collecting Ikes are quite happy with these coins and recently I saw an Ike posted that really got my attention. Which means I am looking to see if I can find a Ike that is worth my while to own and be happy with. Will it hold value? I think yes... Will it increase enough to be an 'investment'? Who knows, you don't have a crystal ball.... but I think that perhaps down the road, if you have enough other collectors interested in a quality coin, then perhaps it will increase and be, after the fact, considered a good investment to have made. You can only tell after the fact if it is a good investment.

You always risk the market dropping out of any item you choose to 'invest' in, whether it's real estate, coins, or some other commodity. What you need to determine yourself is who wants it enough to collect now, has it been historically a good item to collect/buy and keep for future value, and does it seem like it will still be that way in 5 or 10 or 20 years.

Basic check is to say is this a beanie baby (cabbage patch doll/pet rock/etc.) thing that is a flash in the pan like for people, or is this something that will in the future be collectable? And you, in the end, can only base it on your ability to see that and your ability to have the means to purchase and hold the item and sell at the moment it has the best opportunity to have been an 'investment'.

Last word. Coins historically are not investment items. They are a hobby. But some people make money off them because their 'investment' in their hobby has coincidentally merged with a good market for the item they collect and they have had the means to do so.

Choosing to collect an item based on future worth is only as good as one's ability to see for themselves the future of that item. But it can be a crapshoot.



That being said, perhaps you should get into a collection of large cents. As a numismatic item, I think they are as good an investment as you can get. Just buy quality and don't pay a lot for them.

Reasoning, is that I think they should at least hold their value as there are collectors who are filling out a collection and who, over time, try to upgrade the quality of their collection, so it seems like a fluid market to me, and one that historically has been a good one. *caveat*.... I have not compared the increase in prices (profit) of these coins vs. a profit one can make in stocks, bonds, or other current normal means of investments, nor have I taken into account the change in price vs. cost of living increases and changes in dollar buying power, etc. Perhaps in looking at that any coin you can sell for an investment may be a poor choice in that you have lost in relationship to the rest of what could have been done with the money. So again. Hobby. Investment is tricky and not determinable.

 

I believe a vast majority of folks here would agree that the SBA would probably be the last coin to purchase for investment purposes. The. Very. Last.

 

Buying key date coins is probably a safe choice. They will always be in demand. And getting the highest grade that you can afford is the way to go. And I think above all......buy a coin that has GREAT eye appeal. Most likely, if it appeals to you, it will to other also. And don't think you'll make a profit quickly. Coins are meant to be bought and put away. Do it as a hobby, have fun with it and you'll do ok.

 

Lol ok thanks. I have a lot of good ideas to run with now. Thanks all

 

Mike, this site attracts many people looking for the same advice. The simple answer is that there is no silver bullet. The only way to guarantee appreciation in a coin is to predict future demand. That is harder than picking stocks.

IMO, if you want to invest money, do it in an IRA or your 401K. Every coin hobbiest hopes his coins go up in value, but the simple truth is that no one knows for sure.

Morgan dollars are the most widely collected series. The CC (Carson City) minted coins are the most sought after. Will they remain popular in the future? For the sake of MY collection, I hope so! I would suggest looking at '80 and '81 CC's. They are in "the middle of the road" when it comes to price/mintage/demand. They had relatively low mintages, have some interesting VAM's and a nice specimen can be had between $500 - $1K. The '82, '83 and '84 are by far the most cost effective because there are so many available, but think supply and demand.

I strongly suggest you educate yourself on whatever series you decide to spend your money. Whether you buy books or use the internet, it will pay dividends in the long run. It was mentioned earlier that you make your money when you buy the coin. I stronglly agree with this. Do your homework upfront.

There is no magic answer to your question. None of us know the future. We are all making educated guesses.

