The Furure of the coin collecting

I collect coins for fun and history (pre-WWI large silver crowns). I like the feel of big silver coins that's been minted hundreds of years ago and has passed through many historical events good and bad. To make money for new purchases I had to sell part of my collection recently and i was only able to get back 80% of what I paid for them back a few years ago. Although I do not intend to use my collecting as an investment, I am a little concerned about the overall future of coin collecting.

An example is this coin I am keeping an eye that is estimated around 2000 Euros($2200).

Will I ever be able to break even if I were to sell, say in 20 years?
With ever popularity of credit cards, apple pay, etc.. new generations are going to lose interest in paper money and coins.
Where will this leave out hobby with respect to financials and interst?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Consider the "loss" you experienced as the "Cost of Enjoyment" that you would routinely pay if you went out to a movie or bowling. ~ Chris

 

Its exactly the opposite. Coin/ currency collecting is becoming more and more popular. The proof is in the pudding, with every year auction records are being smashed. A coin that sold in the Farouk Sale for $500 now would go for 25-35K. There are still record amts of paper currency being printed, so cash money is still much in demand. With all the credit card/ digital money transaction fraud/ that trend may reverse.
The only coin/ banknote trend that is stagnant is the US one. Reason, these where vastly overpriced for the supply vs demand ratio.
Foreign and Ancient coins (high quality) will keep on breaking records. Reason, very low supply for a higher and higher demand.
Millions of new collectors are now coming from emerging economies like China/ India/ Brazil/ Russia/ Middle East....

 

Did you buy them from a dealer? Did you sell them to a dealer? A 20% margin is actually quite low for most dealers in coins -- heck, for most dealers in anything, if they have to support a building, staff, security, and so on.

 

That is a very cool looking coin. If you are posting a pic of coins always click full image on them. What country and denomination is this cool coin ?



Are coins a good investment ? Most of the time no. It all depends on the coins sold. The coin above is very interesting looking. I am in to coin collecting for the fun of it, the rarity, thee aesthetics of the coins, the history, and talking coins with other coin collectors. This is the value I see into collecting coins. Now if you spend money on coins like panzerman...then you might make a profit lol worth what millions ???

 

Even though I have always collected for the pleasure it gives me, plus the history behind each piece.....I have to admit all of them have increased in value/ way over inflation. But, I have never sold a coin/ even though I have upgraded some to MS quality. But, there are people definately into this hobby for the "investment" potential.

 

yes, that's one way to think about it.

 

It is a multiple taler from the Holy Roman empire

 

@doppeltaler what country is this coin from ?? I want to look it up in my krause catalogs. What is the date of this coin ?? 1604

 

Bought from dealers, ebay and auction houses and sold to an auction house.

 

What country is this coin ?

 

Could this be specific to the coins you collect (gold ducats)? I am wondering what will motivate the younger generations (i will be 45 soon) to collect coins when they do not have much interaction with cash money and other hobbies like social media. They do not seem to be interested in history that much either. Maybe the coins from those newly developed countries will have much more appreciation?

 

From the Holy Roman Empire/Austria, https://www.kuenker.de/en/auktionen/stueck/246553

 

Thank you looking it up now.

 

Who knows what will happen with collecting in twenty years? I began collecting in the 1960's. I could have never in my wildest dreams conceived that the the main thrust of our hobby in the 21st century would be mint errors. But you can bet that coin collectors will still be with us into the foreseeable future. I ran a similar thread a while back and I believe it was @physics-fan3.14 that reminded me that most folks gravitate toward collecting later in life when the kids are gone and there is a bit more disposable income at hand. The hobby will still be percolating along just fine.

 

Is it a 2 Thaler KM#57.1 ??? Not trying to make you mad just very curious

 

Obviously it depends on your buying strategy!I collect talers and large crowns too and my budget is generally limited. I buy coins in VF or above, cleaned, with mountmarks, but for about 80% of my purchases i'm more than sure that if i sell them the next day i get between 30% to a few times more than what i've paid !20% is where i get my money back!How am i so sure?Based on what i've sold and based on how i buy, meaning that i always search for bargains and my patience paid off!I suppose it's obvious that i research the value/grade of that coin for a dozen times, before buying it!I also don't think people will lose interest in numismatics!As for the double taler,it's great, but 2k for it is not a good deal, not for me!1K maybe, but for 2k i could buy 2-3 very rare coins that would sell the next day for at least double!

 

The above is also what I do. I buy coins for my personal sets which I don't necessarily buy with the intention of upgrading or selling later, but sometimes I get a great deal. I also buy coins for resale with the intention of making money. I lose money on some coins, though most I upgrade I can about break even. The coins I buy for resale I make money overall on, and then there's the occasional cherrypick that I make a significant amount of money on. Overall I come out ahead.

As they say, you make or lose money when you buy the coin. There's a lot of truth to that, though if you're holding coins for a long time, there's also some luck (with educated guesses as to what will appreciate). Knowing the market very well for the type of material you collect will enable you to see where the value is, and that helps with being profitable in the long run.

The most important factor is a numismatic education. Research, research, research. Not just the prices, but the coins themselves. That's what pays off.

 

Well, there you go.

Assume that a coin holds a fairly steady value. You buy it at (say) $1000. If you paid that money to a dealer, some of it goes to cover their original cost on the coin, some of it goes to overhead, and some of it goes to profit. If you bought it on eBay from a private party, about $30 goes to PayPal, about $100 goes to eBay, some amount goes to the post office or other shipper, and the rest goes to the seller.

Now, if you sell it through an auction house, they may charge you a fee, and they may add a buyer's premium. The eventual buyer is still willing to pay about $1000. After the auction house takes their cut, you're likely getting $800 or less.

This is all assuming the coin's market price remains constant. If the coin has increased in value since you bought it, you'll do better; if it's decreased in value, you'll do worse. But in order to come out ahead consistently, you need to do one of these things:

1) Pick coins that will go up in value. Like any other kind of fortune-telling, this is a matter of luck.

2) Underpay for coins. There are always lots of people willing to buy underpriced coins, so again, it's a matter of luck to get there first, or a matter of skill to cherry-pick something nobody else has recognized, or a matter of work and expense to establish a shop or auction house where people will sell to you at dealer prices, or a matter of (poor) ethics to convince people their coins aren't worth much.

3) Sell coins at overinflated prices. There are always a few people willing to overpay for coins, if you're lucky enough that they find you first, or again, you can deceive people into overpaying.

I lean fairly heavily on (2) (find underpriced coins), because I was raised to be a cheapskate. I do my best to deal ethically both when buying and selling. I don't get a lot of opportunities to make money with coins.

 

I 100% agree with you!