So, I'm a young professional with a pretty good income trying to put together a nice coin collection. At the same time, I want to be financially responsible and keep a reasonable portion of my assets in more liquid financial assets. How to people think about how much to budget for coins? I've talked to many folks that consider their coin collection part of their investment portfolio, but that's not something I care to do. Does anyone have thoughts on this?
I think thats how the majority of collectors feel. As far as how much to allocate toward your collecting, thats something only you can answer. Guy~
I completely agree. You have to decide how much to allocate towards coins. I try and look at coins solely as a hobby and not as an investment at all...thus I only allocate disposable income to it.
Just a hobby I enjoy. What I spend on coins is nothing more than disposable income. As you can see by the previous responses that is what I'm sure you read the most.
Coins are a hobby and the money used should be disposable income such as money you would used for entertainment, going to the movies, a concert, out to dinner etc. Money you would expect to spend for a good time that you would not expect to have anything tangible left afterwards. This is the advantage of coin collecting. You spend that money, have a good time, have some enjoyment, and then later you when the coins are sold you at least get part of the money back and possibly even more than you spent.
As already well noted, this is a hobby, not great for investing. Remember that unless your willing to become a dealer selling at coin shows, the internet, etc. then what you pay for a coin is really a poor investment. Think of coins as the Beanie Babies, Hot Wheel Cars, Sports cards and the many other hobbies people have and still do have. One friend of mine went nutty about those Beanie Babies. Has hundreds of them. She paid and others did to, pay a lot of money for some. Lucky for her she did think of it as a hobby and when the market for them craxhed, she only purchased more of them. As long as you remember to think of this as a hobby, then the amount of money spent on coins is really unimportant. A lot or a little. If you like a coin, need that coin, want that coin, then if you can afford it, buy it.
The US dollar has lost alot of its buying power in the last 20-30 yrs why on GODS green earth would you have anothing else but gold or silver? It wont be long 3-5 yrs and paper $ money wont be worth the ink that is printed on it! Gold and silver will always be worth something and with the way are country is being run/managed it is not only the best option but the smartist one!
Tuff question, Because your hobby can be an investment like in my case I now only buy high grade paper (MPC) i have fun doing it and able to put Something aside for the future!
Also, don't look at coins as an investment, but a better/smarter way to spend extra money. For example: An Uncirculated American Silver and a brand new DVD cost about $20. I am sure your Silver Eagle will be worth more in the long run.
While I agree that coin collecting is not the best investment one could make and there is considerable risk involved, comparing it to beanie babies or a night on the town is a little overboard. I believe that the other people that you spoke with have it right. In order to limit yourself to a safe amount, you should consider your coin collection part of your investment portfolio. By maintaining less than 10% of your portfolio in coins, you can enjoy the hobby and still maintain a fiscally responsible investment strategy. Of course, keeping under the 10% is extremely difficult once you get hooked. PS. The 10% is just a number and different experts will have different opinions on what the number should be. I have seen some suggest no more than 2%.
Collect to collect not to invest. Take a look (search) an older thread "Perils of Coin collecting" it has a lot of good reason why from different members. Lack