 

I'm not looking for a guaranteed winner, just wanted your opinions from experience. I have stocks, annuities, Gold, silver, bonds, currency, vehicles in restored condition, real estate, College accounts for my kids, many investments. I'm not looking to retire on this, and I'm not a young guy starting out in the world. I'm interested in coins, a little, and I more so wanted a place to start but included an idea I guess I should have omitted. Anyhow, I have a lot of ideas to go with so thanks guys.

 

I see a lot of reply to this thread saying... get what you love to collect, get this, get that... why dont you just collect something that there are millions of... that sounds like a great idea... Eisenhower Dollars are great, same with the kennedy's lol...

NO... if you want a true investment grade coin... you need some ingredients!!! If you want a coin that has a potential of gaining 15-30% you need some ingredients.

Historical significance, rarity, and popularity.

Some of the best performing sectors are the California gold rush, Civil War era, and Comstock load.

go with any high dollar Morgans, CC's, O-mints.

any Type1 20's. the 1854s. is a key example of this. MS60 in 2000= $3100... MS60 today = $26,000.

Stay away from high mintage, low popularity... and especially coins that are expensive, mostly moderns in this case... where some collector might have bought a couple hundred pieces from the mint and is holding them for 30yrs.... the 1907 HR St. Gaudens are a prime example.. .supposedly there are a couple people out there with a handful of MS examples never graded... that might lower those values if they ever throw them onto the market.

True rarity, only gets more rare and more historical as time goes on... as investors/collectors take off the market what is left... we are left with the most basic supply/demand scenario... and thats what pays out!

 

No coin is a good investment.

Buy what you like and if it goes up--

hey, you are ahead.

 

A Morgan Dollar. That's a good one to "invest" in.

 

I'm sorry, Treashunt... Id like to say if you know what you are doing... and know what to look for... and hang onto what you have... Rare coins can perform better than most investments known today... and they cant go bankrupt.

I have lots of guys that love to collect certain coins... these certain coins will never be worth more than the metal they are made out of... They dont care... they like them... just because they love them, doesn't mean they will ever be worth $20k.

The OP is looking for advice on an investment coin. There are very good investment coins to acquire that will bulletproof your portfolio.

So... Mr Grumpy... sorry, that avatar just matched the reply!

 

Most collectors let emotion get in the way of purchases... something you learn as a stock broker never to let happen. You trade on fundamentals. A lot of times you calculate others emotions into those fundamentals! ;p

 

Just sat in on a class by Randy Campbell (ICG) at the fun show and you definitely can buy coins for investment. He showed a long list of coins purchased just 4 years ago that has gone up while price of silver has gone down. An example was a complete set of Peace dollars in AU cost $1,537.50 in Oct. 2010 when Silver was $23.54; that same set in Oct 2014 was $1,817. and Silver was $17.19. He recommended certain year uncirculated Morgans and Peace, a few MS66 Morgans, ten different MS 64 & 65 DMPL Morgans; everyone should have a trade dollar in XF or AU; a seated dollar no motto in XF; 1975 Flowing Hair for around $2,000; just to name a few.

 

First, don't buy any coins newer than 1932. Then, buy key dates. Don't buy the run-of-the-mill grade. You have to get the nicer grades. The market is getting flooded with lower end key date stuff. Just abiut every coin shop in the United States has a 1909 S VDB Lincoln. Not all have a 1909 S Indian cent. Almost all have an 1857 Flying Eagle, but not all have an 1857 Large cent. Look for the non common key dates in non common grades.

 

The problem I have with U.S coins is U.S grading. Which in my inflammatory, reactionary rant is a monstrosity of a flea wagging the tail that's wagging the dog, "quickly as you can grasshopper, snatch the pebble from my hand, ha ha ha you missed again grasshopper."

Consider World coins OP. IMO, they have far more potential. And there's alot of beautiful designs with them. A couple of years ago I bought a 1977 Brazil 1 Cruzerio AU condition with a mintage of 98k for $15. And it's a beautiful looking design. It even takes up the whole coin, just like a Morgan.