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Count me as part of the minority then lol. Even if every coin in my collection became worthless tomorrow I'd still have a collection of coins I'm happy with. If anything I'd honestly be happier if gold and silver came down to make buying coins containing them cheaper. Don't want to turn this thread into an anti-TPG rant lol but one of the reasons I'd be happy to see them go away is it would cause coin prices to drop as investors who don't know enough about coins to judge condition would be scared away from the coin market, thus lowering demand and ensuring real collectors would have a cheaper and easier time of getting their hands on the coins without having to compete against people who see them as nothing more than a commodity to speculate upon.

You're entitled to your opinion but I'd be curious to know the basis of it. Are there really that few coin collectors who truly desire to collect coins for its own sake? Have you read surveys or polls that say so? Or are many people who attempt to invest in coins lumped in with "collectors" when they really have little or no interest in the actual hobby? I have nothing morethan anecdotal evidence myself as my social circle contains collectors and no investors so I have no way to assert anything one way or the other in this regard, but I'd be curious as to see what the bigger picture looks like, if anyone has some solid facts to show what it actually is.

 

Lets concentrate on one fact. The 1909 S VDB, based on a fifty year chart, has risen in value 9.43% on a yearly basis.

Certainly one can not expect to "make money" on coins by buying retail and flipping, when you have the under the table network of dealers who shift these about between themselves at 40% under book.

But, given the right coin and a longer term holding, you will eventually come out ahead.

A coin based investment smooths out the ups and downs of any general investment plan. Buy high grade, key or semikey dates, pcgs certified at a good market price, hold long and enjoy, and sell when you are old feeble and grey and you will be fine.

Having your stock holding plunge 17% in a matter of three hours because some freaking analysist says it is "overpriced", and watching twenty five thousand dollars of losses hit you almost at once.....Is no fun. Ive been there, and done that. Immersion Corporation IMMR.

Quote the Raven "nevermore nevermore"

 

the whole investment thing is simple.

Buy LOW sell HIGH

Figuring out what is low is the hard part. : ) My best advise for you is to buy whatever I am not buying. I seem to be backwards in the investment arena.

Good Luck. Personally I would seek out a financial adviser and get some insite as to what your looking to do.

 

Key dates are my advice, 1877 cent or 1913-s quarter are good investments!

 

Personally, I've decided to concentrate on Lincolns. In particular the Matte Proofs.

 

Don't invest, collect.

 

not so much starnge as refreshingly honest

 

Two key questions you need to answer before investing money are how long do I want to lock into the investment for, and how much risk am I willing to take.

Given the amount of money you want to invest I infer that you probably don't want it tied up for years and that if the $1400 became $700 14 months from now, it would be painful.

For a variety of reasons I do not think that investing in coins would be right for you. Here is one:
Coins have a fairly high transaction cost. If you buy $1400 in coins at fair market value and then want to sell them the next day you may only get $1200 (millage may vary) for them. This means that the market price for your coins needs to climb to over $1600 to get back the $1400 you started with.

Your best bet would pay off any debts you have. Or being debt free to put the money in a CD or a money market fund if you needed quick access to it. If you want to go long term, set up and IRA. Do so by 4/15/08 you may be able to take a deduction on your 2007 taxes. There are a lot of institutions that will happily set up and IRA for you. I like Vanguard, as they have a wide assortment of indexed mutual funds, their total market fund being a good choice.

 

You're better off fixing houses than coins.

 

Interesting how you define a "real" collector- someone who doesn't view coins as commodities- versus a speculator who hopes to some day turn a profit. I've always thought the line some people draw between what constitutes a collector and what makes one a speculator is arbitrary as worst and definitely blurry at best. It certainly smacks of a selectiveness I'm not so quick to embrace.

I'm not referring to folks who buy tubes of ASEs and pray the price of silver goes up. They'd probably be just as happy with any other bullion/round that would meet their objectives, and have no use for ASEs as collectibles. However, I would submit that any collector who absolutely doesn't care about the value of their coin collection probably falls into one or more of the following categories:

1) They have a small collection or one not worth much monetarily to begin with

2) They inherited all or the bulk of a collection and therefore have little or nothing
invested in it

3) They aren't very active in the hobby and/or completed most of their collection long ago

4) They have too much money to be bothered by such trivial notions as making a profit while enjoying a hobby

I have started sets of Kennedy Halves, Franklin Halves, Jefferson Nickels, Lincoln Cents, Mercury Dimes, etc. I nearly have the Kennedy set completed. All were pulled from circulation, less the '70 (I bought it) and 2 mid 1980s P mintmarks I haven't found yet. Do I care about the actual "value" of the completed set? No, I don't. I put it together because I wanted to tackle the challenge, and I'll feel like I completed something worthwhile to me when I'm finished. I could have easily just spent the $200 or $300 and bought a set, but that would have defeated the purpose. I've enjoyed doing it.

Conversely, many years ago I decided to put together a set of CC Morgans, one of each year in circulated condition. I thought from a numismatic standpoint it would be something unique to have. I'm still lacking the more pricey coins for the set, but one day I hope to finish it. Now, if I do pony up an spend hundreds or perhaps thousands of dollars for the 1893-CC or 1891-CC, and those prices fall dramatically in say 2 or 3 years, do I now make the transition from collector to speculator because I'm bothered by the fact that I have potentially lost hundreds of dollars? What about all the folks who had that happen with the 1903-O Morgan?

About 6 weeks or 2 months ago I bought 3 tubes of BU Peace dollars at about what then was melt value because I thought it was a good deal. Besides, I like Peace dollars, and I wanted to add to my collection. Now, does that make me any less of a collector, because one day I stand to turn a profit if I sell?

I, like you, base my opinion on my own perceptions and the opinions of those in my immediate loop of coin collecting friends. I can say with certainty that all of them would feel some level of distress if the value of their collections dropped suddenly. I never try to paint with overly broad strokes, and I certainly don't claim to speak for everyone, but I do believe more collectors feel the same way than ones who do not. Again, just my opinion, based on 30 or so years in the hobby.

 

My coin collection is rather extensive at this point. Most of the coins I own aren't of huge value but a few are.

Except for a handful of coins I got from my grandmother most of the coins I acquired myself.

I'm still very active and will never consider my collection complete as long as I'm still alive and can afford to add to it lol.

Yeah right, I wish lol...

Nope, sorry, I still care very little about the value of my collection. Whether it becomes worthless tomorrow or doubles in value I still have the same coins, and I collect the coins for their own sake, not because I hope they will go up in value. I honestly don't care what they're worth beyond wanting to get a fair deal for my money when I buy them. I'd be prefectly happy for coin values to drop, because then I could afford even more coins. And I don't fit into any of your 4 categories, sorry.

As I saw someone post on a website when asked whether his criteria was subjective and arbitrary: "Subjective, yes. Arbitrary, no." I'll go ahead an embrace my selectiveness. I know it's purely subjective but I honestly believe a true collector is someone who collects coins for no other reason then he wants a collection of coins he likes, and not someone buying them because they hope they go up in value. I have room in my definiton for someone hoping for the coins to go up in value but that's not his primary motivation, though I'd still think of them as somewhat less of a pure collector. Someone who buys a coin solely becuase they hope it will go up in value I don't consider a collector at all; such a person is just an investor or speculator. Just my opinion for whatever it's worth, but I firmly stand by it. Whether it's coins or stamps or rocks or beanie babies a true collector sees the items in his collection as something to be valued for their own sake and not merely as commodities to buy with the hope of selling them later at a profit.

 

Thats the answer. Three pages of annalysis and investment tips, and these three words say more than all the rest combined.
GUy~

 

BigsWick, there is a lot of wisdom in your post. I read it three times not to miss anything.

 

I agree, even though I am not apparently in this majority. I'm one of the few I guess thats always hoping the price of bullion and coins tank, so that I can buy more and enjoy the collecting and diversity of a collection I couldn't otherwise assemble if the financial aspect of collecting itself were to inflate higher. I don't know how much I've spent on coins, nor how much those coins are worth today, as it means nothing to me, personally, as a collector.

But, I do agree with the fact that most probably are more concerned with how well their investemts appreciate, versus when they'll tank. Guess I'm an oddball in that sense.
Guy~

 

Well there's at least one other person like you lol... I don't in any way see my coins as an investment because the only way I'll ever see a cent of profit on any of them is if I sell them, and I have no intention of doing that. If coin values tanked it would just mean i could afford more coins. If after I die whoever inherits my collection wants to sell it for big bucks, more power to them, doesn't mean anything to me at that point lol... as for me as long as I'm still alive I'm holding on to everything I put in my collection, whether it's worth a fortune or absolutely nothing.

Again, I'm not sure what the basis of "most" is... I haven't seen any surveys or polls that actually show that most "collectors" feel a certain way... like BigsWick I can only speak for myself and the handful of collectors I know and if anything more of the people I know have my attitute towards collecting than not. That's only anecdotal evidence of course, nothing scientific... but I'm curious if anyone has seen a scientific poll or survey that actually proves or at least suggests that collectors as a whole tend to have a given attitute or another? Anyone? Or is this really just a guess?